Top Quotes from Shillington Graduate Panel

Curious about what it’s really like inside a Shillington classroom? We recently held a graduate panel at our London campus, where members of the public asked our graduates a variety of questions to discover what really happens at Shillington. The results were illuminating and covered topics such as classroom environment, job prospects after the course, and if the absence of a qualification really carries a stigma. 

Read on to learn more from the London graduates and find out what they’re doing since graduating in our Facebook album. 

1. How did you find the classroom environment?

“It’s super fun. When you first start it’s really exciting, you jump straight in. It is hard and it does push you but the more you put in the more you get out. All the teachers are amazing, they know what they’re talking about—if you’ve been to University it’s completely different. I did Fashion Design at Uni and felt like I left after 3 years knowing nothing, and I left here after 9 months and walked into a job straight afterwards.” —Alice

I did Fashion Design at Uni and felt like I left after 3 years knowing nothing, and I left here after 9 months and walked into a job straight afterwards.

“It’s really fun, considering people have been working all day on part-time. Because it’s fast paced it keeps you going, you’re working on something different every week which drives you.” —Rob

“It’s intense but you’ve got to remember it’s 3 months. It’s a great learning environment. Some people hadn’t even touched a Mac before and in 3 months they were producing this amazing work. One girl in my class had literally no experience and is working as a designer at the New York Times now, so that’s pretty cool.” —Henry

2. Do you think the course prepares you enough if you want to be a digital designer and work in UX/UI?

“Absolutely, I currently work in a digital role at Crab Creative and I’ve always felt really well equipped” —Henry

“So, I actually moved into digital as when I did the course at Shillington there was no digital component (10 years ago in Sydney). I transitioned so easily because all the principles I learnt at Shillington were so transferable—I learned a solid understanding of the design fundamentals which really helped.” —Rhys

3. What was portfolio time like, at the end of the course?

“You’re doing it in a very concentrated environment—the work I found harder than A-levels or University, but it’s not for very long.” —Henry

“It matters more though, you invest in it emotionally. Expect to cry, expect to hate your teachers at points but expect it to be incredibly rewarding. Your support comes from the environment, your classmates especially, we had a very active WhatsApp group.” —Rob

Your support comes from the environment, your classmates especially, we had a very active WhatsApp group.

“Our WhatsApp group went mental at portfolio time, I woke up to 500 new messages one day!” —Alice

4. At the end of the course, as well as having a portfolio did you feel prepared for the interview?

“Because you’re so submerged  throughout the whole course the teachers are constantly pushing you to present your work and question things. They’d say, ‘tell me your process, tell me what you’re doing, tell me how you got there’—and this is exactly what employers will ask” —Alice

“Towards the end of the course we had opportunities to present our work to lots of different people which was a really great experience to get used to it.” —Rob

5. Shillington doesn’t teach a qualification, does this limit your possibilities?

“Not at all, they just want to see your work and what you can do. I graduated from a design course at a reputable London University which is known for being good in the industry but it didn’t end up meaning anything on my CV. Agencies want to see what you can do, that evidence is in your portfolio.” —Elle

“Everyone has a degree these days, no one cares anymore” —Alice

6. Does the name Shillington carry any weight on your CV?

“At the company I work at it definitely does, they only hire people from Shillington” —Elle

“Some employers will have heard of it, some won’t. When I went for my interview, they’d never heard of it so I told them all about it and they were like, so you started learning graphic design less than a year ago and this is your portfolio?—they couldn’t believe it. I actually got the position in that interview. So they’d never heard of Shillington but off the back of the interview and my portfolio, they hired me.” —Alice

They’d never heard of Shillington, but off the back of the interview and my portfolio, they hired me.

We recently reported on one of our previous graduate panels in New York which you can read more about here. Catch up with us at one of our upcoming info sessions and graduate panels by making a note of our upcoming dates. 

Our next full-time intake is fast approaching at London, Manchester New York, Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. Head over to shillingtoneducation.com to find out more.