Placement Year Review at Chillingo

The Role

Role Description

Dealing with Customer service for the company as well as assisting the producers on various games that we were publishing on the iPhone iTunes store.

Working closely with the PR team of the company to ensure press were informed about the latest games on releases.

1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

I had a great insight into the world of a publishing company, very valuable experience in technologies and new media, working on iPhone/iPad games alongside Apple. Greatly enjoyed my experience.

2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?

★★★★★★★★★★

Rated 10/10

Was given a variety of roles and was given numerous responsibilities within the small company. Everyone was great to work with and i have made many friends.

3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?

★★★★★★★★★★

Rated 10/10

My manager was the head of publishing and worked on the same desk as myself, i felt my manager was approachable and willing to help. I was given lots of support on my role and guidance of how the world of publishing games works. I have learned lots of valuable information.

4. How busy were you on a daily basis?

★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 4/10

I became very busy as i was given my own games to work on (whilst being assisted) and publish onto the App Store, therefore i was in contact with various developers and had to keep on top of emails, whilst also performing my roles as an intern.

5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Rated 8/10

I was given a few of my own games to work on, which lead me to be working with developers from all around the world via email/skype. I was relied upon and felt that i was part of the team.

6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

I gained lots of experience using mobile phones and various technologies, i feel this will give me opportunities in the future when looking for future employment.

The Organisation

7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

Everyone was very friendly and always joking around, the office was perdominately male orientated and i really felt at home. We had games consoles to play on at lunch, it was very laid back and i enjoyed this.

8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

It was a very smooth process and i had no issues with how things were set up, since my first day i felt part of the team and was included in everything. I was paid correctly and took holidays as i pleased, everything was well ran from my interview up until my final day.

9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?

★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 5/10

I was given training from other employees on the job and this was enough to teach me how the role worked, i felt i had sufficient knowledge to perform to the best of my ability and therefore further investment in training was unnecessary.

10. What were the perks on your work placement?

★★★★★★☆☆☆☆

Rated 6/10

• Working from home

11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?

★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Rated 7/10

I would be interested in a permanent position at the company as i feel i was good at my role and worked well as part of the team. The company was purchased by a larger games company whilst i was there and therefore there is much more space to expand into different roles in the future.

Other Information

12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?

★★★★★★★★★★

Rated 10/10

I made good friends and was regularly invited to socialise with everyone, i will keep in touch with employees and spent my weekends out of work hanging out with the employees who i was closest with. The good atmosphere made it easy to make friends with everyone!

13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?

★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 5/10

I commuted from Manchester every day on the train which was rather expensive. The whole travel process to and from work each day cost around £8-10 and this left me with little money at times. As for socialising, Manchester was always the location we visited rather than in Macclesfield.

14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?

★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 1/10

Macclesfield had very little to offer other than a few supermarkets, it is a very small town and i never really seen one bar to visit (apart from a few rough pubs!) hence the reasoning to visit Manchester, which is only a 20 minute train ride.

15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Rated 8/10

I was invited to gigs and included in competitions etc, I was also invited to nights out aver the year and we regularly went for pub lunches which was paid for by the company!

In addition to these questions, is there any extra information you would like to leave about your experiences on your work placement that other students may be interested in?

Overall, a great place to work and i thoroughly enjoyed my time at Chillingo. Anyone with an interest in gaming and mobile technologies such as iPhones etc would love the job and i would recommend it to anyone interested in that type of work. I never came across any issues and the small group of staff (below 30) meant i became friends with numerous employees. I will be keeping in touch with the company in the future and monitoring their success in the future!