From Day Zero of my work experience this year, I was taught a harsh lesson that is often the case when applying for jobs; it never really goes to plan. I had it all figured out and thought I was sure to get into the placement I wanted, which of course was not how it worked out and I was left in a tricky situation at the start of this year where I had to figure out what I could do in a very short space of time; the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry (Burns, 1785). I will be using Gibbs’ Reflective Model (The University of Edinburgh, 2020) to breakdown my thoughts, feelings, and processes throughout this experience. 

“The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.”

 (Burns, 1785)

Description

I had applied to placement withing the music department at Queen’s to be a live sound engineer for the various performance modules. This led me to get an interview at the start of September, and it was going very well until we discovered that the timings of the classes that I was going to be engineering would clash with the timings of some of my classes, which meant that I would not be available for this placement. This left me with no placement at the start of the year and I had, unfortunately, no backup plan. I sent an email to those who interviewed me, and they said that I would be a good fit for the SARC (Sonic Arts Research Centre) Media Team. There I would be helping at the lunchtime concerts that are held at Queen’s when I’m needed, and I would be in the radio team, which I later found out is just me and the person who runs SARC Radio.

Feelings

Initially, I was feeling quite apprehensive about this, as I was unsure how the SARC Media Team would fit me and my chosen career as I wanted to be a music producer. The placement I had originally applied for was giving me experience of a digital desk, which I had never worked with before, and the knowledge of how to record new instruments in a live setting. However, as I got into the nitty-gritty of it, I found that I was really enjoying it and was learning ways I could implement my knowledge in new areas of the music industry, and also how these new experience were going to help me further my career. 

Evaluation

The good thing about this situation is that although I’ve missed out on something more specific to what I want to do, this is giving me a wider range of knowledge of different areas of the music industry. I was also finding that these things were not as difficult as I had thought they were going to be, like the radio was much more straightforward than I had previously thought and is now a career path I would consider.

Analysis

This is something that is only going to look good on my CV as now I have experience with a far wider range of things within the music industry, like filming a performance for livestream and how that works, and how to schedule and run an online radio station. Although I am disappointed I’m not gaining more specific knowledge in the field I am looking to make a career in, I am finding that this can only be a good thing for me to gain knowledge in other areas and I’m finding that I could do these things alongside music production. This will help me in the future, as often the best way to be able to live off of the music industry is to have many sources of income from various areas within the music industry (Byrne, 2022).

Conclusion

I have learned from this situation that although things may not go to plan, they still can work out, even for the better. I have also learned that you do not need to do things a certain way. This could have been a less stressful situation if I had done more research into my placement and found other alternatives and maybe something that fit me better. However, I am very happy things have worked out the way they have as I am in a placement that I gaining a lot of knowledge I would not have otherwise gained, and am finding out that there is more out there for me to do.

Action Plan

If I were doing this again, I would definitely apply to more places, as I had only applied to the one at SARC and it had left me with no options, but thankfully there was something else for me to do. I would also do more initial research into where I would like to go and what I would like to do with my work experience.

Works Cited

Burns, R., 1785. To A Mouse. s.l.:s.n.

Byrne, S., 2022. Splice. [Online] 
Available at: https://splice.com/blog/working-in-multiple-areas-music-industry/
[Accessed 22 November 2022].

The University of Edinburgh, 2020. The University of Edinburgh. [Online] 
Available at: https://www.ed.ac.uk/reflection/reflectors-toolkit/reflecting-on-experience/gibbs-reflective-cycle
[Accessed 21 November 2022].