My name is James Coventry. I've just finished a two week placement helping out at Forster. Having graduated this summer from London College of Communication in Design for Advertising, I'm now faced with the challenge of finding employment during a pretty difficult time.

Graduating in 2010 is an exciting but daunting prospect. On one hand it offers the opportunity to take on a variety of internships, finding yourself within the creative industry. On the other, bills need to be paid and there is a pressure to find employment as quickly as possible.

I decided to take the first approach, preparing a sample of work to handout in search of work experience. My first experience of agency life was about to begin in whirlwind fashion. With Forster being the first agency I contacted, I was pleasantly surprised to receive a phone call the very next day.

I found the placement to be an incredibly valuable experience. Having come from a course with a philosophy that focuses on communications for political, social and environmental issues, I felt Forster would be somewhere I could develop this approach.

Arriving at the start of several new briefs, my first few days presented me with the opportunity to sit in on a focus group with 11-13 year olds, to help gain an insight into their eating habits.

I then worked on ideas for an application based approach to a healthy eating campaign. As well as this, I worked on a pitch for Age UK to help raise awareness of the plight of elderly over the winter period. This saw us consider approaches from creating a warm movement, to exploring the possibility of guerrilla knitting.

The biggest insight I gained from the placement was the speed that ideas come to fruition in a professional environment, compared with university. I also found it useful to see the importance of producing more than one idea when pitching to a client, creating a range of possible applications for each idea.

Overall it has been a great experience. It was hard work and involved a late night or two, but it really allowed me to develop my interests in a professional environment. Everyone was really helpful and I'm grateful for the opportunity. Cheers Forster!