Royal Television Society TV Careers Fair
On 6th of February 2018 I attended the RTS TV Careers Fair in London. This was important to me as the focus was on the specific industry I want to work in. I visited lots of stalls, networking with a variety of companies, including the BBC; Channel 4; Warner Bros; ITV and several small companies. My focus was on trying to acquire a placement, preferably for my sandwich year. Although none of companies offered long placements, I gathered helpful information about possible short-term placements. An experience I am especially interested in is with Mama Youth, ‘What’s Up TV Training’ a 4 week, free training course, followed by a 10 week paid work placement. Sadly, I cannot apply yet as the dates of their course clash with my university term time, but I would consider doing it in the future as it is an amazing opportunity. I also found out the best ways to approach applications from talking with a girl at the BBC Academy. She explained the entire process and her experience of applying, which gave me really helpful insight. The networking also helped me to gain advice from professionals about getting into the TV industry. If my long-term aim is be a producer, most companies suggested I start as a runner and recommend looking into ‘Floor Runner Bootcamp’ and ad hoc runner opportunities.
The other key part of this event were the talks. My favourite was ‘how to make it as a presenter’, which although I do not see myself becoming a presenter I found inspiring and insightful. I enjoyed hearing each presenter’s individual stories, experiences and what helped them to reach their goals. This has motivated me not give up on what I want to achieve but to keep pushing myself, as this is a competitive industry and I need to prove that I am a good fit for it.
The careers fair helped me to improve my networking skills with professionals and has shown me the areas where I need to improve my skills to become a better fit for the TV industry. Although I was unsuccessful in finding a placement opportunity, it has shown me what to do in the future to secure placements.