Alumni panel (Industry event)

The university held an alumni panel event in Eldon building to give us tips and explain about what it’s like after graduation and what to expect within the film industry. There were eight graduates on the panel all working in very different fields, from post production technical manager to editor for a gaming channel on YouTube, and they discussed three principle things to enable us to land positions in future for this competitive industry.

They spoke about the difference between working freelance or being employed and outweighing the pros and cons. Being employed means that you only work for one company with one specific role and your payment is guaranteed so the job has more security. Being freelance means that you can work as different roles for different people on whatever you choose on your own account, but the payments and jobs aren’t always guaranteed. The panel agreed that it would be easier to become employed after graduation as it makes things easier, and then once we have acquired more skills and contacts, should decide wether to work freelance or not.

The panel also discussed how we could get opportunities. The most important thing they mentioned was to take any opportunities the uni offers us to gain a wider range of contacts after graduation, and also stay in contact with them for as long as possible and socialise so you can network with clients and employers so they can keep your name in mind for future projects. Another point they mentioned was to do things beyond the course, like work experiences or just going out to film by ourselves to work on our skills. We were also told to have social media accounts to promote our work.

We were also given tips on how to do our CVs properly. The easiest thing to do is have a couple of different ones, each for different roles depending on what sort of job we’re applying for. Also we are not supposed to do anything to over the top, and keep the CV short and informative.

Additional tips they gave us were not to give ourselves get used by big companies in hopes of getting good connections. If we realise we are paying more to do our work than we are receiving we should leave as fast as we can and find a different place to work. In the event that we understand we are paying more to do our work than we are accepting we should leave as quick as we can and locate a better place to work. smaller companies are a more superior spot to go to in the event if we haven’t gotten much experience and are seeking after reasonable pay.

Overall I found the event very interesting. I will definitely keep the tips in mind when I come to look for jobs after graduation.