Investigate: Before my visit I found out this about the company

THAP was started 3 years ago by Thomas Howson and Adam Paxton. It is a web and software design house and has 3 full time members of staff and various part-time staff including one that specialises in ‘Flash’.

The operated purely by customer recommendation and their systems goes through Teesside University which is where their office is based.

Observe: While at the company I job shadowed an Employee. This is what happened:

• Employee Name: Adam Thaxton
• Job Role:

The start of the day is 8.30 when Adam open up the company office. He checks the work to be done that day and then begins his tasks. The rest of the team do likewise. There is an office for the staff to either meet with clients or discuss via the phone updated and support for websites.

This is the routine for the day and also includes a team meeting and then the majority of the time working on developing their web based products or software development.

Interview: I talked with a member of staff to find out more about their role. This is what I found out:

• Employee Name:
• Job Role:
• Pathway from school to their current position:
  
• Where do they see themselves in the future:
  

Participate: I took part in a work related activity. This is what happened:

• Description of task:
  The web designer- front end design for a work related task to produce a simple web page for a school. The task involved correct use of page design and ‘tagging’. HTML was the main code used with CSS styles and behaviours. The webpage has to consist of tables, ordered lists, quotes, internal and external web links. The task was very enjoyable and the results looked very effective.
• Notes:
  

Imagine: From the perspective of a student the advice I would give is:

The use of web design and ICT systems development is an interesting area. It combines both creatively and technical skills. The working environment is flexible as long as deadlines are met. Some members of staff come in later but leave at 8pm ICT is at the forefront of most jobs these days but with web design and software development it is also a ‘fun’ and rewarding activity. I advice students to learn a programme language and CSS behaviours and styles.

Summarise: The things I have found beneficial from the day(s) in the work environment are:

It was interesting to see how university students can work with enterprise schemes to make a successful business. It also showed me a good skills base at A Level can lead to other subjects not just ICT. Adam can from a non ICT degree background but studied some ICT within the degree. I learnt new techniques and skills in web design and how to apply them correctly.

I can also share my experience with students to help them understand the need for project management and I now have new ideas how to teach this. There also seems to be a skills gap between what we are teaching students now and what they require in the future for industrial standard work.