Online Portfolio Research

I decided to research into online portfolios, because I thought they would be a good way to represent work to future employers.

http://www.rinasvet.com/

• The homepage features her showreel, demonstrating video's she has produced.

• Organised sections in portfolio: motion graphics, music videos, narrative. (This may not be as relevant for me as I have no created enough videos yet)

• About me page, features details of her previous experience and what equipment she has.
• Contact information
• Lists proficient skills
• Includes resume

http://www.marybrownlee.net/portfolio.html

• Her website features her portfolio of videos she's created, listed vertically.

• There's a brief About Me section which details what she has worked on and where she is located. She also provides details of her personality, such as loving ice cream.

• Overall it has quite a nice looking layout, which is easy to navigate. I think as an editor it's important to make your portfolio look nice, to demonstrate that you have a sense of design, and that you pay attention to detail (as these are skills needed to be an editor).

http://www.paolokalalo.com/

•  His show reel is shown on the homepage to give a brief outline of his best work

• His portfolio is well organised, providing various videos that he's edited

• He has quite a detailed About Me page which demonstrates his vast experience in his field.

Careers Research

I've come across this website called The Big Music Project which aims to help young people between the ages of 14-24 get in to the music industry. Although I had originally thought that I would like to go in to a career in film or television, I do have a keen interest in music and therefore wouldn't mind working in that industry. I made a music video for my A Level coursework and had a lot of fun doing so. The website had an article about becoming a music video editor (something I wasn't sure was a definitive job role until now).

http://www.thebigmusicproject.co.uk/how-to-become-a-music-video-editor/

• The person being interviewed, Darren Baldwin, stated that he started his career as a runner and worked his way up from there
• Baldwin has a degree in Film and Broadcast. However he was told that he got the job because of his part-time job as a waiter, gaining the skill of being able to deal with clients. This shows that all experiences can be useful in getting a job (I was worried that my CV was a bit too unrelevant as my only job thus far has been working in retail). However media degrees are also useful, especially the practical ones, as they give an understanding to the technology used in the career.
• He advises to get work experience as a runner in a post house. Also he suggests to "edit as much as you can" which is something I think I really need to work on. At the moment I don't have anything in my portfolio that wasn't produced for academic purposes.

The website also has some more general advice on getting a career in the media industry, for example being a social media rep. A lot of the advice given is transferable to a range of different careers.

http://www.thebigmusicproject.co.uk/work-social-media/

• A lot of people have said that you don't need a media degree to do a media career or that media degrees are worthless, so this article was reassuring to know that there are people out there who have actually used their degrees. The person interviewed in the article had a degree in Music Journalism.
• The interviewee also credits her work experience module to getting her a foot in the door to her career. She did a 2 week placement at Sugarscape which lead to a paid internship. This is again reassuring to know that the thing we're doing as part of our module are not a waste of time, and this module should hopefully be beneficial at giving me an advantage against my numerous competitors. "Obviously most people will tell you that work experience is an important part of the job hunt, but besides bulking up your CV, by doing different kinds of placements you actually realise what type of role you’d be best for."
• This article also stresses the importance of networking. When enduring work experience it's vital that I should remain in contact with the clients I meet, as this might help in securing a job.

Workshop 2

In the workshop today we were given feedback from the interview. I made note of the feedback that I personally received, but also what other's were commented on, which could benefit me too.

• Lee made note of some students' body language. One student had their hands in pockets and made no eye-contact. This made them look uninterested and not very confident. 
• We should ask questions to look interested in the role.
• We should always turn negative qualities/situations into positive ones.
• We shouldn't just talk about skills acquired in university, we should talk about our personal skills too. This is something that I need to work on as I feel like my personal qualities aren't as impressive as my academic ones. However this would be apparent to an employer if I don't mention something personal.
• My personal feedback from Lee was that I made good eye contact with all members of the panel, which made me look enthusiastic. I also asked to repeat a question, giving me time to think about my answer.

Social Media

In this session we were also advised on how to make the most out of our social media profiles. We should make sure to have a suitable Facebook profile picture as this might be the first thing an employer sees of us.

I think that my Facebook profile is acceptable. My picture is of myself and a friend as a festival, which shows that I have a fun personality and an interest in live music. It may not be a professional photo but it demonstrates who I am as a person. I don't think it would be particularly incriminating if a potential employer saw me in this picture. Moreover my header shows me and my friends in Paris. This suggests that I am a social person, who enjoys travelling.

As media students we should also be engaged in displaying our portfolio online. We could also display our passion for media by creating a blog.

Workshop - Interviews

Today in our workshop we performed mock interviews. In this session I was asked the following questions:

• Introduce yourself

This was quite a difficult question to answer, as I often struggle to say positive things about myself. For the future, I need to work on my confidence and make sure I am able to illustrate the best qualities I have.

• What research have you done in the company?

For this task I hadn't prepared this far. Following the job description that was posted on StudyDirect, the website for the company did not work, and I didn't do much effort to find any information elsewhere. In a real interview situation, I would make sure to follow research the company so that I don't seem unprepared for the interview, and also to make it seem as if I have a genuine interest in gaining a job with them.

• Describe your work ethic?

I believe that I have quite a strong work ethic, as I am always willing to go the extra mile to get work done. Sometimes I can be a bit of a perfectionist, which has it's benefits and drawbacks. The benefit is that I strive to have work done to a high standard, the drawback is that sometimes I can be too hard on myself, causing myself to become stressed.

• What experience do you have in this field? 

I realised from this activity that I don't have that much media experience outside of academic practices. Some other people in the group have done voluntary work for media companies which is something that I need to do to in order to stand out and show my passion for the field

• How do you manage working under pressure?

I think as students we can relate this since we have deadlines for our work to be completed. I am not the kind of person to leave all my work to the very last minute, and I have never missed a deadline. However sometimes I have found that I work much faster under pressure, as I have the determination to get it done in time.

Overall I think I conducted myself in a professional manner, despite being in an informal setting amongst my peers. I still tried to answer the questions as if it were an actual interview, and I did so with confidence.

It was also useful to be able to interview other candidates and see how I compare to them. In a real interview I am likely to be up against other candidates but I wouldn't normally know any information about them. Therefore this exercise was useful in finding out how I compare to other candidates.
I would say that some other people were quite nervous and underprepared, which in contrast I think I appear to be quite calm and confident in interviews. My drawback is that in comparison to others I am a bit inexperienced. Therefore I should work towards gaining more experience, in order to give myself the best chance at getting a job.

Reading: Interview Success

Preparation

• Look smart and pleasant
• Look over employer requirements

Questions:

Why did you apply?

• Reason of interest in the industry and organisation
• Relevant experience or skills
• Background research

What can you offer?

• Work experience and course related experience
• Transferable skills

Do you have any previous experience?

• Useful skills from other experience

Strengths and Weaknesses?

Can you cope with tricky situations?

• Use example with skill required in workplace e.g. negotiation 

Worst mistake/highlight in life?

• Mistake: make point of how you learnt from experience
• Highlight: shows personal development

How does work experience relate to university course?

What do you think you'll do in 10 years?

• Offer alternative options

Questions for employer:

• Timings and location
• Training opportunities 

Reading: The Importance of Work-Related Learning

Integrating work and study:

• Beating the competition
• Holistic view to learning - combine academic with practical work experience
• 'Hit the ground running' - not needing to be trained for ages, can start working asap
• We must manage our own careers

What employers expect:

• 'Employability' - long-term potential in employees
• Now employers want graduates with qualifications AND wide range of skills and experiences
• 'Bring something to the party' - have existing skills/knowledge they might not have
• Higher starting salaries than past 
• Some skills employers seek: specialist skills, information technology, fast learning, foreign languages

Work-related learning:

• Work experience that helps theoretical studies at university and helps work place
• Evidence of relevant skills
• Continual learning and plans for improvement

Opportunities: 

• Repeated work suggests lack of initiative
• Can learn new skills, deal with customers, willingness to work 

Lecture 1

In the lecture today we were provided with information regarding the placement that we will undertake this term. The purpose of the placement is to learn about field, not just to do it. I am interested in becoming a video editior, so this means I must find a placement where I will learn about what the job role entails, not necessarily gaining experience in editing. It should be a maximum of 20 hours, however this is flexible. Seeing that it's not a very long time period, hopefully employers shouldn't mind giving up that small amount of time in order to teach me about the role.

We were also informed of some skills and knowledge that is specifically revelant to the Media Sector:

• Knowledge of social media
• Specialised skills
• Decrease in large companies
• Contact small media companies directly - don't just look for vacancies 
• Prospects.co.uk industry routes
• Attend careers event - Make it happen

I feel like I should start looking for placements as soon as possible, since it can be very competitive to get a job. I will look for small video production companies that are located in Brighton. However if that fails I will also look for places in London, as I could do my placement over the Easter break.