I have just finished a six-week summer placement from Teesside University at Tees Valley Arts. With my role as a creative assistant I have had the opportunity to work on a large variety of tasks and roles.
A large majority of what I have been doing is organising web content as well as both digital and physical archives for TVA. These tasks gave me the opportunity to improve my skills involved with web design, organisation, and research. Previous to the placement I had never heard of WordPress. By the end of these six weeks I have managed to create 125 entirely new pages for the website as well as adding content to existing pages via WordPress. This was an invaluable skill to gain.
I have also had the opportunity to assist with different events and workshops that TVA are involved with. I spent much of my time taking photographs of the activities and the people involved. Assisting with these events has helped improve my confidence drastically as well as meet a lot of interesting people. All of these days spent on events offered a unique experience and opened my eyes as to how things happen professionally and outside of education.
I would advise anyone to consider volunteering or taking a placement with TVA. I am pleased that I decided to take this opportunity. TVA is a great place to work in which you can help the company and in turn, skills are gained, confidence is boosted, and you get to work with lots of lovely, interesting people.