Over summer this year we had a new member of staff, Georgia, an aspiring 3D animation student just about to start university.

For the few weeks Georgia was a part of our team she shadowed our Creative Director Jeremy and experienced the fast paced development of our Virtual Reality builds.

We asked Georgia how she felt her first look into the working world of 3D development went:

“I am so pleased to have had the opportunity to intern for a few days a week this summer with the Fusion Works Team.”

This experience has given me a fantastic boost ahead of starting Uni in September to study 3D animation and modelling. I’ve had access to some fantastic resources as well as invaluable first-hand knowledge from the Fusion Works team. This internship has proved to be an exciting and practical way to gain industry-relevant understanding of this specialised subject, as well as proving its applications within business.

As well as having access to amazing tutorial videos on the Lynda training site, I’ve been able to experience the Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear VR, and Google cardboard. I loved seeing the innovative development of material for exciting Virtual Reality applications, such as a roller coaster for the Google Cardboard. It was amazing to see the development of this roller coaster, from the early modelling stages through to the finished product.

I can definitely vouch for the importance of interning as a stepping stone for any student. Personally, I know the new understanding I’ve gained will see me starting my course confidently and with a great new perspective. I can see myself using this experience to be proactive in the future, and constantly push to improve my levels of experience (and consequently CV!) in both creative and business-minded ways.

The benefits of interning are numerous, but the three key points are:

(i) Learning the tools/ programmes the industry you’re interested in uses. This will not only give you a head start before using these tools at university, but also give you the knowledge on how they are applied to a project.

(ii) Seeing up close how a project is developed and the challenges that are overcome along the way. Ask questions, find out the reasons behind particular decisions.

(iii) Experience for your CV, it speaks volumes about you as person, taking the initiative to explore your future.

Whilst there are government schemes you can join for internships, a lot of smaller companies will consider a more informal approach of contact. It’s worth writing to a few and seeing if they’re willing to provide the time for you to shadow or gain a few days’ experience.