This module is designed to enable you to reflect on your progress in developing media related employability skills and allows you to articulate your current subject specific interests and achievements, and to research a career path after graduation. It will involve you investigating employers and professional roles to identify the skills needed to enter a particular area of employment, self-employment, or further study. You will also evaluate your personal strengths and areas for development to refine and present your skills, abilities and attribute to best align with industry roles and expectations. Media Employment Project also allows you to build a Career Planning Portfolio and opportunities to consider branding yourself to potential employers through careers related promotional platforms. The module is about preparing you and making realistic decisions about your personal development beyond graduation to achieve your goals and putting into place building blocks to prepare you for the challenges of securing employment within the media, film and creative arts. This module will include input and resources from the Career Connect Student and Graduate Employability Centre.

ASSESSMENT ONE: CAREER PLANNING PORTFOLIO

A Career Plan Portfolio outlining an intended career path within the media or media related creative areas, self-employment, or further study opportunities with supporting appendices such as: a professional LinkedIn profile, a production showreel/outputs, personal promotional materials, mock interview, summary of attended networking events and/or career coaching or employer mentoring. 2000 words.

LOs (Learning Outcomes): 1-4 50%.

ASSESSMENT TWO: REFLECTIVE REPORT

A Reflective Report in a negotiated format evaluating your present stage of personal skills development and application to a chosen employment area and aspirations. This could be written or verbally presented. 1500 words/verbal presentation length to be negotiated.

LOs (Learning Outcomes): 3-5 50%.

You will work with tutors to negotiate a potential career path, reflecting on your current skills development through your course related activities and external experiences. Learning will take place through mixed-mode teaching sessions to explore skills identification and articulation, current job markets, trends and opportunities, guest speakers from different creative media areas and careers guidance mentors. Through working closely with tutors, you will develop effective techniques of enquiry and form a realistic appraisal of the opportunities in different occupations. There will also be an opportunity for you to engage with the Career Connect Student and Graduate Employability Centre to enhance your personal careers development.

Independent Study will include time allocated to building your careers portfolio, researching industry employment roles, attending careers guidance sessions and networking events.

1. Communicate and articulate effectively your present media professional and transferable skills using appropriate careers related networks and platforms.

2. Produce a career planning portfolio identifying an intended career path in a media/media-related employment sector or further study opportunities.

3. Analyse and evaluate current media/media-related recruitment roles, trends and production contexts and understand the relationship between industry expectations and your current stages of development.

4. Use a range of employability resources to enhance and develop your career goals and evaluate their effectiveness in relation to your intended career plans.

5. Evaluate and reflect on your personal skills development and further goals in relation to employment opportunities and your career aspirations.

Media Centre Production and Post-Production Facilities

Careers toolkit

MyCareer

ScreenSkills Freelance Toolkit

The Blackboard virtual learning environment will be available to support this module. Details will be supplied in the module handbook.

Barr, P. (2019) The Successful Career Toolkit, London: Kogan Page.

Deuze, M (2019) Making Media: Production, Practices, and Professions, Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.

Smith, S. A. (2018) Careers in Media and Communication, London: SAGE.

Taylor, S. & Luckman S. eds (2020) Pathways into Creative Working Lives, London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Tupper, H. & Ellis, S. (2022) You Coach You: How to Overcome Challenges and Take Control of Your Career, London: Penguin.

Please see the module handbook for a full listing of reading texts.

Media Employment Project is centred on your personal stages of development in relation to real world roles within the media and creative industries, self-employment opportunities such as setting up your own media production company or further study at postgraduate level. It will enable you to build a career planning portfolio with a range of supporting promotional materials which can be used to apply for positions and/or further work experience to connect you to the next stages of your career development.