Work Experience with Daniel Coughlin
For the past week we have been joined by Daniel Coughlin who has been doing a work experience placement with us. Daniel is currently studying level 3 hardware and networking at Oldham College. Daniel describes his week with us below.
Monday 17th October 2016:
My first day of work experience with Smarter Technologies began with meeting all of the team and carefully going through health and safety procedures. John then explained the rest of the week’s schedule and who I would be working with. Alex (pictured in the image above) then talked me through some of the systems and procedures and gave me some insight into what it’s like working in IT. My first task was to set up a PC by first installing an operating system and software. Afterwards we had to make sure it would suit the needs of the client by installing specialist software. I did a practice first and then actually set one up for one of Smarter Technologies’ clients which was a great accomplishment.
Tuesday 18th October 2016:
Today I was able to sit in on a health and safety meeting in which employees discussed any accidents or near misses they may have had and also if they felt any health and safety procedures needed to be reviewed. It was interesting to see what goes on behind the scenes at a business.
Wednesday 19th October 2016:
Half way through my week and things have been going well. Most of today has been spent with password recovery which is the process of obtaining passwords from data that has been stored in or transmitted by a computer system. This was done by using a piece of software. Alex also talked me through the types of projects that are currently happening at Smarter Technologies which was really interesting and gave me a lot of insight into what its like to be an IT Technician.
Thursday 20th October 2016:
It was a 7am start today so that we could visit client in Bolton for a ‘Monthly Maintenance’ visit. This was to carry out standard maintenance tasks and to resolve issues that users have decided do not merit immediate attention. It was great to meet some real life clients and provide help with any issues they have had throughout the month. I was able to help repair a PC which has given me a lot of confidence for the future.
Friday 21st October :
My last day at Smarter Technologies. Looking back on my week I would say I most enjoyed using IT from a business point of view and implementing it into the real world. I’ve also learned many things which will be useful in an IT environment. This experience has helped me to feel more confident working in this industry and means I now have a reference to assist me in getting a future IT job.
To find out more about Smarter Technologies check out our blog here.
