Reflecting on my Placement Year

Filming at the Hoopsfix All-Star Classic 2018 (courtesy of JS Sport Photography)

On July 19th, it will have been exactly a year since I began my self-employed placement year as TotallyMedia. I remember being incredibly nervous yet hopeful of what I could achieve over the course of 12 months, and particularly conscientious of ensuring I made the most of the experience. However, it’s safe to say this has been such a brilliant opportunity and I’ve gained so much more than I imagined I would.

In all honesty, the self-employed route wasn’t my first choice. In the year running up to my placement, I visited BBC South, BBC Radio Northampton, ITV Meridian, IMG Studios, NBCUniversal, Disney, Hot Vox and the RTS Futures Careers Fair in London as part of my placement search. Obviously, as mentioned in my first blog, I was unsuccessful with my applications. However, after I'd chosen to go self-employed and my initial business proposal was approved, I began to understand the scale of the opportunity.

I came to the realisation that being self-employed offers a vast sense of freedom, something which I had been previously told about but never really acknowledged. You have a responsibility to oversee your projects, finances, marketing and time and the prospect of building something from nothing was originally quite daunting and slightly overwhelming. However, in retrospect, I’ve found I am actually well-suited to this sort of working environment, due to the fact that I’m a ‘creative’ individual (or at least, that’s how I’d describe myself) and I’ve always enjoyed the creative control that comes with working on your own projects. As a result, I’ve been able to develop my communication, time-management and video production skills as well as my business. On top of this, being self-employed has allowed me to undertake work within university which was more focused on television broadcasting than video production. Ultimately, I gained valuable experience in both media disciplines.

Presenting the connect Graduate Show 2018 (courtesy of CCI TV)

There have been many highlights from my placement including my first project with Ball Up Sports, the various basketball finals I've filmed at and the Enterprise Showcase 2018. At the Enterprise Showcase back in March, TotallyMedia was nominated for several awards including the Route to Startup and Self-employment Placement awards. It was also highlighted by nest as a Start-up To Watch, a recognition that would not have been possible without the help of their amazing support team. During the evening, I even got the chance to meet the University of Portsmouth’s new Chancellor, Karen Blackett OBE, and speak to her about my company and ambitions. In the end, it was a fantastic event and helped me to appreciate everything I’d accomplished.

Meeting Chancellor Karen Blackett OBE at the Enterprise Showcase 2018

Overall, undertaking a self-employed placement year has given me the taste of a self-employed or freelancing work life and I now feel way more confident about the possibility of pursuing this career path after graduation. With regards to next year, I really look forward to transferring all of what I’ve learnt to my final year of university, whether it’s a more technical skill or just being better at communicating with clients.

I’d like to say special thank you to all those who have helped me on my journey over the past year and I can’t wait to see what the future holds.