Leading games studio helping students gain industry experience

A leading games studio is helping to nurture the future careers of eleven talented Teesside University students.

Games studio Double Eleven has offered 14 placements this year, with eleven of those one-year internships secured by Teesside University students who are completing studies in a range of subjects.

Double Eleven, which has offices in Middlesbrough and Malaysia, has forged close links to Teesside University in recent years, initially through offers of student placements.

This developed into a memorandum of understanding in 2019, with both organisations pledging to work together to encourage and develop collaborative activities.

Double Eleven has been involved in developing games such as Prison Architect, Minecraft Dungeons, Lego Harry Potter, Goat Simulator Rust: Console Edition and most recently Fallout 76.

Courtney Pattison, 22, from Middlesbrough, is among the Teesside University interns. The second-year BA (Hons) Accounting and Finance student said: “I’ve had an interest in the games industry for many years and knew a lot about Double Eleven. I applied for the role primarily because I had a passion for improving an organisation's culture, as well as supporting people throughout their career.

“I am going to be working in different departments, such as recruitment, and learning and development, as part of the people and culture placement.

“I hope to have a successful placement year and have a positive impact on those who I work with. I would also like to continue using my knowledge and experience to deliver exciting and informative workshops to enhance the skills of those around me.

“Applying for the internship was daunting, but I would encourage others in a similar position to me who may look at a job application and think they might never be hired as their degree or skillset is different to the job role, to just take the leap and apply. We all have transferable skills, and it could be the best decision you’ve ever made.”

MSc Computer Games Programming student Toby Cotton, who is completing a coding internship, said: “I heard about the internship through word of mouth, and it was also recommended to me by Teesside University’s Student Futures team.

“That recommendation made me want to apply, coupled with my knowledge of the excellent quality of games Double Eleven has been involved in, such as Minecraft Dungeons and Goat Simulator.

“I had also spoken to some Double Eleven employees through an open house event held during the University’s Animex event.”

Toby added: “I hope that after this year of experience I'll be able to finish my degree with a more agile set of skills thanks to my time with Double Eleven, with the hope of using all the knowledge and industry experience to secure employment.”

As well as offering opportunities to help students and graduates flourish while helping to retain talent in the region, Double Eleven also recently announced it was giving all staff a £2,500 pay rise to help with the rising costs of living during a time of economic uncertainty.

Iain Farrell, of Double Eleven, said: “Our partnership with Teesside University continues to help us to find great interns who become colleagues once they’ve finished their degree. We’re excited to see the 2022 intake grow at Double Eleven.”

Siobhan Fenton, Associate Dean (Enterprise and Business Engagement) at Teesside University’s School of Computing, Engineering & Digital Technologies, said: “We are really thrilled by the number and scale of Teesside University talent employed by Double Eleven, who we continue to have a great relationship with.

“It is always exciting to see our students embark on their first steps towards careers with digital businesses, especially those which play a key role in helping to develop and retain talent in our region.”

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