Time for work experience

Recently, Tobi undertook a fascinating work placement in the “time” industry. Now in Year 12, Tobi had lots to say about his work experience at Hoptroff:

“During the summer I had the privilege of completing work experience at Hoptroff, a global scale-up technology business that sells accurate, traceable, verifiable time and time synchronisation software as a service to banks around the world. They use a complex system involving atomic clocks and intricate software to provide an industry-leading quality time signal to their clients. “Time” as an industry is not something I have ever heard about, but as I look around everyday life, I see timestamps and timing in everything – whether it is trading shares or on a receipt from shopping at Sainsbury’s, to looking up a train timetable or playing on my computer. It is all around us, and I never thought about how time is derived.

“Before joining Hoptroff for my work placement, I was given a lot of background material to read about the timing industry. During my days there, I was given the opportunity to visit their office in Shoreditch and interview seven members of staff including the Chairman, CEO, Head of Digital Marketing, Corporate Projects Director, and Finance Director, as well as speak to their sales team in the USA.

“Due to the relatively small size of the company, I was able to gain a much more comprehensive knowledge of the whole company as an operation, how they plan to expand and move into new sectors such as broadcasting, as well as its enterprising culture, such as what kind of skills they were looking for in their team as they grow. I also had to complete a task for the Head of Digital Marketing where I had to sort and index all of their blog posts into an Excel spreadsheet.

“Aside from the business understanding that I gained from the experience, I also had to adapt to the challenge of balancing frequent meetings with completing the tasks that I had been assigned to a professional standard. Although I don’t have a particular interest in pursuing finTech in later life, I found this work experience to be an amazingly transformative opportunity which broadened my perception and comprehension of the working world.

“My work placement was an amazingly eye-opening experience which broadened my perception and comprehension of the working world, and the growing role technology will inevitably play in our lives. Regardless of whether I pursue a career in pure technology, there is no getting away from how technology will impact all kinds of businesses. On a more personal note, organising my time to deliver to deadlines, and juggling different priorities is something I will continue to develop whilst doing my A Levels, as it is very important in the world of work.

“I would certainly recommend that others take up work experience opportunities and would like to thank Hoptroff for such a brilliant time.”