RTS Futures Careers Fair 2017
Back at the start of the year, I was busy searching for potential work placements with various broadcasting companies. Any student will tell you that it can be quite a challenging task. Thankfully, the Royal Television Society sought to make life easier for broadcast enthusiasts across the country by hosting their very own careers fair. Here are my thoughts...
I came across the RTS Futures Careers Fair online and became very interested when an advertisement stated that the BBC would be at the event (along with other big names in television). The fair took place from 10-7pm and hosted a range of companies and organisations. For example, I met representatives from BBC, ITV, Sky, Channel 4, Warner Bros., Lime Pictures, Blast Films, ENVY and Viacom just to name a few. The aim of the event was to allow those interested in a career in television the chance to meet with industry professionals and gain an insight into what it takes to get a job. This included a specialist CV clinic, in which visitors could sit down with someone working in TV and give their thoughts on how it could be improved.
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| Courtesy of RTS Futures Facebook |
On the whole, the event was very insightful and offered a lot of work experience and apprenticeship opportunities. Personally, my highlight of the day was managing to get contacts for two talent managers at CBBC who may be able to sort me out with work experience as a runner. However, one of the most significant things I learnt about was how diverse the role of a TV Researcher and Broadcast Engineer can be. Both involve working in various scenarios and require a diverse range of skills. Considering I have never really been that concerned with these two roles, I am happy that I now would consider a potential career in either of these jobs.
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| The timetable for the series of presentations at the RTS Futures Careers Fair 2017 |
Another standout moment of the day was one of the series of talks scheduled every hour - Ace that interview. Hosted by industry talent mangers, the talk highlighted important characteristics of successful candidates and some common mistakes. I managed to make a list of essential qualities companies may be looking for based on what was discussed during the talk:
- A strong work ethic
- Genuine enthusiasm and passion
- Personality
- Honesty
- Being multi-skilled across a variety of platforms
- Being able to self-shoot
- Social media awareness
- Initiative
Furthermore, it was also mentioned that if you’re applying to work on a specific show (e.g. The One Show), then it is absolutely vital that you watch the show regularly and are able to analyse its strengths confidently. While this might seem obvious, it's very appealing to potential employers.
Overall, I went away from the fair understanding that passion and enthusiasm are expected in the TV industry. It is your personality that makes you unique and, while it's useful to know a lot about broadcasting, people are more drawn towards those who are genuine and charismatic. As always, competition is incredibly fierce and therefore, it's even more important to be unique. Finally, if I do attend any event like this in the future, I’ll be sure to bring my business cards with me again as they are great for situations when you don’t have long to speak with someone.
Overall, I went away from the fair understanding that passion and enthusiasm are expected in the TV industry. It is your personality that makes you unique and, while it's useful to know a lot about broadcasting, people are more drawn towards those who are genuine and charismatic. As always, competition is incredibly fierce and therefore, it's even more important to be unique. Finally, if I do attend any event like this in the future, I’ll be sure to bring my business cards with me again as they are great for situations when you don’t have long to speak with someone.
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| The magician, Dynamo, made an appearance as a special guest |
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