Our Careers: Bitesized in the Beeb December 15, 2011
Posted by Andrew Falconer in : Our Careers, Publishing , trackback
The next post following the previous occupations of The Careers Group employees is from our Head of Content and Information, Lakshmi Hughes.
How do you get a job with the BBC within nine months of leaving university with a 2:2 in history?
Answer: You don’t… unless you have some luck, some passion and you’re prepared to put in some self-effort.
So luck first:
I had a family contact working in a CD-Rom Children’s publishing company. She needed some casual work so after university I was able to get some useful work experience and a small income. Here I learnt to do basic research, word processing skills and adjust to working a five-day week in an office.
The role was temporary so the clock was ticking to find a job. I had a vague idea about going into media but I wasn’t too sure how. I thought the only way people got jobs was through networking and word-of-mouth. I didn’t really understand how this worked so was very relieved when a friend had applied for (and got) a job advertised in The Guardian as a press officer at the National Theatre.
Shortly afterwards a role came up at the BBC looking for an online editorial assistant. The description looked interesting and matched some of my skills. I persuaded myself to apply and told myself that it was better to try and fail than not to try at all!
Following my interest:
The BBC job wanted a person with an interest in education and the internet.
I’d always loved learning and the children’s publishing house had learning outcomes for its products. I also had an addiction to BBC television. The internet was still new in the mid-nineties so my interest was based solely on a book called “The Virtual Community”. It described a digital network where people shared ideas and problems/solutions with others all over the world. It sounded amazing and something I wanted to work in.
I also realised electronic media was a less competitive area than mainstream television and that I stood a better chance of getting a “foot in the door”.
Self-effort:
It took a lot of time to fill out the application form. I concentrated most effort on the part about what made me suitable for the role and the previous employment sections. I weaved their words and requirements into these sections and highlighted the skills I had that met these.
When I got the news I had an interview I read through my application and found out more about the skills I didn’t have, such as HTML. I remember spending an afternoon in front of a computer trying to get to grips with it. I also splashed out on a suit for the interview.
Pre-interview test: my nerves were the real challenge, after much crossing out I finished the task!
At the interview three people quizzed me. After putting me at ease I was able to answer the questions spontaneously.
Outcome:
I got the job and was given an amazing opportunity to work with intelligent, skilful people for the next 15 years. I never stopped learning and worked on some extraordinary projects including setting up a Schools Online service GCSE Bitesize, BBC Four online and even the BBC Homepage.
If you are interested in careers within the media sector, our Facebook page has lots of useful information. We also have hundreds of resources on Careers Tagged.
Comments»
Hey Lakshmi, can you tell me a bit more about setting up GCSE Bitesize – sounds interesting!
Hello Michael,
Thank you for your comment. About setting up GCSE Bitesize… the project started with a TV executive asking me to come up with an idea to sit alongside the TV and print sections.
It was a great opportunity as the internet is the perfect tool for revision. You get instant feedback on your performance anonymously and can re-take as often as you like. So I wrote a proposal made up of webpages that explained ideas/concepts and other webpages where you could take interactive tests to check you’d understood. I also added the “Ask a Teacher” and peer support so that students so there was a human element.
After the proposal was accepted I was given a budget. I worked with my manager to find a designer, editor and technical person to build the site. We commissioned teachers and editors to produce the content.
We had a very tight deadline (3 months) I think. We launched with a few subjects and grew it from there. The online tests turned out to be so popular that we had to change the technology to work for the amount of people using it.
Anyway I hope that answers your question. best wishes Lakshmi