NO PAIN – BUT A LITTLE GAIN
Well technically in terms of this assignment I had no pain as unfortunately I couldn’t take part in the stimulated interviews. However, I feel I have gained a lot from this module and the advice given within it. Therefore, I am writing this blog post based on my experiences of finding a placement, what that placement has now led me to, and how I managed to achieve all of this experience from originally sending one text message.
As I have already completed my placement hours with this company, I have noticed how my confidence has grown in this field. This also makes me reflect on how its best to take your time in this industry to fully learn each stage while still showing an interest in the next stage, that way you can learn and grow with the process. Therefore, for the purpose of this blog post I will reflect on my experiences so far as I have had several freelance paying positions related directly to the first text message I sent. I will use a somewhat adopted version of Gibbs reflective model to reflect on this experience, which according to Bolton (49) “is prescriptive, and focuses closely upon a single event: what was thought and felt, what sense can be made, and what developmental action can be taken”.
My placement was mainly sorted over a text message (as mentioned in my previous blog post), I messaged a person I have known for a long time, and he sent his number and said call me to discuss. I called him (nervously, because I didn’t know what he was going to ask me and for some reason (I can only put this down to nerves) my mind went blank and as I could hear the phone ring through to him, I forgot everything and anything I’ve achieved over the past 2 ½ years at university!
“Emotions often interfere with the way we see things” (Jasper, 173)
Having thought I had messed up this one simple phone call to someone I actually already knew I felt I was unable to concentrate during the reminder of the call as my mind kept wondering to the things I should have said and while in the end it all worked out ok, I feel I need to be able to let things pass and move on to concentrating on the next question and my reply to it.
Upon reflection of this I should have written it all down, or at least made a mental list, before I called him and therefore, I could have referred to my notes about any questions he might have asked me. Ultimately, it worked out ok and I have finished my placement hours with this company and have been offed a freelance position with them.
A referral from the owner of mobile media productions led me to working on the live stream for Northern Ireland Football League (NIFL). I genuinely believe I would never even have been considered for this if it wasn’t for my placement experience, I also feel this has opened a few doors for me along the way in terms of my experience and has led to me having the vital conversations with people who may need (further down the line) someone with the experience and the willingness to learn more in live streaming. I feel more comfortable and confident now when chatting about what experience I have gained, and I have learned not to sell myself short but also to take time to learn about what the company wants and whether my experience will fit in with that and does it add to my future goals. This second position gave me realisation of how much contacts you make along the way can be extremely valuable and in the long run can lead to your next paid position. All positions (voluntary or paid) are valuable to add to CV for contact and experience purposes. It came about as follows: Paul, my placement manager gave my number to someone from BBC who required an operative who had knowledge of vMix and live streaming. This resulted in one telephone call which included being asked what my experience was with vMix software and if I was confident in running it alone while adding pictures, updating scores and ensuring the streams where active at all times, all while live streaming four games over four laptops at one time. Here I used my experience from the first call mentioned above and had a note of my experience written down and memorised before the call. During the call I was able to explain what I had been doing for the past 8 months with Armagh TV and how I had learnt and then taught another girl how to use the software before moving on myself to vision mixing and now to camera.
I currently have two upcoming interviews, one in person and one over a zoom call. The in person one has been delayed because of covid, however it should be happening over the next few days. I have taken my time to try and find out more about the companies and what they value, and I am genuinely looking forward to hearing more about the positions. My regret here is I didn’t gain experience from the stimulated interviews and therefore I will take that reflection and use my CV alongside some research as a guide to aid me in my preparation for these interviews. Before the interviews I will research the company and the role to find out as much I can about the company. Based on my research I will then make a list of possible questions they could ask and prepare answers for them. Following the interviews, I will write a personal note on questions surrounding Gibbs Reflective model, such as, what happened? and, what can I do to improve this for the next time? That way I feel I can learn more each time about myself and continue to improve while gaining more confidence in interview situations and speaking about the experience I have gained.
“Job interview self-ratings and the tendency to overrate or underestimate how well one actually performed were significantly related to self-esteem” (King, M R, Manaster, G J)
Bibliography
Bolton. G, 2002. “Reflective Practice”, Chapman Publishing Ltd, London.
King, M. R., & Manaster, G. J. (1977). Body image, self-esteem, expectations, self-assessments, and actual success in a simulated job interview. Journal of Applied Psychology, 62(5), 589–594. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.62.5.589
Jasper, M. (2013) Beginning reflective practice. Andover: Cengage Learning EMEA. Medical library RT73 JASP
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