Networking.

We had Akil Ahmed (apologies if the spelling is wrong) come in this week to have small one on one conversations about what we are hoping to do once we leave university, and advise on the best possible course of action to achieve this. 

My view at the moment is that if I’m lucky enough to get any opportunities then I’m not going to be too fussy about them, especially at the beginning. I spent a lot of my school life being unhappy and unsure about what industry I want to work in, now that I’ve found one that I’m going to be happy in I’m happy to take anything as long as I’m helping make TV shows.

I do love Dramas and Comedies, and these are two genres that British Television has a history of doing very well, so I said that is ultimately where I’d like to end up. But at the same time, I’d love to try lots of new things, as I’ve only tried a few different things on my course. I’ve said already that I’d love the experience of making a documentary again, as I only did that in my first year and it didn’t go very well.

My main problem was that I wasn’t sure about how to go about getting in contact with people about getting work experience. I’ve tried applying for advertised work experience placements before but haven’t had any luck, as it’s so competitive. The advice I got was to think about what shows I’d like to be involved with and try to get in contact with someone from the show and basically ask them if there was any chance of getting on set. 

I didn’t realise it could be as simple as this, I had thought of it before but I didn’t want to seem like some annoying student. But if this is what I’ve got to do, then this is what I’ve got to do. I’ve had a think about what I’d like to do and I plan on getting in contact very soon and hopefully something will come out of it. 

At the same time, it kind of made me realise that I should be a bit more focused on what I want and where in the industry I want to end up. It’s all well and good saying that I’ll be happy to be working in the industry, but if I’ve got something to aim for then it will keep me more focused and more driven, and I could end up doing something I never thought I’d end up doing.