It’s March 2010 and a lucky group of Diploma in IT students from across London attended an exclusive event at lastminute.com’s headquarters in Victoria
Teenagers from Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College and Sir John Cass Sixth Form College in East London were invited to a fast-paced day of activities at one of the world’s top entertainment retail websites. The students heard from a range of employees - from a sandwich year student to the Chief Executive - about what it’s really like to work at lastminute.com, and took part in workshop activities such as redesigning the website.
The event was organised by e-skills UK in partnership with lastminute.com, in order to give students studying the Diploma in IT a chance to see inside a global business and learn how technology plays a vital role within commerce. Students studying for the employer-backed qualification learn about IT in a business context, providing them with vital skills in communication, technology and project management.
Bringing learning to life
"Today’s event with Lastminute has given me a clearer understanding of how IT is used in every business. It was a Brilliant day!” said one of the students.
The day began with a ‘Day in the Life’ talk from two young employees of lastminute.com – a sandwich year student from the University of Brighton who is working in the Marketing department, and a Senior UI Developer who is responsible for design of the website. Students got the chance to hear how they got to where they are today, what their job entails on a daily basis and what an IT career has in store for them in the future.
Ian McCaig, CEO of lastminute.com also took the time out of his busy schedule to speak to the students, providing an entertaining history of lastminute.com, highlighting the importance of innovation and technology to the success of the brand.
The main event on the day was a one-hour workshop, where the students were split into four groups and each given a different area of the business to ‘revamp’ alongside lastminute.com employees. The different routes to market included the current lastminute.com website, the use of Smart Phone apps, social networking and telephone booking. The winning group, from Sir John Cass, presented their plans for how the website could be improved, focusing on the music section of the site.
93% of the students who attended said the event made them more likely to pursue a career in IT!
Click to find out more about lastminute.com as a company