BSc (Hons) Creative Media Technology graduate, Ryan Gledhill shares with us his experience studying at Leeds Beckett University and his favourite thing about the course.

 

Course: BSc (Hons) Creative Media Technology

 

Tell us a bit about yourself and what you've been doing since you graduated?

I loved Leeds that much I decided to stay around after graduation. I actually secured a job working as a Frontend Developer at the company I had my second year placement at, which was really exciting for me. It felt great to gain the experience I did on placement and build great working relationships with people at the company for them to believe in me and employ me after I graduated. I also did a bit of work as a Freelance Designer on the side, which really helped with my confidence. Just recently in January 2022 I moved to London to start a new role as a JavaScript Developer at a fantastic agency in Shoreditch.

What have been the highlights and challenges of your career so far?

The top highlights so far have been the people I have met along the way across companies and clients, and having the chance to work on some really cool projects for a range of clients including Paul McCartney, Desperados and Jet2, to name a few.

The biggest challenges I have faced so far came in the early stages of my career and overcoming the steep learning curve of what it takes to be a developer these
days. With so many languages, frameworks, and ways of working to grasp, it felt like mission impossible at times in the earlier days!

How has your experience studying at Leeds Beckett influenced you and your career?

I managed to gain a breadth of experience whilst studying at Leeds due to the variety of the course and taking a year out on placement. Taking this experience

with me has allowed me to move forward in my career, secure more freelance clients and confidently and successfully move into new roles within the industry. I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for Leeds Beckett.

What attracted you to study your course?

The open day did a really great job in showing what the course was capable of, and how students can go from creating entry level products in their first year, to creating products of a professional standard in their final year.

I was drawn to the fact that the course covered all things digital, which was great. It allowed me to explore loads of creative areas and gain understanding and
experience before selecting a few skills I wanted to develop further. I’ve had so many people say they wished they had studied such a varied course rather than focussing on one thing!

What did you enjoy about your course and what advice would you give someone thinking about studying this course?

I enjoyed the way that the course was structured and how no matter your starting experience, you have the opportunity to learn everything you need to in a logical and fun way. The course tutors often base assessments on recent real-life industry work, and also get external digital agencies to actually set live briefs based on their commercial work. I also enjoyed being known as an individual, as the course doesn’t have hundreds of students in each year group. It meant that you could get really helpful feedback, have chats and generally build a good relationship with the course tutors.

If you’re thinking about studying Creative Media Technology, great! It’s the perfect course if you’re into all things digital and creative. You will get a taste of the main digital skills, the chance to work in the digital industry on placement (which is one of the best for culture and opportunities) and create some really cool work along the way!

What's next for you?

Having just moved to London, I plan to stay here for the foreseeable future as a developer and remain doing some freelance design on the side. I am looking forward to what the future holds!