Skills gained and usefulness to employment

Personal Development Planning
I feel that my evaluative skills have vastly improved as a result of my personal development planning throughout the course along with my organisation and planning skills. This would benefit me for going into employment as I feel that I would be much more capable of writing an effective CV along with showing any potential employers how I have improved over the last couple of years.

Attending lectures, seminars, tutorials etc
I think that I have become much more prepared for lectures as the course has progressed by making sure that I always have the right equipment ready. I have also improved by undertaking further research to supplement lectures and improve my knowledge. I feel that I can now concentrate for much longer periods of time compared to when I started the course which would be a huge benefit for when I aim to gain employment, this is because I will be much more focused on the job in hand and be much less likely to lose concentration.

Seminars, group work, team projects
Working in groups and obtaining and supplying feedback has given me several vital skills in terms of employability. I can now show designs to my peers and be much more prepared to respond to either positive or negative feedback which is a huge bonus. I can also give feedback to other people in a much more constructive manner. I feel that this would be beneficial for employment as I will know not to take any negative feedback to any of my designs to heart and also give productive feedback to other people’s designs. I think that this will be very common in the industry so is a key skill to have.

Oral presentation
I feel that this is the area that I have improved on the most since the start of the course. I had very limited experience with presentations before the course so the fact that we have undertaken several presentations has given me good communication skills and also more confidence. The interactive media industry involves presenting your ideas and designs so being able to give an effective presentation is a vital skill to have looking forward to employment.

Writing essays and other forms of academic writing
I feel that my evaluative skills have certainly improved from having to write essays throughout the course. I also feel that my referencing skills have improved greatly with each essay that I have written. I feel that this will be beneficial for gaining employment as I will be able to accurately evaluate each design that I do which would be effective when having to present ideas to either work colleagues or clients. I would also be much more capable of referencing where I have gathered material which would make me much less susceptible to breaking copyright law.

Maths and statistics
I have used maths and statistics several times throughout the course which have definitely improved my skills. The majority of the time that I spend using this is when I am creating screen designs and implementing the designs. Due to the fact that everything has to be 100% correct and measured accurately it is key that I can calculate everything properly. I have also used maths and statistics when having to undertake research throughout the course and summarising it in the form of a graph or table. I feel that this will be beneficial for when I move into employment as I will be able to evidence any quantitative research that I have undertaken for any project much easier than I would have been able to before the course.

Observation
I have used my observation skills several times throughout the course but mainly when I am undertaking a competitive analysis. By doing this task I have had to research into how many competitors are in the local area and the strengths and weaknesses of each competitor. This could be useful when I gain employment as if I decided to go into freelance web design I would be able to monitor who I would be competing with and how it would be possible to gain an advantage over them in any way.

My observational skills have also been tested when it comes to making sure that all my work is accurate and that my work is of a suitable standard before I hand any assignment in. If my observational skills were not to a good standard I would be making silly mistakes, this is something that I have managed to eradicate from my work compared to the early part of the course. This would be vital for going into employment because if I was constantly handing in work with errors it would look extremely unprofessional.

Research
This is a key element of the course and I am often spending many hours a week researching into different areas before I start any given task or project. I think that research skills are essential as they enable to you to gain a much more in-depth understanding of what you are doing which should allow you to create much more effective work. This would be beneficial when gaining employment as I am undoubtedly going to encounter many problems when I enter the workplace and may not have sufficient knowledge in certain areas, being able to effectively research and gain that knowledge would be extremely advantageous.

Exams and revision
The only way that the grades are handed out on this course is by creating portfolio work. This is different to sitting an essay but I feel that it is much more accurate reflection of your ability. The skills that I have learnt from having to create assignments are working to deadlines and being able to create time plans organising how I am going to complete each part of the project. I feel that with the industry being based heavily on time management it is extremely beneficial to be able to plan and complete work to a set deadline.