“Reputation is everything in this business. Make a bad name for yourself and people will find out.”
After graduating from Lincoln with a 2.1 in 2007 I thought the world was my oyster. In my final year I took Television Production and decided to direct. I loved it. It was a slog at times but I did pretty well, even if I don’t say so myself. The scene was set then. In my head the plan was simple:
Step 1: Prepare my CV
Step 2: Apply for Jobs – preferably jobs in a gallery or at a production company as an AD
Step 3: Get a job and quickly work my way into a studio director position
The reality of this was very different to the fantasy I had concocted in my tiny mind. First of all, it was pretty difficult to even find a gallery based job. No matter how much I searched I just couldn’t find anything. I then thought to myself, fine…I’ll go down the production route and start applying to roles which I knew full well I could do; production assistant, production coordinator, 3rd Assistant director and a whole load more to add to that.
After about 6months of applying and not getting anywhere I decided on a change of tack. Apply for everything. So it began and eventually I was given an interview for a position that I had never even heard of. I went for my interview and was very honest with my intentions – it was after all a job I knew nothing about and at the time had no desire to be in. They were also honest with me. They were looking for someone who was going to stick around for at least a year and I told them that I was willing to do that.
So, I got the job and all of a sudden I am working for CNBC. No, I had never heard of it either. They are the business news arm of NBC, an American broadcaster. My first proper job in television was that of a Satellite Operations Bookings assistant. What is that I hear you say, well, they are responsible for organising the transfer of material from one place to another – for example, I would be responsible for booking a camera position in a bank so that the people in the Master Control Room (MCR) could facilitate the audio and visual elements that make television into the building. NOT what I thought I would be doing but hey, I was getting paid an alright salary and the work was semi-interesting. I was kind of in the right area as well because I was working for a massive company (despite my family and friends thinking I worked for a plethora of other companies and channels ranging from CNN to CBeebies) I continued here for the year of my contract and at the end was told there was no job. Not because I was rubbish, but because of the financial crisis. A head count freeze had been put in place…however, I wasn’t given the sack. I was actually given a freelance contract. This was because I was true to my word and had impressed the powers that be enough so that they sorted me out when the time came. I may have only been working 2 days a week for the next year but at least it gave me time to find other things.
I didn’t actually find anything. Miserable is not the word…but again my reputation for being a hard worker and picking up new skills quickly had me in good standing. Without interview, I was to be a Transmission Controller. As a TC you are basically the last port of call a television channel goes through before being fired along various fibre cables or shot into the air to be bounced of various satellites to reach you the viewer. My job essentially was to watch CNBC’s output and make sure that all the on-screen elements were there. I also had to roll and amend advertising breaks during live programming. Watching TV for a living essentially. Awesome I hear you say…not so much. It’s not a difficult job when things are running smoothly but you need to know what you are doing when the s**t hits the proverbial fan. I did not like this job. The closest description I can fathom is that it was like being at war. I would like to point out at that in no way am I comparing this job, to actually being at war, it’s just a nice analogy that happens to be in a film about war. The name of the film escapes me but it did give me this analogy for being a TC. It was like being at war, large periods of boredom stunted with mad moments of excitement. I think the film is Jarhead but don’t quote me on that.
Safe to say after 18 months I quit without another job to go to. However it was the best decision I had ever made because now I work at Sky Sports News, again no interview, just a quick chat after a recommendation from my old boss at CNBC. I am now a Satellite Operations Coordinator working on the day of air news desk. That’s my head that you see sometimes popping up behind Mille Clode.
Now you are probably thinking – what is the point of me reading this? You might even be thinking – what a jammy so and so. Well the latter might be true but I am about to get to my point. DON’T do it like I did it.
My problem was that I didn’t want to be a runner when I left uni. I thought it was beneath me. I didn’t want to fetch and carry and get paid little to nothing. This is why I am saying be a runner in your summers etc. because having a degree will not make a blind bit of difference. Sure you will have some knowledge that a runner off the street won’t have, but it won’t matter too much initially. If I could go back then I would have done things a little differently for sure. I never wanted to end up where I am at the moment but I didn’t have the work environment experience required to move into production. My main reasoning that I thought 3 years at university would elevate me above tea boy status (despite my excellent cuppers). I know that sounds really snooty.
To be honest I’ve read it back a couple of times and I think I hate myself a little bit, but there isn’t much I can do to change it. In the end I settled and have somehow ended up where I am today but that is a good thing because I can impart words of wisdom. Here are my main words of advice to anyone who will take it on board.
1. DO NOT waste your summers away from uni partying. It’s a lot of fun I know, you may not have seen you mates in a while, but this is the time to be taking up running positions and gaining what every employer wants – EXPERIENCE. You might have got a 1st at Uni and that is good…but nobody really cares. Don’t wait for the summer to apply either. Make sure you put the leg work in ahead of time so that you can have a few things lined up. Honestly it will help you when it comes to the end of the 3rd year and getting a proper job.
2. Reputation is everything in this business. Make a bad name for yourself and people will find out. A perfect example of this is a guy who used to work in our MCR. He was lazy and eventually got found out and given the boot. Last I heard he was working for a micky mouse channel and probably going to get fired from that as well. After leaving CNBC he took on a job at ESPN and was fired from that for letting BLACK go to air for 17mins! Cardinal sin when it comes to television. My reputation has pretty much got me where I am today and will continue to get me where I’m going. I got my job by having a good reputation. My line manager at CNBC is now my line manager at Sky Sports News. I wouldn’t have been given a freelance contract or got the TC job if my department manager at CNBC didn’t like me. To put a point on the issue of reputation – from a single interview I have had three jobs.
3. Try out different job roles. You never know what you will find out about your skill set and who knows you might even find something you actually like doing. Trust me, when I came out of university I was one of the most unorganised people this side of Jupiter. I never thought I would like, let alone be able to do, a logistical job. I have since found that I quite enjoy organising other people, especially when I’m getting paid to do it
4. If you want to work in production then be prepared to work for not a lot of money for possibly a long time. I was not prepared for this, hence my position in a technical department doing nothing creative.
5. Quitting your job without proper thought is not something I would advise either. I am lucky enough to be in a position in which I always had a fall back job to go. If you are really as unhappy as I was in your job then you need to make sure you are quitting for the right reason and that you are fully prepared for the consequences. This is especially true if you are renting or people are relying on you to be able to pay for things. I hope that this goes without saying but for the more impressionable amongst you – I may have quit and landed on my feet but I always had a safety net, make sure you look down before making that leap.
OK that’s enough advice. Here are some other little bits and pieces I’ve been doing on the side. Mainly entering stupid little competitions with friends, using a camcorder and a basic editing system, keeping the creative dream alive as it were.
Here is a magic video I made to promote my friend after he got into the Magic Circle
“Reputation is everything in this business. Make a bad name for yourself and people will find out.”
After graduating from Lincoln with a 2.1 in 2007 I thought the world was my oyster. In my final year I took Television Production and decided to direct. I loved it. It was a slog at times but I did pretty well, even if I don’t say so myself. The scene was set then. In my head the plan was simple:
Step 1: Prepare my CV
Step 2: Apply for Jobs – preferably jobs in a gallery or at a production company as an AD
Step 3: Get a job and quickly work my way into a studio director position
The reality of this was very different to the fantasy I had concocted in my tiny mind. First of all, it was pretty difficult to even find a gallery based job. No matter how much I searched I just couldn’t find anything. I then thought to myself, fine…I’ll go down the production route and start applying to roles which I knew full well I could do; production assistant, production coordinator, 3rd Assistant director and a whole load more to add to that.
After about 6months of applying and not getting anywhere I decided on a change of tack. Apply for everything. So it began and eventually I was given an interview for a position that I had never even heard of. I went for my interview and was very honest with my intentions – it was after all a job I knew nothing about and at the time had no desire to be in. They were also honest with me. They were looking for someone who was going to stick around for at least a year and I told them that I was willing to do that.
So, I got the job and all of a sudden I am working for CNBC. No, I had never heard of it either. They are the business news arm of NBC, an American broadcaster. My first proper job in television was that of a Satellite Operations Bookings assistant. What is that I hear you say, well, they are responsible for organising the transfer of material from one place to another – for example, I would be responsible for booking a camera position in a bank so that the people in the Master Control Room (MCR) could facilitate the audio and visual elements that make television into the building. NOT what I thought I would be doing but hey, I was getting paid an alright salary and the work was semi-interesting. I was kind of in the right area as well because I was working for a massive company (despite my family and friends thinking I worked for a plethora of other companies and channels ranging from CNN to CBeebies) I continued here for the year of my contract and at the end was told there was no job. Not because I was rubbish, but because of the financial crisis. A head count freeze had been put in place…however, I wasn’t given the sack. I was actually given a freelance contract. This was because I was true to my word and had impressed the powers that be enough so that they sorted me out when the time came. I may have only been working 2 days a week for the next year but at least it gave me time to find other things.
I didn’t actually find anything. Miserable is not the word…but again my reputation for being a hard worker and picking up new skills quickly had me in good standing. Without interview, I was to be a Transmission Controller. As a TC you are basically the last port of call a television channel goes through before being fired along various fibre cables or shot into the air to be bounced of various satellites to reach you the viewer. My job essentially was to watch CNBC’s output and make sure that all the on-screen elements were there. I also had to roll and amend advertising breaks during live programming. Watching TV for a living essentially. Awesome I hear you say…not so much. It’s not a difficult job when things are running smoothly but you need to know what you are doing when the s**t hits the proverbial fan. I did not like this job. The closest description I can fathom is that it was like being at war. I would like to point out at that in no way am I comparing this job, to actually being at war, it’s just a nice analogy that happens to be in a film about war. The name of the film escapes me but it did give me this analogy for being a TC. It was like being at war, large periods of boredom stunted with mad moments of excitement. I think the film is Jarhead but don’t quote me on that.
Safe to say after 18 months I quit without another job to go to. However it was the best decision I had ever made because now I work at Sky Sports News, again no interview, just a quick chat after a recommendation from my old boss at CNBC. I am now a Satellite Operations Coordinator working on the day of air news desk. That’s my head that you see sometimes popping up behind Mille Clode.
Now you are probably thinking – what is the point of me reading this? You might even be thinking – what a jammy so and so. Well the latter might be true but I am about to get to my point. DON’T do it like I did it.
My problem was that I didn’t want to be a runner when I left uni. I thought it was beneath me. I didn’t want to fetch and carry and get paid little to nothing. This is why I am saying be a runner in your summers etc. because having a degree will not make a blind bit of difference. Sure you will have some knowledge that a runner off the street won’t have, but it won’t matter too much initially. If I could go back then I would have done things a little differently for sure. I never wanted to end up where I am at the moment but I didn’t have the work environment experience required to move into production. My main reasoning that I thought 3 years at university would elevate me above tea boy status (despite my excellent cuppers). I know that sounds really snooty.
To be honest I’ve read it back a couple of times and I think I hate myself a little bit, but there isn’t much I can do to change it. In the end I settled and have somehow ended up where I am today but that is a good thing because I can impart words of wisdom. Here are my main words of advice to anyone who will take it on board.
1. DO NOT waste your summers away from uni partying. It’s a lot of fun I know, you may not have seen you mates in a while, but this is the time to be taking up running positions and gaining what every employer wants – EXPERIENCE. You might have got a 1st at Uni and that is good…but nobody really cares. Don’t wait for the summer to apply either. Make sure you put the leg work in ahead of time so that you can have a few things lined up. Honestly it will help you when it comes to the end of the 3rd year and getting a proper job.
2. Reputation is everything in this business. Make a bad name for yourself and people will find out. A perfect example of this is a guy who used to work in our MCR. He was lazy and eventually got found out and given the boot. Last I heard he was working for a micky mouse channel and probably going to get fired from that as well. After leaving CNBC he took on a job at ESPN and was fired from that for letting BLACK go to air for 17mins! Cardinal sin when it comes to television. My reputation has pretty much got me where I am today and will continue to get me where I’m going. I got my job by having a good reputation. My line manager at CNBC is now my line manager at Sky Sports News. I wouldn’t have been given a freelance contract or got the TC job if my department manager at CNBC didn’t like me. To put a point on the issue of reputation – from a single interview I have had three jobs.
3. Try out different job roles. You never know what you will find out about your skill set and who knows you might even find something you actually like doing. Trust me, when I came out of university I was one of the most unorganised people this side of Jupiter. I never thought I would like, let alone be able to do, a logistical job. I have since found that I quite enjoy organising other people, especially when I’m getting paid to do it
4. If you want to work in production then be prepared to work for not a lot of money for possibly a long time. I was not prepared for this, hence my position in a technical department doing nothing creative.
5. Quitting your job without proper thought is not something I would advise either. I am lucky enough to be in a position in which I always had a fall back job to go. If you are really as unhappy as I was in your job then you need to make sure you are quitting for the right reason and that you are fully prepared for the consequences. This is especially true if you are renting or people are relying on you to be able to pay for things. I hope that this goes without saying but for the more impressionable amongst you – I may have quit and landed on my feet but I always had a safety net, make sure you look down before making that leap.
OK that’s enough advice. Here are some other little bits and pieces I’ve been doing on the side. Mainly entering stupid little competitions with friends, using a camcorder and a basic editing system, keeping the creative dream alive as it were.
Here is a magic video I made to promote my friend after he got into the Magic Circle
In the transmission suite