Last week, I had the pleasure of visiting The Highfield School Sixth Form in Letchworth to talk with students about careers in the digital agency world. It’s always energising to step away from client work and share what we do with young people who are just starting to think about their futures.
Around 30-40 sixth formers gathered in their impressive HF6 common room space to hear about “Agency Life: Building Digital Stuff That Matters” – covering everything from my own journey (growing up on the Isle of Wight, through university, working in London, and eventually founding Filter) to what a typical day looks like when you’re building websites and apps for millions of users.
The session walked through the fundamentals: what a digital agency does (companies have digital problems, they hire us to solve them), the variety of roles available beyond just “techies” (designers, project managers, strategists, developers, QA testers, and plenty of operational roles), and real examples of the work we deliver. I used our long-standing partnership with JD Wetherspoon as a case study – showing how a 40-person team across multiple disciplines built and maintains their website, mobile apps, and booking systems.
We also tackled the elephant in the room: AI. Rather than pretending it won’t change things, I was honest about how we’re already using tools like GitHub Copilot and Claude, while emphasising that the skills which matter most – creativity, problem-solving, and understanding people – aren’t going anywhere.
The Q&A session was particularly lively. Students asked about how agencies win work (the pitch process), practical steps to get started in the industry, and whether AI really will take all our jobs. The honest answer on that last one: some roles will change, many new ones will appear, and the people who learn to work alongside AI rather than compete with it will do just fine.
A big thank you to Helen Potter, Deputy Head of Sixth Form, for arranging the session and making me feel so welcome. Events like this matter – not everyone knows that careers in digital agencies exist, let alone that you can build one without following a single prescribed path. Whether through university, apprenticeships, bootcamps, or self-teaching, there’s no single right answer.
If any students from the session want to connect, find me on LinkedIn. And if your school or college would like Filter to come and talk about careers in digital, get in touch – we’re always happy to help inspire the next generation of builders.
CTO & Founder
Having worked in agencies since he left university, Paul drives both the technical output at Filter, as well as being responsible for planning. His key strengths are quickly understanding client briefs and being able to communicate complex solutions in a clear and simple manner.
