JT has been working in partnership with Start-up Guernsey and the Digital Greenhouse along with six other leading companies within Guernsey to offer the first Discover Digital student internships this summer in Guernsey.
We met Olivia Strachan, JT’s Digital Intern to find out how she’s finding the internship so far and why digital skills are so important for the future.
What made you apply for the digital internship?
The summer between GCSE’s and A Levels is fairly significant and I wanted to fill this transitional period with a unique experience; something that would allow me to gain additional skills and practice in the working world. The discover digital internship seemed the perfect opportunity, given my passion for digital and my future education and career plans.
Why JT?
I was extremely pleased to be chosen by JT. They’re an innovative technology based company, which I knew lots about given their Channel Island roots. I was already familiar with their products and style and the project I was given would build on my knowledge and also allow me to learn new skills in what is a very interesting sector.
What project are you working on and what have you done so far?
I’m now over half way through a website review project with the aim of simplifying the content and user journey to enhance the customer experience.
Once completed, I would have managed a new website restructure from start to finish which is quite exciting.
So far I have conducted a full audit of the current site and mapped out a structure. I have also redesigned all the product icons, sourced some new images and tried my hand at business and product copywriting. I’ve also attended a WordPress training course and began to build and rearrange the new site in a testing environment. I’m really looking forward to seeing the final result.
What skills have you learned that you will take forward with you into you future career?
This experience has been invaluable to me so far. Not only has it helped me learn vital digital skills, such as how to work with WordPress and sitemaps, but it has taught me important life skills such as good communication and working as part of a team. These skills will be even more necessary to my future career as they are not profession specific.
What do you think digital skills are so important in today’s world?
I think it is essential to have digital skills no matter what I do as more and more industries are going in that direction. In a decade or so it will be impossible to do any job without digital skills and this is why it is increasingly important to develop a foundation for these skills today. Technology is already an integral part of our lives and without the skills to handle it you will end up a step behind.