Meet our students

Here at GOSS, we are champions of student learning and keen advocates of giving students the workplace skills they need for future employability. This is a subject close to our core values and over the years many students have been through our doors to learn about what we do at GOSS.

Over the past few years, we've introduced roles for placement students and graduates, with some placement students returning to work with us in graduate roles. To get a feel of what working life is like for our placement students and graduates, we've caught up with our current student roster to find out a bit more about what they like about GOSS...

Shaun Howells

Software Developer

How long have you been at GOSS?: I've been working for GOSS in some form for over 5 years now. I first arrived at GOSS in July 2017 as a placement student from Plymouth University. I started working for GOSS full-time in July 2019 after completing my Computer Science degree.

Why did you choose GOSS for your placement year/after graduating?: I choose GOSS for my placement year after seeing a presentation about them by a previous placement student who was very enthusiastic about his time at GOSS. After seeing this presentation, I attended a jobs fair at the university and saw a booth that GOSS had set up. I spent some time talking to them and I was impressed with everything I'd seen about them, so I applied for a placement and got the position. I thoroughly enjoyed my placement, and I was given a full-time job offer for when I finished my degree which I accepted as I enjoyed it so much.

What do you enjoy about working at GOSS?: The working hours can be quite flexible which helps with keeping a good work-life balance. There's also plenty of events that are run by people at GOSS (e.g., Christmas parties, baking sales, or Easter Egg hunts) which makes it feel like a welcoming place to work.

What is your biggest achievement so far at GOSS?: One of the things I'm most proud of is that I was able to quickly become a vital member of my team and I can now confidently work on every bit of software we maintain. During my placement, it didn't take long for me to begin writing code that's still in use today (such as SharePoint and GovNotify integrations). I've worked on a lot of projects since I've been here (over 1200 different pieces of work have my name on them in some way) so I've been involved with a lot of important work over the years.

What do you like about your team?: When I first started working in this team, everyone was very welcoming which made it a lot easier to get started. I was also given a lot of help which helped to get me up to speed with our technology stack and procedures. The team is just as friendly and nice to work with 5 years on.

What is the best aspect of working life at GOSS?: There's always a lot of useful work to be done so everything feels like it has a purpose. We work very closely with our clients so you can see your work making a real difference.

Melita Hosken

Bid Writer and Coordinator

How long have you been at GOSS?: I'm coming up to the end of my first two months here!

Why did you choose GOSS after graduating?: I'm an English and History graduate from the University of Plymouth, and I fell in love with the city while studying. The opportunity to stay in Plymouth, with a job in an industry relevant to my degree, was a rare gem - and GOSS is in close contact with the University, so I felt assured that they'd be an amazing company before I even had an interview. Also, their willingness to hire a fresh graduate was amazing - careers at the minute are hard to gain entry to for graduates due to demand for experience - but GOSS focused on my talents and academic work, and the connections they make with graduates and students will be long lasting because of that willingness.

What do you enjoy about working at GOSS?: How friendly everyone is - we're all very close-knit, and we celebrate everyone's achievements. The products we sell are thoughtfully curated and bespoke, so writing about them is never really the same. Every day is a school day and learning how clients use our products is incredibly inspiring.

What is your biggest achievement so far at GOSS?: I'd say just grasping how large GOSS is and learning how to sell our products - coming from a creative background, learning how everything fits together and works is a real task. Two months ago, I would have said that me understanding anything about this industry would be near impossible. Now, with all I've learned already, I'm a confident Bid Writer with a steady understanding of how to help GOSS grow and improve.

What do you like about your team?: The Sales Team is a fun and encouraging bunch, and we're all quite close. In the Bid Team, there are only two of us - myself and my manager Julie - and we're already falling into a nice rhythm of how we work together. Bids are a complicated puzzle and can be stressful due to the sheer time pressure and attention to detail they require, so there's a perfect balance of hard work and determination, and then conversation and laughter to balance the stress.

What is the best aspect of working life at GOSS?: I mentioned it before, but the fact is that every day is a school day. Constantly learning how to improve is refreshing and fun, and there's no lapse in our desire to further our goals. The flexibility is also great - I can work from home or come into the office, and I rely on public transport so having a backup to work from home is a great addition to my working life.

Louis Devlin

Developer Placement Student

How long have you been at GOSS?: I've been at GOSS for just over two months now!

Why did you choose GOSS for your placement year?: GOSS was local to home and where I was studying and seemed like a positive place to work. From my interview, I got the sense that it was a nice environment to be in and that people wanted to support your learning while being on placement.

What do you enjoy about working at GOSS?: When working on client work, there is so much variation to what you could be doing which makes no two days or tasks the same.

What is your biggest achievement so far at GOSS?: After my induction, I started working on an R&D tool for the standard site project that really helped me learn the basic working processes of JIRA and GitLab and this is something that could potentially keep growing alongside other work I have to become a useful tool to help support the migration of a web application to use the standard site dependency.

What do you like about your team?: Everyone is friendly and willing to help support me as I'm beginning to start working on client work and help me learn and improve my skills.

What is the best aspect of working life at GOSS?: Having the option to still go into the office as some companies post-COVID haven't really offered this, it's nice to still see the people that you work with remotely when you go into the office.

Edward Cull

Marketing Placement Student

How long have you been at GOSS?: I joined in August for my placement year so have been here just over two months.

Why did you choose GOSS for your placement year?: I'm currently a business student at the University of Exeter and wanted to find a placement that was close to where I live in Tavistock. At university one of my favourite modules was marketing so I really wanted to improve my knowledge and skill set for that subject, so I started looking for placements in Plymouth and found GOSS. When I started looking into the company, I was intrigued by the product they sell and how that changes the way you market them. I also wanted to work in a place where I have the responsibility and the power to make impactful changes, this was evident from GOSS' website and the interviews I attended.

What do you enjoy about working at GOSS?: I enjoy being given responsibility and having a role within the business, especially as it's my first proper job. I also love how friendly everyone else is and how everyone is willing to answer questions and make me feel welcomed into the company.

What is your biggest achievement so far at GOSS?: I would say absorbing all the info over the first 4 weeks. The induction programme has been amazing, and I really enjoyed all the training. I am very proud of how quickly I understood the internal programs, especially all the Adobe apps.

What do you like about your team?: When I joined, I had no idea what to expect as this is my first proper job, when meeting the sales team, I quickly discovered how friendly everyone was and loved the banter. In the Marketing team, there are only 2 of us, myself, and my manager Shaun. Shaun has been incredible in the training and has been there to answer any questions I have. I have also been given responsibilities already which is something I am very happy about.

What is the best aspect of working life at GOSS?: I personally really enjoy the hybrid working which allows me to come to the office or work from home and the flexible hours allow me to finish slightly early on a Friday if I work longer on other days.