"Fire Tech was a place where I learned things I had never known before taking the course, and where I made many friends who shared the same interest as me."
Iona, Teen photographer
Creative Design – Virtual Work Experience
Discover what it’s like to work for a creative design studio, tackling realistic, industry-specific projects and working directly online with your own human “boss”. Finish with a complete skills report and a virtual work experience reference.
For online courses: these require you to have a capable computer to work on and a broadband internet connection. Most PC/Mac computers from the last 5 years will be fine but you can view our recommended detailed system requirements here.
For on campus courses: laptops are provided for all junior courses, as well as Music, Unity, Creative Design & YouTube senior courses. Laptop rental is available for all other senior courses (£50 extra).
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Creative Design - Virtual Work Experience
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Real live human boss
Your new boss will mentor you through the programme, ensuring you have a great experience and reach your personal goals
Realistic projects
Tackle exactly the kid of projects you would encounter in the creative design industry. These are realistic representations of some of the awesome tasks people in the creative design industry get to work on every day.
Work in different fields
Discover the range of disciplines that lie behind the creative design process, using the industry standard set of tools and processes
Course Overview
Get 50% off this brand new programme with code ‘VIRTUAL50’. Offer ends soon!
Discover what it would be like to work for a creative design studio, tackling realistic, industry-specific projects – in graphic design, brand identity, audio and video design and more – and working directly online with your own human “boss”. Finish with a complete skills report and a virtual work experience reference.
The gap between what young people need to be able to deliver in the world of work, and what they are taught at school is growing wider, especially around digital skills. At the same time it is becoming more difficult for companies – and in particular tech companies which are increasingly the engine of our economy – to host work experiences.
We are working with our network of experts to offer virtual work experiences to young people. These virtual work experiences are simulations of the real thing, designed to provide an accurate experience of what it would be like to join a company in a variety of cutting edge tech industries. On our Virtual Work Experience programme, you will experience the tools, projects, and feedback that you would get as if you were an entry level worker in a tech-focused business.
Here’s how Virtual Work Experience works…
1. Friendly induction
- Meet your real live human boss online
- Learn how Virtual Work Experience works
- Discuss the role you will play in the team
2. Real tech projects
- Project briefs based on real tech industry requirements
- Resources and work tools exactly as used by the industry
- Work at your own pace, typically 4-6 hours a week for 5 weeks
- Access to the dedicated FireTech training suite on LearnWorlds as required
- Like to try something else? Change roles at any point
3. Regular online team meetings
- Get lots of brilliant help and support
- Celebrate your successes
- Ongoing E-mail and chat support
- All meetings and communications are recorded and archived for safety
- When: 1 hour, weekly
4. Finish with a flourish!
- Collect your skills report and portfolio
- Virtual Work Experience Reference
- Enjoy your virtual leaving party!
See the typical Work Programme here.
PROGRAMME SCHEDULE
The programme runs either in holiday time (5 days) or after school (5 weeks). Either way, you can expect to spend 20 – 25 hours on your virtual work experience, split between briefings with your boss, team meetings and project work. There are 5 phases of work…
1. RESEARCH |
2. IDEATE |
3. CREATE |
4. IMPROVE |
5. PRESENT |
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS?
+ Participants must be aged between 15 and 19 years old
+ The programme is run online with live meetings, so a good Internet connection and laptop with webcam is required
+ We expect the student to have some experience of design and design tools, ideally with Adobe Photoshop and the Adobe Creative Suite
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?
It is expected that participants will have a more fulfilling and rewarding experience than most traditional work experiences. A live boss acts as mentor to ensure your goals are achieved and that you develop a good range of industry skills. You will experience projects and tools that you might not otherwise encounter.
DO I NEED TO PREPARE ANYTHING?
It is not necessary to prepare in advance, however, as noted above, some level of existing proficiency is required. For the Creative Design Studio programme, our Creative Digital Design courses would be ideal.
What your child will learn
- Digital media production, in the context of virtual work projects that represent real-world requirements
- To receive feedback from a virtual “boss” or team leader
- To work effectively and communicate in virtual team meetings
- To use the same tools as are used in the creative design industry to conceptualise, develop and implement projects
- Develop general digital fluency in using tools like Trello, G-Suite and productivity tools
- Skills report that they can share on platforms like LinkedIn, college applications, or to future employers.
- Project-based learning, with a human touch. All students will have human feedback, delivered remotely
- Critical work skills that students don’t get enough of in school: digital skills, productivity tools, plus in-depth skills in creative and technical areas
