In August 2019, Evan joined the Screenmedia studio, the third of our interns from the TRC Inspiring Digital Leaders programme, which gives five bright young graduates a behind the scenes look at life in some of Glasgow’s top creative agencies. Having already completed two stops in the programme, Screenmedia marked the halfway point for Evan.
Evan is no stranger to Glasgow, having completed his Master’s degree in aeronautical engineering at the University of Glasgow. He decided to take a break from aircraft and apply for the Inspiring Digital Leaders programme because of the variety it offers – interns spend four weeks at each participating agency where they focus on different aspects of the creative process, working through Digital Marketing, Brand and Content, Client Services, UX and Design, and our project within the programme, Web Development.
Evan had some coding experience from his engineering degree, but his time with us was spent focusing on front-end technologies, which was new to him. From learning how to code for web development to successfully building a homepage for his friend’s hair salon, Evan learned a lot during his time at Screenmedia! We caught up with him to find out all about his experience with us.
What’s been the best part of your experience at Screenmedia?
The best part has been the people that I’ve gotten to work with. Although this programme has been wonderful and the things I’ve been learning have been really interesting, people have gone above and beyond to be as nice and as helpful as they can. Everyone has been lovely, especially my mentor and codewizard Lynne. She’s been incredibly helpful and supportive, as the IDL interns before me both had some kind of front-end experience while I came in with nothing. Any time I was making stupid mistakes or was not understanding how to code something, she had all the patience in the world to work with me. She was really great.
What’s something you wish you’d been able to do if you had more time here?
I would have loved to build out more of the website. I only really got the home page and click-through links done – because it’s my first real front-end web development, it took me quite a lot of time. I’d love to have worked with more animation and JavaScript.
Was there anything that surprised you?
Before I came to Screenmedia I found front-end coding to be quite daunting to get into, but I was surprised by how quickly it can click. As long as you give it the time it requires and don’t try to rush it, much like any other skill there is no reason to be afraid of it. Coding does have a reputation for being quite intense and needing a lot of brain power, so it was fantastic to overcome that and be able to actually code something myself in such a short space of time.
What’s something you learned while you were at Screenmedia?
I’ve learned the importance of having an understanding of all aspects of the process. You don’t need to be able to replicate what another team member can do, but it’s really useful to understand the basics and limitations of their job. It helps massively in working together and managing expectations.
How do you think this experience will help you in your career?
I think I’ve learned not to limit my capabilities so much – I now know the kind of skills I can develop in a short period of time if I commit myself to them. I think it’s given me the confidence that nothing is that far out of reach.
What are you looking forward to about the other agencies?
I’ve got digital marketing at Equator and brand strategy at Frontpage. I’m really interested in brand strategy – it’s a wider net than what I’ve been working on so far, so I’m really excited about that.
Thanks for stopping by, Evan! We wish you the best of luck with the rest of your placements. If you’re looking to take the next step in your career, how about joining one of the UK’s top digital innovation agencies? Check out our careers page and see where you could fit in.
Alex
Producer