My Summer in a design studio
My name is Aaron Stirratt and I am entering the fourth year of my studies of Sport Development and Coaching at the University of Abertay in Dundee. This course consists of multiple modules that cover many areas of sport compared to just coaching. Over the years of my degree, I have studied sports coaching, sport psychology, biomechanics, physiology, sociology and social aspects of sport, work placement, managing sports policy, success over failure and people planet profit (business module).
What is my job?
My position at Yellow Cherry Digital is specific to the administrative side of the company. This includes the recordings of any company expenses and receipts in to their cloud accounting tool, chasing late payments, depositing cheques, managing client direct debits. My job also consists of answering phone calls and diverting the request to the appropriate member of staff and setting up client folders as a physical and digital copy and inputting their data into the filing cabinet and to the database. Another part of my job is to maintain a clean studio for the other employees which includes early morning cleaning of washing up dishes, hoovering and emptying bins. I make sure that the studio is consistently stocked full of kitchen and cleaning supplies and general equipment. I also, prepare for staff meetings, greeting the clients and making tea and coffees for them.
After settling in at YCD, I began undergoing many other tasks such as managing, renewing and transferring domains for clients, updating databases, collecting sample music for websites as well as photo and general editing for websites in development.
When I started my position with the company, my idea of what tasks I would be given, to some extent matched the jobs I had been assigned to. With my previous work in admin, I felt confident that I would be able to be an effective employee for the company regarding the administrative side. The more creative aspects of the job that I have done so far regarding writing video descriptions, photo and website editing is a new and exciting experience to learn about and work through. I was challenged to interpret these tasks in my own way and see what I came up with. The fact of not knowing exactly how the rest of the team wanted each area of the task done made it initially difficult but the challenge was enjoyable in testing my abilities in areas I am not usually strong in.
Throughout my working day at the yellow cherry, I have a repetitive morning routine that consists of studio cleaning, recording expenses, filing, opening mail and checking the answering machine. I find this useful for me be alert and focused right at the beginning of the day. After this hour routine, I will be assigned work for different parts of the day which can change depending on what help is needed for different members of staff. This makes the work enjoyable as it is never repetitive, which allows me to gain experience in other areas that my colleagues specialise in.
What do I think about my time working for the company?
Working for the Yellow Cherry has exceeded my expectations with some of the tasks being beyond what I came to do. I have gained new skills working here such as confidently answering the phone and speaking to clients, being able to do work on different software and computers, learning how effective having a project management tool is for keeping track of what jobs need to be done each day. I have improved my timing for getting tasks completed within the required time allocated in my planner. I have gained more confidence in working independently and improving my use of initiative to do work around the studio without being instructed.
Would I recommend working for Yellow Cherry Digital?
I think that the Yellow Cherry Digital is a great place to work as it is a friendly, hard-working and vibrant atmosphere. I would definitely recommend this company to others whether you specialise in marketing, video and social media editing or you are looking for general work, Yellow Cherry is a business that you will not get tired working for and the company can give people the opportunity to gain brand new skills to better their work experience. For students that following specific media, editing or marketing route, the team here can give you the guidance, motivation and knowledge for improving your career path.