One of the primary reasons for my wanting to move to Melbourne to attend RMIT was the emphasis that the degree puts on practical media making as opposed to dry, theoretical teaching styles. There is also undoubtedly a far greater breadth of work experience opportunities available down south, the acquiring of which is so highly critical to being successful within the degree and when entering the industry. I love how this is something that is being emphasized so early on in the degree and appreciate the importance of getting this hand’s on experience as early on as possible.
For a start, it’s only through hands on, in-industry experience that we can put into practice properly the skills and techniques that we have developed in studios. Additionally to this, being forced to approach industry professionals is so essential to the skill of cultivating beneficial networks which you naturally rely on so much in the media and communications industry. I think being forced to do this early on really puts you out of your comfort zone, especially when having to approach people you don’t know in such a professional setting. But we live in an extraverted world and the ability to be confident in knowing what you can offer a work team is also so important and dependent on putting yourself out there early on.
The more practical side of media one has really only confirmed the specific avenue that I do want to pursue as a career (ie. being documentary making). I feel as though this is where my strengths lie but am also open to interrogating similar areas closely aligned to documentary production, being presenting (in some capacity) or producing TV content. Therefore it seems only logical to reach out to documentary production companies first and foremost to line up a work placement that is most closely aligned to my specific aspirations and current skills set. In having said this, however, I am also open to other opportunities that operate on a broader scale (ie. video and TV production in general).
One company that I would love to work for is VICE, which I know has an office based here in Melbourne and therefore would be another company that I would potentially reach out to. I think that VICE is incredible in its ability to deviate from the mainstream media outlets and bring an authenticity to its media coverage. There would be substantial opportunities to expand my skill set because VICE’s coverage expands over various platforms, as opposed to solely documentary or video content. For these reasons I’ll definitely investigate acquiring some work placement with VICE or a similar company over the holiday period.
