No career direction

Androo2011

hi,

Not sure if anyone can offer guidance as I know its suppose to be a decision that i should be making myself.

Im now unemployed and I've been put on to the work programme. They dont seem to care, i've heard them talking about the bonus they get for getting people into jobs!

I've NO work history as ive been at college and university for the past five years. they've told me the course i wanted to do was inapproiate as it doesnt help me get a job, (film and media course). It was a dream course for me, anyway.

I've been previously in contact with nextstep, but the woman i spoke to offered little help or advice on careers that are open to me.

Is there any where i can go for advice or guidance? As I wanted a career, Not just a job to get me through the next six months :mad:

thanks
andrew

LadyMissA

Androo2011 wrote: »

hi,

Not sure if anyone can offer guidance as I know its suppose to be a decision that i should be making myself.

Im now unemployed and I've been put on to the work programme. They dont seem to care, i've heard them talking about the bonus they get for getting people into jobs!

I've NO work history as ive been at college and university for the past five years. they've told me the course i wanted to do was inapproiate as it doesnt help me get a job, (film and media course). It was a dream course for me, anyway.

I've been previously in contact with nextstep, but the woman i spoke to offered little help or advice on careers that are open to me.

Is there any where i can go for advice or guidance? As I wanted a career, Not just a job to get me through the next six months :mad:

thanks
andrew

not just for getting people into jobs they also get the same payment if YOU get your own job.

Sorry I am on the WP too and agree it's a waste of time and ££

Annisele

The media course that you want to do - was the person who told you it wouldn't help you get a job right?

Education very often is more interesting than work. Education for its own sake is valuable, but if your current problem is that you've no money and you already have a degree, it's unlikely that you need any more of it.

I'm something of a perpetual student myself, and I can see the attraction of more education rather than dead end jobs. However, I also work full time and I pay for my part-time courses myself (or I persuade my employer to pay for them). If you can fund stuff yourself, you can do whatever you want - but if you're trying to get the state (i.e. me and other posters) to pay for you, you have to jump through the state's hoops. And that might well mean taking any old job to pay the bills, and then looking for a better one.

As to the advice and guidance, you must have some idea of what you want to do (as you're trying to get onto a course doing something). Try and find people who are already doing that, or something like it, and ask them what they recommend you should do. You could also go back to your university's careers department. Or, if you've moved away, you could see if your local university's careers department will help you.

Or, if I've misinterpreted your post, get back under your bridge :-)

getmore4less

Just so we have this right

You have done a 5 year course on film and media and have no idea what careers are in the film and media industry?


What have the others on the course gone on to do.

What was the dream?

Racheldevon

I'm wondering what part time work or volunteering opportunities you taken on during your 5 year course? Did the courses have placement opportunities, did you manage to get experience in the holiday periods for example?

As someone who's also done a far bit of studying, I certainly wouldn't have the job I have now had I not been prepared to do some pretty rubbish jobs, and some excellant voluntary posts, just to get through and gain experience.

Are you living in the right area to get the experience you need? If you need to be elsewhere can you apply for a job that gives you regular income (retail, bar work etc) so that you afford your rent and bills, whilst working or volunteering within the type of environment you're looking for?

Have you approached anyone to see if they'll take you on even if in a voluntary capacity? Without experience you're unlikely I would imagine to be successul in applications, but you can gain a lot from starting at the bottom and working your way up.

arcon5

The problem here is although op may have a degree -- op doesn't have any life experience. A degree is a tool to getting where you want to be in life -- it's not the be all and end all. In the same way a business degree doesn't teach you the realities of running a business (infact they are a million miles apart).

You may think a job won't help you -- but it will. Not only will you earn money, you will also have a real life employer that can offer a reference and be able to demonstrate you are a hard worker and substantiate that somewhat. Especially in this day and age where most jobs require experience, yet to gain experience you need the job -- the catch 22 situation.

Sharon87

As a former media production student I can say Film and TV is hard to get into. Throughout college and uni I worked for the most part. Part time jobs, then after uni I worked at a cinema for a year until I got my break into the industry.

Did your course offer you any work placements? Have you experience of anything related to Film and TV apart from things you did at college. I would suggest getting any job for now, and look into what exactly do you want to do in TV, don't worry if it doesn't have to be a final decision. If you want to be a camera operator, there are training courses that cost a bit, which is where your any job can come in as it pays for it. If you don't know, look for Runner or Logger jobs, get an industry related CV together (concentrating on your experiences including what you did on your course).

If you want any tips about TV industry just PM me. The main thing is to be pro active, it's the only way you'll get your first job.

Androo2011

Thank you all for replying.

I will still do film and media as a hobby, as my circumstances have changed i am unable to move to london or manchester.

I have done a small amount of work experience on films and documentary's. The industry in this area is very competitive because the industry around here is small. Since i can not relocate this is the reason i will be doing it as a hobby.

I'm not looking for any more education. To one extent it is a waste of time.
I think i will look into the voluntary job role as this seems the best way forward. It should help me get the experience to put on my cv to help get a job.

Oldernotwiser

What part time jobs have you had while you were a student? Can you build on any of these?

Sharon87

Just so you know if you voluntary work* for a company in TV (not a charity) and don't get paid for it then that company is breaking the law and you can report them. The TV industry is clamping down on unpaid work as everyone deserves to be paid for what they do.

(* where you have a specific job to do, and not just job shadowing)

Working for charities, making corporate videos for example is a good way to earn money if you have the facilities (camera, good computer, editing software and the facilities to make DVDs). Or you could help other people who are making corporate videos, as long as you get paid!

Nine_Lives

getmore4less wrote: »

Just so we have this right

You have done a 5 year course on film and media and have no idea what careers are in the film and media industry?


What have the others on the course gone on to do.

What was the dream?

Just to point out that while it may not be the case for the OP, not everyone selects their course based on their dream.

I know this story will likely be the minority, but i have a friend who selected film & media 10 years ago as it seemed like the easiest course to take from the selection & he just wanted to go to uni for a while for the uni lifestyle. This obviously meant taking a course, so he selected the one mentioned as it sounded the easiest to him.

When he left he had no intention of getting into the field.