Udrafter – On Assignment

Last month OGV Energy met up with Luke and Darryl Morrow to get an insight into how Udrafter is providing the skills of tomorrow, today, by helping to marry academia to industry and through the use of an App and a website, providing students with the key industry experience they require to help them showcase their skills and land employment opportunities.

This month, OGV Energy speaks to the students working on the projects in the Energy industry to understand how they are benefitting…

Amy Wilson is a Masters student currently studying Digital Marketing, but her real passion lies with graphic design.

Amy registered with Udrafter after founder Daryll Morrow introduced students to the company in one of her lectures at the Robert Gordon University. For Amy, signing up to Udrafter was a no brainer, and a way for her to develop her graphic design portfolio whilst still studying for her Masters degree. Amy completed her profile online and applied for a project posted by Eserv. Eserv were looking for a student with graphic design skills to assist in a company logo redesign.

Amy commented:

“I thought Udrafter sounded like an amazing idea, as it would give me experience and contacts as well as being able to earn a bit of money from it. I am doing some graphic design work for Eserv at the moment. I have just completed a redesign of their logo for them and I’m now going back to design some brochures and business cards. I have been able to further develop my skills in graphic design, allowing me to gain valuable experience that will help with my career. I would definitely use Udrafter again and will be on the lookout for more graphic design projects to work on. Logo design, brochure design and business card creation would be my ideal projects to work on”.

On the other side of the city, Jack Smart, who studies Communication Design at Grays School of Art, is working at Intellicore assisting in their marketing activities.

Here’s what Jack had to say about his experience:

“Upon finishing university for the summer I was looking for something to keep me busy that also still gave me the freedom to enjoy some time off - when I saw Udrafter advertising I decided to sign up, the app gave me exactly what I was looking for”.

“At the moment, I have been working with Intellicore mainly looking at their brand identity. While working with Intellicore I was lucky enough to sit in on a meeting with Fortytwo studio and Bold Street Media to discuss the brand - this was a really valuable experience for me as taking on board what was discussed gave me an insight into what it is like to be working in the industry.”

“Working throughout this project, I feel it has provided me not only with an experience that couldn't be replicated within University but also gave me a little insight into what to expect when I graduate. I definitely feel like I am more motivated to go back to uni and apply/use the skills I have picked up on”.

“I would definitely use Udrafter again - I feel that the projects in my field of work were exactly what I was looking for over the summer. There are time scales allocated for each project before you apply, so this helped me a lot with time management as I could apply for shorter term jobs or longer depending on any other commitments”.

Another student, Scott Goodman, is completing a 3-week internship at Hiretech, an offshore rentals company based out of Fintray in Aberdeenshire.

Scott commented:

“It was a great opportunity to earn some extra money during my studies and the flexibility of a one-off job made it very appealing since I could fit them around my hectic university schedule. It also provided me with the opportunity to gain valuable industry experience which I was previously lacking”.

“I am helping their head engineer to develop software that will dramatically improve the efficiency of the rental process by categorizing every piece of equipment and testing that the software works, throughout each stage. There are lots of different possible configurations and therefore I need to understand how the equipment works so that the correct categories can be modelled on the software”.

“I have previously had very little exposure to the different equipment used in an offshore environment and had only learnt about them in class. The job has enabled me to physically see this equipment and broaden my knowledge beyond the theory taught at university. It has also taught me about how equipment links with one another and about the different specifications required for certain projects. I hope this will help me with my goal of being a field engineer as I now have a great understanding of how and when the equipment is used offshore”.

“I would use Udrafter again as this job has helped me gain experience while also earning some extra cash. My ideal project would be a design engineering job which I could do throughout term for a couple days or evenings a week alongside my studies”.

Through using Udrafter, North-East businesses are harnessing the student workforce to complete a series of small projects and assignments, which highlights how students can bridge the skills gap for businesses in the energy sector.

There is a growing student population on the Udrafter platform who are looking to gain workplace experience, all whilst earning extra income, before they graduate and enter their professions.

Udrafter provides direct and quick access to student talent, allowing businesses to save on traditional on-boarding costs. North East businesses have satisfaction knowing that they are helping the next generation of graduates enter the industry by providing them with the practical experience they are looking for and they are gaining more clients in the Energy sector every week.