Liam has grand designs for the future
Struggling to get his foot in the door of the media industry, aspiring animator and graphic designer, Liam Williams, feared he would never find his dream job or have the opportunity to showcase and develop his talents.
The 23-year-old from Caerphilly is now brimming with confidence after landing a placement with CC4 Interactive Design and Media Company through Skillset's Apprenticeship in Creative and Digital Media scheme.
Just six weeks into his placement with CC4, Liam has already been putting his skills to good use.
"I'm just loving the whole experience," he beams, "I've been jazzing up the layout of a golf club website and I've also been focusing on developing animated character designs for the CC4 website. I'm learning about new software and graphic systems and getting to grips with working on various projects. The last six weeks have flown by and I've really been enjoying it so far and can't wait to develop and learn even more over the next ten months."
The Apprenticeship has done wonders for his confidence and has given him a real insight into the media industry.
"The experience of dealing with clients at CC4 is teaching me much more than just graphic design," he explains, "I'm learning more about how to deal and correspond with clients, whether that's face to face, over the phone or by email. I'm learning how to get the information I need from clients to make sure that the end product satisfies their needs."
As part of the Apprenticeship, Liam also spends one day a week at Coleg Glan Hafren with the other apprentices.
"What I've found with the Apprenticeship is that it's a much more practical, hands-on way of learning and developing, and it prepares you for the real world of work. Even at college, the things I'm learning can be used in the workplace and I'm just absorbing lots of information and picking up new things every day. What's great is that you meet all the other apprentices and we can all share our skills. Everyone's got different backgrounds. We've got camera people, people who want to work in production and we all chip in on joint projects."
Liam is now more than optimistic about his future prospects, "I'm getting more qualifications and learning lots of new things at college and in the workplace - which can only benefit my future career," he says.
"It's very difficult to get into the media industry and I really hope this Apprenticeship will open new doors for me so that I can continue to pursue what I love doing. I see this year as a golden opportunity to develop and push myself even further."
Liam has nothing but praise for the Skillset Apprenticeship scheme, "If it wasn't for the Apprenticeship, I would probably still be looking for a job and getting knockback after knockback and there are only so many of them that people can take."
"It's a great way of tapping in to the abundance of talent that's out there and most employers look for experience when you go for jobs. I've now got CC4 on my CV and no one can take that away from me."