Managing work experience at Solent

By Bethany Harrison

Within the Media Production course, students are expected to complete one hundred hours of work experience. This is one of the many ways that our course is dedicated to preparing students for the industry. It may seem like a daunting task if you haven’t done it before, but it can be easier than it seems.

What is the point of work experience?

Work experience is about working with clients. It’s about gaining insight into different aspects of the media industry. This is important as it can help students work out what area of media they want to work in after graduation. The idea is that students can try, through work experience, working in different parts of media so that they can work out what they like and don’t like. This is useful as working out what you like will help you streamline your career pathway and inform you what optional modules would support that.

How do you get work experience?

There is a myriad of ways in which work experience can be achieved. One way is through connecting with external professionals to gain industry experience. For example, this is done mainly through internships. Alternatively, working for people that you perhaps already know can be an easier way to start as there is less pressure. It is not expected that the first years must already be finding external professionals. Instead, there are plenty of opportunities to complete work experience within the university. Often, there will be times when the lecturers will provide opportunities for students to work for them, which is a great way to build your portfolio and confidence in media abilities. As well as this, you can get work experience by taking advantage of the events that Solent has connections with throughout the year. One popular way to do this is through working at music festivals during the summer with the university.

Ultimately, there is a wealth of opportunities for work experience during your university career at Solent that will help to boost your online portfolios and further your knowledge of the industry. You also have a lot of freedom and flexibility to choose what you want to do and how you wish to approach the idea of work experience. All the lectures on the course understand how hard it can be at first and they will support you throughout your Solent career with finding work experience and building your confidence in it!

Check out this vlog about work experience on LinkedIn! https://www.linkedin.com/posts/bethany-harrison-1b3b40251_during-this-semester-at-solent-university-activity-7150825681721987072-HeJg?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

If you'd like to find out what the lecturers on the Media Production course think about work experience, check out our reel on Instagram! Username @solentmedia