ALICE WASS
Exploring Media

Reading various student blogs, enabled me to understand what others have encountered during their years out. I was interested in Matthew Cook’s experience as a Digital Operations Intern at Walt Disney Company, as I applied to work at Disney in another department. The work Matthew and I have done on our placements has been very different, but our experiences of working in a creative office environment have been similar. Some weeks are non-stop frenetically busy and other weeks are slower and less pressured. We have both learnt how to use new systems and professional software, and we have had opportunities to collaborate on exciting new projects. I found Matthew’s commentary of commuting to work and experience of living in London very helpful, as after graduating I am keen to work in Radio in a big city like London or Manchester.

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Annushka Gaceciladze did a study abroad year in Germany at Stuttagart University. Whilst there, one of her modules included creating a student radio show on Horrads 88.6. I found myself reminiscing whilst reading Annushka’s blogs, as during my first two years at Coventry University I ran a student radio show. I identified with Annushka’s feelings of excitement and passion for working on-air and planning shows and I agree that doing radio feels very personal. When I look at how much my radio skills have developed since I was in a similar position, I am amazed at how much I have progressed. I have grown from an amateur into a professional, and now I can confidently plan, produce and even host on a national radio station.

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Cheryl Yee also spent her year abroad, on a placement at GEMW Group in Malaysia, where she worked as a Marketing Intern. Cheryl’s job focused on creating content for their Social Media and also included Influencer Management. Her comments about the difficulties of finding models for shoots and deciding which content to post resonated with me as part of my everyday role is finding interview guests and current topics. Cheryl was also responsible for meeting the Influencers to decide whether they were suitable. This required her to have good networking skills to build strong relationships between the individuals and the company. Networking is something I also do, as I liaise with a lot of publicity companies as a way to find guests and I work hard to give them a good experience of UCB to encourage them to work with us again. Cheryl’s comments about her experience of working in Asia sparked my interest. I would love to have the opportunity to work in another country where their media content and working culture is different from the UK as this would be a good challenge for me.

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Exploring other student experiences helped me to evaluate and put into perspective my placement. It has shown me how much I have developed and provided insight into aspects of work I have not yet experienced, which will help me be more prepared in the future.