Figuring out my career
When I began my education at Queens I was focused on my goal of acting and nothing else. I am now in my last year of university and, like my peers am terrified of what the future holds. Over the past couple of years i’ve realised that I can’t rely on acting alone, that I need to have a few secure side jobs as well. With my work placement I am aiming to find those extra jobs. I initially reached out to a few theatres and theatre companies by email with my hopes set high. I only heard back from one company. In the future when I’m enquiring about work opportunities, I will definitely be more up front and direct, using other forms of communication such as telephone and directly going to the companies headquarters/offices to leave in my CV and ask for an appointment to speak to someone about my work and ideas as i’ve heard how effective this was for my peers.
I set up a zoom call Big Telly Theatre Company so we could discuss our individual goals and outcomes of my placement so everyone knew how my placement could benefit them. I was clear with my intentions of being creative and discovering different roles that I could be interested in pursuing to get an overall idea of how working with a theatre company works. I understand that although I would like to be focused on more creative and acting based roles within the production, that I may not be centred in these areas at all times. Chrissy (the producer) and I agreed that being able to help in all areas of the show’s production would be most beneficial to me as it gives me a more well rounded experience, being able to learn and contribute to several areas within the play whilst finding other job roles that I enjoy.
For my first role within placement, I will be working in the upcoming show, Frankenstein’s Monster is drunk and the sheep have all jumped the fences.
Using Gibb’s Reflective cycle I will evaluate each job role I spark an interest in to come to a conclusion at the end of this module to the career paths I can take when I graduate.
Gibb’s reflective cycle diagram
Beginning work placement – First job option
Social Media manager/content creator
Description
I was asked to go to two different locations and pitch our social media campaign. The campaign is to give away two free tickets for every blue sheep figurine found around Belfast city centre.
Feelings
I felt confident going to these locations as I was smartly dressed, I enjoyed presenting the idea and discussing it in an enthusiastic way with the businesses.
Evaluation
The good aspects of this task were; I liked that I could be social, active and creative in pitching the campaign, I was able to act as a representative for the company and I got an idea of a professional meeting.
Analysis
This would definitely be a career in which I could thrive as I love face to face work as opposed to an office job.
Conclusion
Having now pitched an idea to two companies I would have been more prepared with contact information as one of the locations had to wait until their manager was back to get in touch and I had to search online for a phone number for them to contact which looked mis-informed and un-professional
Action Plan
In the future I would like to bring physical materials with me to sell our idea more as well as leave something physical to act as a reminder to the location and its clients of our business, this could include pamphlets and brochures and maybe even a documented proposal for the staff to keep.
Creating content
Filming time lapse
Description
After expressing an interest in content production I was then tasked with creating promotional social media content to go on Instagram and Facebook. This involved taking a boomerang of Anna with two tickets, a Time lapse of walking into the theatre where the show would be held, followed by a quick interview with each of the cast, to then be edited together using our phones to have everything posted online.
feelings
As I am mainly interested in acting on screen I have education and experience within the filming industry and although I much prefer being in front of the camera I did really enjoy the behind the scenes process and could definitely see myself managing content production, ideas and filming.
Evaluation
I definitely enjoyed this process however getting all of the actors to film during breaks and to have their answers prepared for filming the interviews was incredibly difficult. Due to the fast nature of a time lapse we had to film 3 times before we had the perfect shot which again was difficult to not disrupt rehearsals.
Analysis
It was a very productive day and I learned a lot about creating content and following schedules. I could see myself enjoying content creation, keeping up with trends and social media culture to grow the image and publicity of the company I work for
Conclusion
I could have organised my time better and set times for the actors to come out instead of trying to fit them all in on their break
Action plan
In the future I will practise time lapsing whilst the theatre is not in use and then organise the space and actors for interviews and the time lapse to ensure any editing and uploading can all be done as soon as possible
Overall conclusion of this job role
I thoroughly enjoyed trying this job role within my work placement, I was able to stay active, creative and social. I could definitely see myself within this career path. I would have to learn a lot in terms of scheduling, soft wares and camera work however I would enjoy this.
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