Episode 13 – How to get a job in TV with Elsa Sharp

March 13, 2015 Podcast

Welcome to the 13th episode of the Graduate Job Podcast.

This week we focus on how to get a job in TV, as we speak with author and BBC Talent Manager Elsa Sharp. If you’ve ever thought about a career or job in television then this episode is perfect for you. It’s well worth listening to no matter what you’re applying for, as Elsa’s insights into work experience, networking and the importance of having the correct attitude are applicable across all industries. So sit back, relax and let’s crack on with episode 13 of the Graduate Job Podcast.

You can download the podcast to your computer or listen to it here on the blog. Additionally, you can subscribe via iTunes, Stitcher radio.

MORE SPECIFICALLY IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT:

  • Why having the correct mindset is crucial to a career in TV
  • Why gaining a work experience placement is so vital
  • Why you need to start networking…now!
  • If a degree is important to getting into TV
  • The key skills needed to thrive in television
  • How to create a winning CV for television
  • Elsa’s golden rules for interviews

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Check out the ‘How to Get a Graduate Job’ step-by-step online course at https://howtogetagraduatejob.com/
  • Don’t even think about applying for graduate jobs until you’ve read my free guide, ‘The 5 steps you must take before applying for graduate jobs’. Click here NOW. It will completely change the way you apply for jobs!
  • Would you like a free 30-minute video coaching call? Simply select a time that works here https://calendly.com/gradjob/ We can go over your CV, application, or anything that you are struggling with.
  • Assessment Day – One of the top providers of psychometric tests. Click HERE and support the show
  • Career Gym – Use code GJP to get 20% off all of their tests!
  • Job Test Prep – One of the top providers of psychometric tests. Click HERE and support the show
  • How to get a job in television – Elsa’s excellent book – Click on the image below to buy from Amazon!

Transcript – Episode 13 – How to get a job in TV with Elsa Sharp

James:   Welcome back everyone to the Graduate Job Podcast, with your host James Curran. The Graduate Job Podcast is your weekly home for all things related to helping you on your journey to finding that amazing job. Each week I bring together the best minds in the industry, speaking to leading authors, entrepreneurs, coaches and recruiters who bring decades of experience into a byte size weekly 30 minute show. Put simply, this is the show I wish I had a decade ago when I graduated.

This week I speak with author and BBC Talent Manager Elsa Sharp as we cover how to get a job in television. If you’ve ever thought about a career in TV then brace yourself, as over the next 30 minutes Elsa will fill you in on everything you need to know. It’s well worth listening to no matter what you’re applying for as Elsa’s insights into work experience, networking and the importance of having the correct attitude are applicable across all industries. So sit back, relax and let’s crack on with episode 13 of the Graduate Job Podcast.

James:   Hello, and welcome to the Graduate Job Podcast. I’m excited today to be speaking to Elsa Sharp.   Elsa is TV Talent Manager at BBC Factual and the author of How to Get a Job in Television and Get In and Get on in Television.

Elsa, a very warm welcome to the Graduate Job Podcast.

Elsa:       Thank you very much. Pleased to help.

James: So, I’ve given our listeners a very brief introduction, but before we jump into the topic today of how to get a job in television, would you like to introduce yourself properly and tell us a little bit more about your 20 years in the industry?

Elsa: Okay. Well, I am a Talent Manager, as you said in BBC Documentaries within BBC Factual. I work with Aysha Rafaele who is Head of Documentaries and the two executive producers there, Sacha Mirzoeff and Fergus O’Brien, staff documentaries for BBC One, Two and Three. I also work with Ana De Moraes, who is Head of Central Development within the BBC and Samantha Anstiss who has a creative label which also makes programs for channels across the BBC.

I started life as a journalist and trained as a journalist before I became a researcher in TV. It was just a lucky chance opportunity that I ended up in the industry because it certainly wasn’t a life plan. I did a post graduate certificate in journalism at the London College of Printing which I think is now called the London College of Communication, and because I was freelancing for magazines and I had done training in layouts and proofreading and subbing for newspapers, magazines. When I started I was working as an editorial assistance on a trade magazine and I wanted to up-skill but I was freelancing as a journalist and on the course I met another student called Anna Richardson who is now a TV presenter. She presents things like Supersize vs. Supperskinny and is a presenter on Channel 4 but back then she had been a researcher or work experience runner type person on a program in Manchester for BBC North and she was desperate to try to get into TV as a researcher. So, she was doing the course to enable her to get on in TV because she felt that journalism would be useful, and during the course we became friends and afterwards when it finished and I was freelancing she was going for researching jobs and one day told me that she had gone to see a company called Wall to Wall about working on a music and entertainment program and that she had struggled with all the questions and it sounded really difficult and she didn’t want to do the job. I thought it sounded quite interesting because at the time I was freelancing for the different music papers and thought, well, actually, that’s sounds quite good, a regular job. So, I applied and had two, possibly three interviews actually because I didn’t have any TV experience, and eventually they gave me a break as a junior researcher and then I started and stayed on the program for eight months and becoming a researcher and then I started freelancing for other companies and became a AP and then a producer/director and then a producer and series producer for various companies and then I worked in development for a few years. After I had children I came back to a development role at an indie called Zig Zag and it was a hybrid sort of Talent Manager/Development Producer role, part-time which is what I wanted and I ended up then becoming a Talent Manager and I’ve been a Talent Manager for the past 10 years and have worked for various companies, including Dragonfly, Firecracker Films, Raw Television and I’ve been at the BBC in the Factual Department for two years now.

James: And TV is a notoriously difficult industry to get into and one where there’s not a set career path. So, starting at the beginning, imagine I’m a fresh face student about to graduate and would love to work in TV. Where do I start?




Elsa: Well, I think it does seem very daunting if you’re outside but I think it’s a combination of three things: tenacity, luck and persistence. Where would I start if I was keen to getting into TV now? I would make a list and be very methodical in my approach. I’d make a list of all the TV companies whose programs I watched. I’d know their output inside out. I’d know who made the programs and you can do this by looking at the end credits and looking certainly on the website for the BBC programs and they list their execs and producers and the production company that makes the program. I would write to those companies and ask to do work experience. I mean, I know very successful producers who were doing work experience while they’ll still at college. If you can’t get a work experience placement you can do, you can temp, you can get into different organizations in broadcasting, broadcasters themselves in these by joining temping agencies that supply administrative, legal and secretarial staff, that’s another option. And of course, the BBC has a number of new entrance schemes. They have a production talent pool which they select about 300 people a year to come and do different jobs within the BBC, almost like an internal temp pool. They run the production training scheme and a number of apprenticeships which are listed in the BBC website. But I would just basically decide which area of television interested me and try to get as much experience, paid and unpaid, as I could. Also, send in ideas for programs, or access or ideas for films is also a good way of getting the attention of a producer and showing them you’re thinking along the right lines.

James: The majority of our listeners are current students or recent graduates and without wishing to upset a load of them, how important do you think it is to have a degree in terms of getting into TV. Are there any necessary qualifications or is it just more, as you mentioned, about work experience?

Elsa: I think for the most part, you’re expected to have a degree to work in television. I don’t think it particularly matters whether it’s a degree in TV production. I think, obviously, if you’ve been to Bournemouth or Leeds or one of the Centres of Excellence for a skill set approved course, they’re really, really useful and very practical and well thought of courses, but I think you can do, you know, I’ve met and worked with researchers who’ve got a variety of backgrounds. Say if you wanted to work in special factual areas like history or science, I think it’s pretty key to have a degree. But in other areas, the major of the degree matters but I do think that employers, whether they’ll openly say it or not, do look for a secondary education and do look for people who’ve been through university.

James: You talk in Get In and Get On in TV, your book, about the value you received from doing a post grad in journalism. Do you recommend this route for everybody or is it just more if you’re interested in news and current affairs?

Elsa:  Well, I think if you’re interested in news and current affairs, it’s a given that you have to have the appropriate training in journalism and specially in broadcast journalism and often now I see lots of people, because I occasionally find people for current affairs who’ve got sort of MAs from City University and such like. I think it’s useful and certainly my degree, my post grad degree, certainly helped me and stood me in good stead because all the things that it taught me are transferable because TV essentially, TV research is journalism. You need to understand how to find the story and characters and tell a story. You need to understand how to write, how a narrative unfolds, how to hook the viewer, how to interview somebody, and all those techniques and the training that I received on my course as a journalist. So I do think it was really, really useful to me and probably one of the best things I did because after sort of I think a year in TV I was writing scripts and I think I would have found it a lot harder had I not done my news writing and different writing courses.

I think, also, writing is really underrated. People don’t realize that they need to be able to write because it’s an essential skill for development, being able to write is an essential skill for being able to write a script or to think of a narrative, to write voice-over. So, it’s certainly something that comes in handy later on and actually a lot of people interviewed who don’t know how to write, certainly people who write well are in demand, as well as being able to make, you know, beautifully visual and creative looking film.

James:  That’s a skill that will stick with you for your career no matter where you take it.

Elsa: Yeah. Yep. Absolutely.

James:  So, recognizing that the range of jobs within the term television is huge, from in front of the camera to behind, to production, editorial, technical, is there a common set of skills and qualities which you think ties these all together?

Elsa:  Yes, and no. I couldn’t really say because I think each job that you’re talking about there, whether it’s presenting or technical and craft, or you know, the production management side of TV or editorial, they’re all very different skills and you need to have a certain skill set and certain predisposition to make, to succeed in those roles.   The only thing I would say in terms of qualities, I think there are probably, I could say that there are a handful of qualities that you need for the universal across the board and they’re more about personality and the way someone is as a person rather than something that can be learned. Of course, you can always learn how to do certain things. One I would say is that you have to be incredibly creative, whether you’re creative in the use of how to shoot something, if you’re a camera man or edit something,   but also how something might look as a director or how you tell the story or how you use your budgets and how you stretch your resources. Being creative is key, I would say. Being visual is key. Being collegiate and co-operative and being able to work in a team and lead a team and recognize other people’s strengths and weaknesses. Being resilient and being able to cope with the long hours and under pressure and in the face of constant problem solving, I think that’s key. Even as a freelancer you have to be resilient because you might not get every job you go for, especially in the beginning. You need to be able to bounce back and carry on and that’s the same with development, whether you’re coming out with ideas and them being rejected or whether you’re in production and you can’t get access to the thing you need to get access to or to persuade those contributors to take part or, you know, it’s a constant set of unfolding problems and being able to deal with them and think creatively and laterally, as well as not be frightened and put off. Those are sort of key skills. And being flexible because TV is not a traditional industry where you have traditional hours and two weeks off a year and paid holidays. It’s quite—- You have to be prepared and understand and be happy to be freelance because there is no job security, there’s no safety net in some ways and you have to be resourceful and good at managing your own finances and being prepared to, you know, to win your own business and market yourself as a brand so you continually are employed and you plot your own career path without a formal structure of progression.

James: You talk there about the importance of attitude and having the right attitude. I mean, chapter one in your book is entitled, TV, are you tough enough? And TV does have a reputation as being a challenging place to work with as you mentioned, egos, long hours, stress. Is it a place for shrinking violets, do you think?

Elsa: Well, I would probably say not. Shrinking violets, if you’re— I mean, I know many intellectual thoughtful quiet producers. I know who are not madly extravert but I would say that there is a level of confidence and creativity and resourcefulness that most people in TV have and I think you need to, it’s also a job where each program has different needs and therefore you need to employee different methods and think creatively about the challenges of making a particular program and no one job, I found in my experience while I was in production, no one job really prepared me for the next. I mean, the only skills that you have are those of being able to find a story, track down people persuade them to take part and each time you work at a program you’re learning about an entirely different area, an entirely different group of people and you have to be fearless and go into situations and talk to people and be able to– face to face and on the phone – and assess them quickly and work out their, where they might fit into programming and persuade them to take part. I mean, it’s— I think that you need to be, to have an inner sort of strength. I mean, whether that means that you manifest in shrinking violets on the surface, that’s one thing but I just definitely think that, the people that I see who are successful and I meet sometimes, I’m interviewing all day and I can meet 7 or 8 people a day, some I’ve met before, some new people but I think that successful people have a degree of resilience and strength and charm and also can-do attitudes where they kind of, you know, they’re persistent but without even thinking about it. They just get on with it.

James: Makes complete sense to me and they are characteristics which in competitive job market you need to have that inner core strength and belief in what you’re doing to put yourself forward for the job because if you walk into a job interview—

Elsa:   Yeah. And you can’t blame others and complain. You have to be flexible to ride with the changes. You know and I’ve worked on programs, live programs, where you spend a week preparing a running order for a show and standing up guests and then it could all change at the last minute and you have rewrite the whole thing again and find guests. And you have to say, yes, okay then. You can’t dig your heels in or complain or be phased by that.   I think it’s just really is—- and it’s the people that roll with that who come up with solutions rather than problems who are the ones that succeed.

James:  A can-do attitude will get you a long way.

Elsa: Yeah.

James:  You touched on work experience earlier and one start from your book which surprised me was that a survey said that 70 percent of people in TV had relied on contacts to hear about their most recent job.

Elsa: Yes. That was in my How to Get a Job in Television. I wrote that in 2008. It came out in 2009. Whether the statistics are still current, is another thing. I suspect that things might have changed slightly with the advent of the internet, and Twitter and Facebook and people advertising on social media. I think it’s a little bit more transparent than it might have been 10 or 20 years ago in terms of opportunities but the fact is most jobs are never advertised. It does come down to who you know. It does come down to having a lucky break. Now, it might be that you know someone— You know, in a completely fateful coincidence I did meet somebody who worked in TV but even she was struggling to get in but it’s how you make that opportunity work for you. And also, I’ve had friends of friends of friends contact me and I’ve met with them. So, you know, you can find your way without knowing somebody but obviously it does help if you do, to make that first step.

James: Is Twitter now one of the medium, a useful one that people use to try and get into it through yourself and your colleagues? Is it a way that people can use it to try and get work experience in that initial situation?




Elsa: Speaking for myself, I mean, most people turn to email me at the BBC or my personal email address. I do have a Twitter account and I do have followers on that and I used to when I worked as a freelance Talent Manager at various indies, they used to use it to advertise vacancies but I don’t tend to say much because the BBC has its own platforms. It has the BBC careers website. It has the production talent pool and if you’re in that pool, then vacancies are Twitted and using Facebook for vacancies. So, I tend just to advertise – not advertise – I tend to use emails and that’s the best way of contacting me; but yeah, my colleagues social media and on popular free groups on Facebook.

James: How important then is work experience in getting into TV? Is it a complete prerequisite for getting an initial job?

Elsa:  I would say it’s pretty essential but not because something you need to do. I just think it has a whole range of benefits. When you go to do work experience in a company, you might be doing, you’re getting exposure to the production teams and the producers and the executives of the company and that’s your way to impress them, to network, to find out who’s who and to observe what they’re making, how they work, and to create a good impression so when they’re looking for a runner or a paid opportunity comes up that they know who you are because they’re not going to give a break to someone that they don’t’ know. And they’re going to want to sense that you’re going to hit the ground running, if you’re given the opportunity. So, you know, it’s a good way of going into different companies and meeting and working alongside researchers and producers and they then will become your network. Through them you might hear of other job opportunities at other indies or if you’ve done well and they’re pleased with you they might recommend you to their friends. Most people in TV are freelance and they move around. So, even if you went to one indie and you’re working with a group of researchers and APs they might recommend you to others. So, it’s a really good way of creating, making your own contacts and creating a network as well as learning how TV works and what different companies are like. Different companies have different personalities, almost, and different flavours. Depending on the type of programs they make they’ll have a completely different eSource management style. It’s a good way of finding out what environment suits you and where you might best want to spend your time.

James:  There’s a talent manager at the BBC you mentioned you spent all day interviewing. You must see millions of CVs and cover letters and applications. What are the classic mistakes that you see candidates make when they apply to you?

Elsa: Classic mistakes, probably overwriting; poor layout; not listing their skills and experience clearly; not listing what they did on the shows that they worked on. Obviously it’s useful to have a summary sometimes but the important things are the broadcaster, the production company, the exec producer and the actual job title and how long somebody was on a project because those are all the things I’m looking for. I’m looking, I’m trying to evaluate what sort of skills and experience that person has and if they’re not explaining it or if they’re using the CV to write irrelevant things about what the program is about, then it’s a missed opportunity. I think also a summary at the top rather than a mission statement of listing the skills and experience that they have is always useful. People underestimate the benefit of, especially entry level, being able to drive, having a clean driving life and some speaking languages, or being able to use a camera, any sort of relevant training like FCP training or shooting or writing or journalism. Those are all key skills to put at the top. Spelling mistakes I find annoying and if someone can’t express themselves on a CD clearly and concisely in a way that is well written, then I wouldn’t probably consider them.

James: Do CVs and cover letters still cut it or do people need to do something more creative? Have you seen any creative applications, whether it’s YouTube videos or short piece of work that have worked well for you?

Elsa: If people include a link to a short film or a link to YouTube or a video clip, I might often click on it. But really, speaking for myself personally, the first thing I’m going to see is the cover letter within the body of an email. So that’s crucial that they get it right in terms of telling me who they are, what they’ve done and what they’re looking for, when they’re available and who they’ve worked with. Obviously, the CV can tell me more, but you know, if it was director who’s made lots of hours, if I haven’t watched the program I would then go onto their show and also have a look at how they shoot and the documentaries they’ve made. In some ways it’s less important at junior level, unless of course I’m looking for a shooting researcher or someone who I know can shoot to a certain standard and handle a camera proficiently or can do sound, I’d be looking for evidence of that.

James:  You talk in the book about the golden rules of interviews. Could you just expand on what these are, for us, and how candidates can impress?

Elsa: Golden rules. Well, they’re a number of things. I’ll start by saying that it’s important to be able to express yourself clearly, to articulate what you’ve done in a concise way, to answer the questions that are asked of you, to do research about the company if you can, about their outputs, the kinds of programs they make and have reasons why you want to work with them and have ideas and suggestions and a clear sense of your skills and how they match what the employer might be looking for.

When I meet people I want to, kind of, get a sense of what they’re like as a person. So, I ask them about themselves as well as the programs they’ve made. I try and get to get a sense of how they work and to get— Often I will ask for, if it’s not on their CV, who they’ve worked with and the telephone numbers. Like I say, when they’ve gone I might talk to people that have worked with about them. Obviously, that’s part of my job is to clear references but also the people they might not necessarily think that I would contact. The key thing is to go with preparation. I mean, I’ve interviewed people that can’t remember the name of the producer they’ve worked with. And it makes me think, well, a) how could you have forgotten; and b) did you really work for that person? It’s things like that.




Also, if you prepare by watching the output, if you have any nerves at least you’ll be speaking from a position of confidence and knowledge if you’re asked about programs you’ve worked on as well as the programs that the company makes, because they want to know that you’ve written to them and that you have, you understand their brand and output. And I think a big “no” is not to know the programs, and definitely don’t crib from looking in the internet at their company work, because that might not be up to date, that might be a little bit behind. Often, for example when I was at Dragonfly they had outputs going back two or three years but they wouldn’t have necessarily had the most recent outputs. And you should be showing in your interviews that you watch television, that you’ve got an awareness, that you understand what’s rating and why and you know what you like and why. Because it just won’t be about your CV and what you’ve done. It will also be, people who interview you are trying to get an understanding of how you think.

James:  If you could go back in time, what advice would you give to a 20-year-old version of yourself who was about to start out in TV?

Elsa: Oh, my God. That’s a hard question. If I do it I might say, I don’t know. Be more prepared. I think, actually, I think – yes, actually – I think my career in a way was based on the opportunities that were presented to me and the kind of— Often you might get offered something by chance, or you might hear about something by chance. I took the best opportunities that were presented to me. I think now it’s possible to be a little bit more strategic because then, when I started out 20 years ago, there were never vacancies advertised. You heard everything through word of mouth. There was no internet. You couldn’t research companies because there were no websites. You had to literally ring up the production manager.

So, if I was going back 20 years, if I wanted to work in TV I would think I would probably just try to do a broadcast journalism degree where I would have learned how to structure a story and shoot and edit and you know, worked with lecturers to understand the language of television, of the visual medium and I definitely see that the people who have done degrees at the National Film and Television School or Bournemouth in TV production, they’re the ones that come out fully prepared and they understand the industry. They understand how it works. They understand how to navigate it. They understand and have the skills that they need to work well, whereas I feel I learned them on the job which is the hard way. I mean, it’s good to do that and most people do it but it’s kind of better to be prepared, in a way.

James: A good practical degree course which has lots of time and—

Elsa: I think not just any media production degree course. I think there are certain ones that do very, who teach very good storytelling skills, and I’ve met lots of young people who’ve come out of those, of certain courses and they can actually make films. They can actually create a story, rather than— I always advocate media studies or any media degree. I would say specific film making degree or course. Does that make sense?

James:   Yeah.

Elsa:   That’s what I would say to myself. If I was serious about working in TV and I wanted to make documentaries, and I made entertainment shows which I enjoyed at the time and I am glad I did, but I think documentaries or making films might have been a lot more interesting and rewarding.

James:  Well, there’s still plenty of time left.




Elsa: Thanks.

James: So, moving on now to the quick fire round of questions. Which book, Elsa, would you recommend that listeners should read?

Elsa:  Well, this is a tricky one because I’m reading an array of fiction and I wouldn’t say they are particularly relevant and also being probably alot older than your listeners, I’d have to be really naff and recommend by own book without any kind of— because I genuinely think, I mean, I’m confidently sending my eBook out, just emailing it to people who write to me because I think it is so useful. There’s just so many tips in there that give a shorthand to just anything that I can explain in an hour and people say that the practical advice in it has really helped them. I think that if you read one thing, it’s not just the book which is 300 pages, the 30 page e-book just has everything in it and it is really useful. It doesn’t take very long to read but it’s just very handy and practical, brief advice which tells everything, really.

James:   Excellent. And which internet resource would you recommend to listeners? Again, could be anything. It doesn’t have to be job or TV related.

Elsa:   I really enjoy reading The Guardian. I read it online as well as the paper copy. I just think you get extra news and features and lifestyle and editorials I really enjoy but of course, as well if your listeners are wanting to get into TV advertising media jobs but also give you trends about what’s going on in the industry and whose moving where and the larger themes.

On a TV specific mode, the one tip I would give, the one website that I use and I know my talent manager colleagues use it, it’s our a bible, is a website called The Talent Manager where freelancers upload their CVs and when I’m looking for staff production I always look there.

James: And I will link to, everything that we’ve talked about today in the show notes. So listeners you’ll be able to get the links to that in the show notes on the website.

And finally, what one tip would you recommend that people can implement today on their job hunt?

Elsa:   The tip that I would say is to be resourceful and never give up and if one door closes, just think around how you might find another door to knock on and to do what you want to do without taking any setbacks or being put off. If you’re really determined, with luck and persistence you can get into TV.

James: That’s great advice there and one that is very true for the job hunting market everywhere at the moment.

Elsa, thank you so much for your time today. What is the best way for people to connect to you and the work that you do?

Elsa:   I am at the BBC, people can contact or find me there or on Twitter. And I have a website, www.elsasharp.com.

James:   And I’ll link that to the show notes as well so people can look.

Elsa: Yeah. Maybe link to the BBC, probably if you link to the BBC careers website that would be good and then people would know when to apply for work experience, because that has to go through BBC HR and also the Production Talent Scheme.

James: That’s a good idea. So, I’ll make sure I do that.

Elsa: Brilliant

James:  Many thanks again to Elsa for her time and insights. In terms of things for you to think about. The first for me is the importance of your attitude. To get on in TV you need to believe in yourself and your ability. You’re going to suffer knockbacks on your journey, you might have trouble getting that first break, then once you do get started as a freelancer you could find yourself out of work between projects for long periods of time. You’re going to need a core inner belief in yourself, that you’re going to succeed, you’re on the right path and you’re going to get there in the end. Which links to what is becoming a bit of a constant theme on the podcast, the importance of knowing your own core values. Jennifer Holloway talked about it as part of the Brand Pyramid in episode 12, David Shindler mentioned it in episode 6. You need to know what you want from work, and what is important to you. If the number one thing you value from work is the need for stability, a regular paycheck and 9-5, then working in TV probably isn’t going to be right for you, whereas the civil service might tick all you boxes. Conversely if you’re the sort of person who values change, the excitement of not knowing where you will be working month on month, and gets a buzz from thinking on your feet and working under pressure then, working in live TV could be perfect for you. There is no right and wrong answer here, but what you do need to do is sit down and spend some time thinking what’s right for you.

The second key point for me is on the importance of networking. As I said in the episode, I was surprised that 70% of TV jobs went to people they knew. Even though that stat is a few years old its still going to ring true. As a result you need to get out there and get yourself known. Get in touch with Elsa, hit up the movers and shakers in the industry on twitter, I’m sure they are all on there. See a show you like, tweet the producer and make contact. You need to be proactive and put yourself forward to be heard, because if you don’t, someone else will. For advice on networking check out episode 3 with Richard Maun, and ask his brilliant question which I now ask all of my guests on the show, ‘you do you know who…’ ‘Who do you know who might be looking for work experience candidates, or a trainee runner, or whatever it is that you want to do. It’s a great question to ask.

Finally the third point is linked to point 2, and is on the importance of work experience. It’s true in television as its true in all walks of life. People want to work with people they know, trust and particularly like. Whether in TV, construction or consulting. If you’re building a team you will always first go to people who you have worked with in the past. As such, it’s critical to get that work experience and to get your face in front of people. So get networking, and get out there and bag yourself some work experience placements, that’s what those long university holidays are made for!

Right episode 13 on getting into TV all sorted. You can find a full transcript of everything that we’ve talked about and all links at www.graduatejobpodcast.com/TV. Please get in touch with us on Twitter @gradjobpodcast, and also if you’ve enjoyed the show please leave a review on Itunes or Stitcher radio, it’s the best way that you can support the show and enable more people to find us and to get the credible help and advice they deserve. So big shoutout to ‘Boo the Cat lover’, great name, who left a 5 star review this week and said ‘love the mix of guests and the insight they each bring’, so thanks to the listener who likes cats. Now if you’ve not already subscribed via Itunes or Stitcher radio, you need to sort that out, it’s the easiest way to get each episode delivered to you for free and to make sure that you don’t miss a thing. So, I hope you enjoyed the episode today, but more importantly I hope you use it and apply it. See you next week.

 

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