Joanne the Coach

The Ten Commandments of Media Work Experience

So Princess Beatrice is off to the Financial Times for a stint of work experience.  Good on yer Bea.  Work experience is the shitty end of the stick when it comes to media careers, but I'm sure you won't have to hold it for long.  Just follow the 10 commandments of work placements and you'll be fine. 

How To Make A Success of Your Media Work Experience Placement

NO 1 - GO FOR WHAT LIGHTS YOUR FIRE
Only go for work experience on the kind of programmes/publications etc that you feel a genuine enthusiasm for.  This may seem like wishful thinking when all you want is a job, but since you'll be working for nowt you may as well aim to have fun while you're doing it. 

Princess Beatrice is apparently off to the affluence and fashion sections of the FT (well I guessed they covered affluence, but fashion?  In the Financial Times?  Maybe it's how to make a thong out of a load of pound coins?  Hopefully Bea will enlighten us)

NO 2 - SUCK UP TO EVERYBODY (EXCEPT THE STARS)
Whilst you're on work experience, don't make the mistake of just sucking up to the boss - suck up to everybody.

Be especially nice to the runners and researchers because when they leave they may recommend you to take over from them.  They might be on the bottom rung, but it's still a rung up from work experience, so watch, worship and learn.

The big exceptions to this are the stars - on no account suck up to them because they get that all the time anyway.  Just treat anyone famous you meet like a normal person and you'll do fine. 

Sometimes this is easier said than done.  I was once at lunch with the production crew of a programme I was producing.  The presenter was regaling the assembled masses with the story of a dream he'd recently had which involved himself in sexual congress with the recently deceased Princess Diana.  Just as he reached the crescendo of his story ("And, y'know, we were really fucking…like animals..we were really going for it"), I caught the eye of a pleasant, shy girl who had joined us for work experience.  She looked like this was a shock it would take her a long time to recover from but at least she had the sense not to say a thing. 

NO 3 - DO WHATEVER YOU'RE ASKED
When on work experience, never refuse to do anything, no matter how mundane or personally humiliating it might be. Once, at Anglia TV, we needed someone to dress up as the mascot of the local football team.  There was no way any of us hired hands was dressing up as Captain Canary, so you can guess who did.

The costume consisted of a bright yellow body, designed to make the wearer look like a huge ping pong ball which had been dipped in custard.  An unfortunate work experience bod was sent to put it on.  He was away a long time.  When he returned, the producer laughed uproariously at how ridiculous he looked then bollocked him for keeping everyone waiting. 

It turned out that he'd had a bit of a mishap in the changing room, tripping over the huge, claw-like boots, then falling over like a beached Tellytubby.  He'd had to drag himself over to a table and haul himself upright again, because he'd realised that no one was coming to help.  This woeful tale got no sympathy.  Then we noticed that the head part of Captain Canary's costume whiffed a bit, to say the least.  So we sprayed it with a dollop of Mr Sheen, plonked it on his head, and sent him out on to live TV. 

Said workie was last heard of producing a prime time ITV show. 

NO 4 BUT MAKE SURE YOU DO IT RIGHT
Ask questions about whatever you're given to do if you're not sure exactly what's required.  It's much better to do this and get it right than be shy about it and cock up.  That's the fastest route to not being asked to do anything else.

NO 5 - DON'T TAKE IT PERSONALLY IF YOU'RE NOT TREATED WELL
My worst time on work experience was when I went to a BBC local radio station and found that they didn't even have a spare chair for me to sit on - so I was told to stand in the corner of the newsroom. 

After about 8 hours of this I was feeling rather faint, so I went home.  The paid incumbents looked a bit surprised that I was leaving.  A friend of mine spent a week in the same place and found it equally grim, although she did emerge with some well-toned calf muscles from standing up all day.

A common complaint amongst work experience detainees is that you get given very little to do.  Don't be surprised if you're told to read the newspapers and get coffee - after a week you may be trusted with the photocopying.  This is because your new workmates simply don't know how talented and fabulous you are, and they're usually too busy to try and find out.  Remember that although this is a momentous event in your life - your big chance to make an impression - to them you're just the latest in a long line of weekly slaves.  Many media companies will have different people in on work experience every week, so that after a while the staff don't tend to register the new faces or bother to be friendly to them.

NO 6 - DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT OUT OF THE EXPERIENCE
You're likely to get more to do if you go somewhere smaller, especially outside London.  But then again, even if you end up running the station, putting Radio Pisspot on your CV doesn't quite have the same attention grabbing kudos as BBC Nine O Clock news.  Do as many placements as you can at different places, or go back to the same place a lot so that they get so sick of the sight of you they have to give you a job.

NO 7 - IT'S NEVER TOO EARLY TO START
Of course, all of this takes time, which is why it's a good idea to start trying to get work experience as early as you can.  That way, by the time you leave college you'll have racked up a few things to put on your CV.  And by being in a real media environment you'll have an even better chance to decide whether or not you like it.  This could save you a lot of time later if you eventually decide that there are easier and more lucrative ways to earn a living.

TV is a young business and entrants are likely to be in their early twenties. (Although I did once work with a fantastic researcher who was 67.  But he was very much a one-off)

NO 8 - KEEP IN TOUCH WITH THE PEOPLE YOU'VE WORKED FOR
Send a thank you letter or card to anyone who was particularly helpful.  Ask for feedback on what you did that was right and where you could have done better.  Offer to come back and do better next time.  Let them know how you're getting on when you start getting paid work.  With email there's no excuse for not keeping in touch.

NO 9 - OFFER TO HELP OUT BUT DON'T GET IN PEOPLE'S WAY
You will get far more out of the placement if you use your initiative rather than waiting to be given things to do.  Look around for anyone who seems to be particularly busy - could you make a few phone calls for them?  Do a bit of research?  Cup of tea?  The more useful you make yourself the more useful you will be perceived to be.

NO 10 - IF IT DOESN'T WORK OUT IT'S NOT THE END OF THE WORLD.
So you pissed off the producer, spilt tea over the presenter and sat on the office cat.  We learn through the mistakes we make - "that which does not kill us makes us stronger" said Goethe, as he returned from a week's work experience on his local paper.

By Popular Request: Scary Things

For some reason, the search engines keep sending people to this blog in search of scary things.

Well, here you go chaps, knock yerself out: 

What's That Coming Over the Hill, Is It a Networker?

Despite having praised the joys of networking on a number of occasions, I have gone off it recently. Big hypocrite that I am.  Just had too many conversations with people who were looking over my shoulder for someone more important on the other side of the room. 

But a couple of events are coming up that might tempt me out from the cupboard under the stairs.

Women in Journalism's summer party is coming up on 26th June.  Their summer parties aren't anywhere near as busy as their Christmas parties, so whilst there are less people there, you can have more of a conversation with the people you meet.  And they're never dull.

On 3rd July, there's a ginormo networking event taking place in London.  What's more, it's free, and there's even talk of wine. I don't normally bother with big cattle market type events, but I am strangely drawn to this one.  Not sure why - maybe just curiosity.  What would it be like to be in a room of 500 networkers?  Buzzy and energetic?  Or more hellish than swimming a mile of plughole gunk?

No, I think it's the photo on this page that's drawing me in. What's with all the dark suits?  It's like a hall of mirrors.  Maybe someone is handing them out free at the door.  And check out the dude on the right with the plastic bag - what's he smuggling?  Since I don't have a dark suit, but I have a plastic bag, will I still get in?

And Today's Award for Most Random Case Study Request Goes To....

...freelance journalist Sarah Ewing, who's looking for a swimsuit-clad nurse called Colleen.

Sarah also wins a special mention in the Positive Attitude in the Face of Ludicrous Requests From Editors category.

New TV Presenters Required...

...and this time, there's absolutely no mention of breast milk.  Thank goodness for that.

 

On 26th May (Bank Holiday Monday), Red TV is broadcasting live TV presenter auditions. During this three hour live show, upcoming presenters will come in to the studio and be interviewed by a panel. Red are looking for three presenters to present their new line up of shows.  

 

 

 The live show runs from 6pm until 9pm.  Filming takes place at Red's Birmingham studio.

 

 

To confirm your attendance and place on this live show please email: dsbal@red-tv.co.uk

or call Davy on 01213801050.

 

 

 

More Book Proposal Resources

Following on from this post listing loadsa stuff to help you write a book proposal, the genii at Journobiz have also recommended:

• Writer's Market UK 2009 by Joanne Harris and Caroline Taggart
• The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Published.  Loving that title.

Immersed in What Exactly?

Lawks!  The things that land in one's in-box:

Message sent from: Caz Stuart
Email address: caz.stuart@itv.com
Job title: Producer/Director
Publication: Channel 4 Television
Message:

We're looking for a female journalist who is a mother (preferably to a
baby or to young children) who will present an immersive documentary for
Channel 4 about other people's breast milk. You'll need to be available for
15 days filming including a week in the States during the second week of
June.
Please contact caz.stuart@itv.com

Don't all rush at once

Life (Coaching) is a Cabaret, Old Chum

So you wait absolutely no time at all for a stage show about life coaching and dagnabbit, two come along at once.

LifeCoach starring Phill Jupitus opens at the Trafalgar Studios, London on Tuesday 20th May, closely followed by Rosie Smith:  Speed Coach which runs for 3 nights from the 21st at the Tristan Bates Theatre.  So now coaching is getting comfy in Theatreland.  Well, I did warn you we were on the march.

Here is the News

And the news is, there is no news. 

Don't believe me?  Check this out.

And if that's not proof enough, take a look at this:

Back to Basics: Pitching Your Ideas

Apologies to the more experienced writers amongst you who may find this post quite basic.  But somebody, somewhere is looking to get their first feature published, and this is to help them avoid ending up on the Bad Pitch Blog.

Pitching Your Ideas to a Publication

When you want to get published in a newspaper, magazine or website, you start by pitching the idea – not the finished article.  A common mistake is to write an article then look for an outlet to publish it, but this is not how publications work.

The reason for this is that the commissioning editor will have their own ideas about what they want to see in the piece.  They'll know how much space they have available and how many words they need you to write. 

Start by reading several copies of the section you’re pitching to so you get a sense of what they cover and where there might be opportunities for you.  Believe it or not, many people pitch to sections they've never read.  If you want to hit a target, don't just take aim and fire - do your research first.

Think of an idea for the slot you’re targeting – something original that your specialist knowledge will make you the best person to write about.  All publications have writing staff – so why would they pay you to write for them instead?

Submitting Your Pitch
Call the publication and find out the best person to send your idea to.  You can gleam information like this from websites and directories, but the media has a high staff turnover so it’s essential to keep checking that you are approaching the right person. 

Most editors prefer to receive pitches by email.  On bigger publications, editors receive many pitches every day and some won’t even read them if they don’t recognise the writer’s name. 

Write your pitch and send it.  Describe the idea in a few paragraphs (around 100 words) and give some details of your professional background and experience (ie why they should ask you to write this).  The idea is more important than your writing experience, but do emphasise any experience that you have.

What’s next after you’ve submitted your pitch?
Responses vary enormously.  Sometimes you will hear back fairly quickly – within a day or two if it’s a daily newspaper, perhaps a few weeks if it’s a monthly magazine.  If you don’t hear anything you can take it that they’re not interested or the email hasn’t been read.  The editor will not have time to give you feedback if your idea is not suitable.

If you don’t hear anything, you can always follow up with a phone call or a short email.  If an idea is time sensitive, some writers phone up soon after they’ve sent the pitch.  They might say ‘My email’s been playing up so I’m just checking you received this’ but really this is just an excuse to get closer to the editor and start to build up a relationship. 

Another follow up could be to pitch the same idea to another publication,  tweaking it to make it relevant to the new recipient.

Don’t call us…
Pitches are similar to press releases in that you do need to be sending them consistently to build up a profile and eventually have one accepted.  Even experienced writers say they have a hit rate of only 1 in 10 pitches getting commissioned, so don’t despair if you are pitching stuff and getting no response.  Your hit rate should in theory be much higher if you target lower profile publications.  But ultimately it is a numbers game, sugared with a teaspoon of luck, and persistence will lead to success.