Rebecca Mercer earned her Multimedia Production diploma in 2005. Originally from
North Battleford, Sask., she spent four months working as a media specialist at the college and started working fulltime in that same position a year later.
“I was one of the 11 students from the Multimedia Production program who applied to and was accepted into the media specialist practicum position. We were all located in one room and this made our area very creative and collaborative and at times very crazy. At the end of the practicum, the college decided that it would like to keep many of us in a project position to continue the work we were doing. This required that I reapply and go through the interview process again. When the project timeline was over, full-time positions opened up and, once again, I applied and had another interview and was welcomed into the new position.
“Being able to learn and grow in a safe environment is the key to a good practicum experience. It really is a good time to explore who you are as an employee and learn what you can about working with others. Also, having people more experienced surrounding you gives you a chance to pick up on some new skills and make connections.
“I had a great time doing my practicum at Lethbridge College. I used to be a very shy person but the atmosphere allowed me to really come out of my shell. Even though the practicum is done and I’m employed full time as a media specialist, I’ve never stopped learning.”
Max Koshney earned his diploma in Computer Information Technology (CIT) in 2011. The Lethbridge native worked at Tangle Media for his practicum experience and was hired full-time after convocation.
“At Tangle we do primarily web application development – meaning everything from small portfolio websites to full online business automation systems. I had never programmed in PHP (the main language we utilize) when I started my practicum, so it was a bit of a steep learning curve. I elected to do my final CIT project in PHP to help slingshot the learning process and haven’t looked back.
“After spending my practicum learning the ins-and-outs of Tangle Media’s development process and programming tools, I transitioned directly into a paid position. My practicum offered me an extended training period and helped to leverage myself into a position where I would be a very effective full-time employee – the transition was quite easy after my 200 hours. Right from the get go with Tangle Media I was working on real projects for real clients. This helped me understand and learn the process of working on live code as well as handling client relations.
“The college gave me a great set of tools and a base level of knowledge needed to get my foot in the door, but my practicum showed me how it all comes together in a business sense – in the real world.”
Kayla Nash earned a degree in Fashion Design and Marketing in 2010 and in Communication Arts-Print Journalism in 2012. She came to the college from North Battleford, Sask., and spent both of her practicums working in different roles for Lethbridge Living magazine, where she now is employed full-time as an editorial assistant.
“When it came time to find our practicum hosts during the second year of the Fashion Design and Marketing program, I really had no idea where I was going to go. Luckily, Lethbridge Living features Collide-O-Scope, the year-end fashion show put on by the School of Media and Design, in its March-April issue each year. That photo shoot was my first practicum job, and that was the first time I met Jenn Schmidt-Rempel, the editor. After that day, I went in to the office about once or twice a week and did little odd jobs for them.
“When it came time to apply for a practicum my second year in Print Journalism, it was easy. This time around, I was able to do much more. Jenn had me writing for the magazine and online, editing, proofing, blogging, basically anything a regular employee would do.
“For a good practicum experience I think it’s really important to make sure your practicum placement is one that you want, not one that is just available. I went through two different programs at the college that required practicum hours and saw some of my peers end up with a practicum host they didn’t really want. Also ask lots and lots of questions. It’s how you learn. And don’t be afraid to ask to try something you want to try.”
