Mobile gaming company AppBox Media launches annual APPrentice competition to find techies of tomorrow
Computer whizzes have the chance to nab themselves £3,000 and a one of Britain's leading tech companies
MAKE it an appy new year by bagging a £3,000 cash prize and a job with one of Britain’s leading tech companies.
AppBox Media is launching its annual APPrentice competition to find the techies of tomorrow.
The challenge is for teams of up to four to develop an app from scratch, from scoping out its potential and planning a commercial strategy for the app to building it and marketing it through social media.
Teams will receive guidance and advice from AppBox’s game developers and a project manager.
All submissions will be added to the developer’s Google Play and Apple App Store accounts and will be marketed under the AppBox Beta brand.
The number of downloads and quality of reviews each receives will account for 50 per cent of the scoring.
The remaining 50 per cent will be judged by the AppBox team on the criteria of graphics, sound, gameplay and overall quality.
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The developer’s strategic director Mike Davison said: “AppBox Media has made significant steps towards achieving its initial goals and we want to attract the best talent to help us further our incredible growth. We were impressed with all of the entries in last year’s competition.
“The levels of creativity and implementation were astonishingly high and we can’t wait to see what this year’s batch of students bring to the table.”
The winner is guaranteed a job with the company — but AppBox also aims to hire between 20 and 60 graduates.
A member of last year’s winning team, Sam Clarke, now a game developer at the firm, said: “Winning the inaugural APPrentice competition last year was insane.
“To land a job straight out of university, doing something you love, is an opportunity too good to miss. I can’t recommend it highly enough and urge all qualifying students to get involved.”
Registration for the competition closes on January 8 and apps must be submitted by March 8.
For more information, you should head over to .
University of Westminster graduate Scott Anderson, 22, from Wembley, North West London, was on the APPrentice competition’s winning team last year – bagging a developer job with AppBox Media.
Scott, above, said: “I grew up playing video games on consoles and handheld devices. Later, I got introduced to apps when I got my first iPhone.
"I studied games development at uni and bought an iPad as I was getting interested in mobile games. I started a YouTube channel focusing on mobile app games, created one for my final year project and entered it into the APPrentice competition.
“I learned how to develop for mobile and optimising for lower-spec devices, as mobiles can’t run high-end PC or console graphics. I also learnt how to publish and market a game to get downloads.
“We won and I was rewarded with a job. No two days are the same and bringing your ideas to life is exciting.
“For those applying for APPrentice, make it simple. Don’t create something too ambitious and make something addictive people will want to play.”
Lonely at work
Sometimes a hive of human activity can be the loneliest place. More than a third of employees polled in a survey admitted to feeling isolated in the workplace.
New research by Belonging Space, the culture consultancy, also found that 27 per cent did not feel a sense of belonging to their organisation.
Isabel Collins, co-founder of the company, said: “Humans are a tribal species. It’s natural for people to feel a stronger sense of belonging in smaller groups.
“It also comes from being creatures of habit. Belonging is connected to shared practice, shared purpose, with the people we see every day.”
She added: “Companies need to work harder at creating a sense of belonging.”
Give time, get ahead
Christmas is a time to think of others, and volunteering can give you skills to help your career.
When Kingsley Boateng, 23, from Hackney, East London, got his law degree he applied to City Year UK, a charity that assists young people in tackling educational inequality, which helped him to bag a contract at a law firm. Here he reveals five things he learnt.
1. Having a mentor is a great way to gain career insights.
2. Doing a service year will push you. It showed employers my determination.
3. Volunteering has allowed me to add useful experience to my CV such as project management.
4. It left me with an invaluable set of contacts and some new friends.
5. Structured support is so important. Guidance helped me set realistic career goals to work towards.
Firm's all MOD cons
American pizza chain MOD believes offering former prisoners a second chance is a recipe for success.
Last Thursday it opened its flagship UK restaurant in London’s Leicester Square and is on the lookout for talented new staff members.
It is the fastest-growing food chain in the US, with more than 175 locations – and now it has four restaurants over here.
The company is committed to creating a positive social impact in the communities it serves, hiring people many employers would ignore – ex-convicts.
Neighbourhoods benefit too, says Scott Svenson, MOD’s co-founder and chief executive.
Every time a new store opens, the firm donates proceeds from the first day of trading to a local community charity.
He said: “Our arrival in London is one of the most exciting milestones for MOD.
“Having launched our first retail brand, Seattle Coffee Company, in Covent Garden two decades ago, it is thrilling to be returning to the city that provided so much inspiration for MOD.
“We are driven by our belief that a business will thrive when putting people first.”
Good call to join BT
Ring in 2017 with a job in customer service with BT.
The telecoms giant is looking to fill 500 new roles, in addition to its previously announced target of filling 1,000 UK and Ireland customer service jobs by the end of March 2017.
Most of the positions will be frontline ones in customer care for BT Consumer.
Existing BT staff can earn a £500 bonus under a “Refer a Friend” scheme if their pal’s application is successful.
Libby Barr, managing director of customer care at BT Consumer, said: “We can offer the chance to join a business that is transforming its service and investing in brilliant and motivated people in the UK and Ireland.”
Full details can be found at .
JOBSPOT
• LANAI Outdoor Living is looking for installers throughout the UK. Please call 01223 915 822
• SQS is looking to fill building roles in Kent, Surrey and Sussex. Please call 0333 240 0201
• HR services firm MHR has 66 roles to fill in Notts. Visit mhr.co.uk/about-us/careers
Put your selfie in frame
If you are savvy on social media, you could snap up a job taking photos at incredible events across the world.
Five-star resort Hillside Beach Club in Fethiye, Turkey, is looking to recruit eight globe-trotting adventurers to become social ambassadors.
Known as “Snap-Js” (Snap Jockeys), recruits will have the dream job of broadcasting their experiences from the resort’s Snapchat, Instagram and YouTube accounts.
Budding Snap-Js can apply in two ways – on Instagram, share a video or image tagging #SNAPJwanted and #hillsidenow. Or on Snapchat, follow @hillsidenow and send a snap that showcases your personality using #SNAPJwanted, set this as your Snapchat Story.
Picking office no-nos
Poor time keeping, office romances and foul habits are rife in smaller businesses – with one in ten not liking who they work with.
AXA PPP Healthcare research has revealed the office behaviour bosses find most irksome.
Topping the table is poor time-keeping and office cliques, with one in three irritated by these habits.
“Disgusting” habits such as nose-picking got 16 per cent, while more than one in ten found office romances niggling.
Iain McMillan, Director of SME for AXA PPP healthcare, commented: “There’s often little reprieve from other people’s habits and behaviours – but remember that a person’s strengths can far outweigh their weaknesses.”