Year 2 Professional experience

Professional experience is essential in expanding your skillset, gaining confidence, and fleshing out your CV. In my time at university I have been able to sit in on guest speakers and travel to careers fairs which have helped me gain insight and a sense of direction when entering the careers market. The following things will help me attain a placement in my preferred career field. 1. Portfolio. To demonstrate my abilities to potential employers, I am collating a portfolio. This will include projects undertaken in university which I am proud of, such as the video essay task. The video essay task really showcases my abilities not just in editing but also in narrating/ scriptwork. A portfolio is essential in creative fields because it allows potential employers to see what you can do. Without a portfolio, a job application may be cast aside, nobody wants to hire someone with no evidence they can complete a task which may be assigned to them. My portfolio will al...

For my placement I will be joining the team of 'Hi-ya', a communication/ greetings app which is currently in development. I will be shadowing the development of a new app. I will meet the design team behind the graphics and learn the ins and outs of what it takes to create a new app, from concept to marketplace. I will be able to attend meetings and learn how to launch media internationally. This placement will be unpaid and will take place over the Easter break. I am really excited about this placement. I feel that it will give me real insight on how to take an idea and make something out of it. Moreover, something profitable.

To gain work experience, I looked to my networking map of people I have access to. A close family friend, Chris Hutton, runs a minor record label and is currently in the process of developing an App. As my father sees Chris quite regularly, I was able to join them for lunch just before Christmas. I asked Chris if there was any possibility of me undertaking some work experience for him over Easter, to which he said yes and wrote it in his calendar.

As well as the work I have produced during my time studying at university, I have been fortunate enough to undertake further opportunities, such as volunteer work for the charity 'Guideposts'. 'Guideposts' works with people of all ages who have a social or mental disability, offering them the opportunity to get work experience and develop their social skills. I went sent footage from the charity which I edited footage into a promotional film to showcase the work they do on a day to day basis. Unfortunately, the branch of the charity I was working with, was shut down due to a lack of funding so not only will they no longer be able to do their work, I did not receive anymore footage to complete the promotional film. As well as being grateful for the opportunity to work with them, this experience made me realise how important volunteer work is for companies which do not have endless monetary resources at their disposal. My initial draft of the video is below.  My p...

To secure a relevant work placement I have been using company websites, LinkedIn, and other placement specific employment pages. For year long placements and internships for next year, I am most excited about the following three potential positions: In terms of the ten day work experience needed for this year, I have been fortunate enough to attain some work experience through a close family friend, Chris Hutton. In the coming months, Chris will be launching an app, and has graciously offered the opportunity for me to tag along to see the app in development. Apps are an asset to the current media landscape and I am interested in how they get started and are maintained. I hope to gain valuable insight into this world which I can potentially use in the future to coincide with any other projects I am working on.

5 skills in which you feel you are most competent: Presentation skills   - As feedback for the 205MAPA presentation, I received the following, very encouraging comments: “Jamie, you had a wonderful presentation style, clear, fluid and demonstrating full ownership of the project” as well as my speaking being described as ‘a pleasure’. I feel incredibly confident when tasked with any kind of presentation work, this stems from my participation in on-stage productions. This also stems from family holidays where my father would point a camera in my face and ask me to give a documentary style run-down of the day’s events, history of our location, or otherwise. This taught me to think on the spot, and deliver my words confidently. Problem Solving - I can keep a calm head when things go wrong and observe the situation from an outside perspective. For the most recent group project, I f...