Creative Careers

I endured the tube journey from East to West London with 15 lively students on the promise of taking part in interactive workshops and talks at the BBC White City. From the off we were made to feel welcome and looked after by the friendly gathering of BBC staff.

After we were organised into groups, which was nicely done as my students had to mix with their counterparts from another college we made our way to our first session. We were entertained by two guys who are responsible for coming up with entertainment shows, their most recent success being Tumble; that demanded celebrities jump around risking life and limb to the adoration of a live studio audience. My students enjoyed the session having to guess the show from the ‘top line’ on the paper they presented, a bit like Jeopardy in a boardroom. They then had to come up with an idea for a show themselves. The final outcome was a prime time TV show with Joey Essex and Boris Johnson fighting in medieval get up hosted by David Tennant as the Doctor. Sounds like a winner.

The next session was career development that went down a storm hosted by guest speaker Andrew who is a producer. He was a friendly guy who spoke to the students openly and frankly and gave great advice of how to develop through the ranks; this session seemed to get the most positive feedback. We were then treated to lunch where we could recharge and network. I think I over indulged on the potato wedges and fruit.

In the afternoon some friendly folks from Radio 1Xtra took us through the process of how a show is put together. We looked at the stages from getting the right host, guests and feature. The final session put together by stage manager Wayne had the students commentating on a football match, it’s strange how usually very vocal students are lost for words when they have a microphone put in front of them and they have to provide interesting and witty comment in front of an audience. Anyway I felt their pain when I was forced to have a try and struggled to provide any wit or interest whilst commentating on a 100m sprint from the 2012 Olympics.

The day ended with a talk from a guy called Don who enlightened the group on apprenticeships and took questions from the floor. All round it was a fun day for all and in the spirit of the BBC, certainly informed educated and entertained.

*The Community Doorway programme from BBC Outreach & Corporate Responsibility gives BBC staff an opportunity to work with various charities and community groups and meet members of our audiences identified as harder to reach. Applications are particularly welcome from organisations based in the neighbourhoods where a large number of our staff work - particularly the two London boroughs of Hammersmith & Fulham and Westminster, Salford and Greater Manchester - and those that work with 16-24 year olds and/or groups that are considered to be disadvantaged or socially excluded.

This careers day was organised with Eastside Educational Trust, a charity engaging and educating school students through direct participation in the arts. It inspires all young Londoners to develop their potential, share their talents and enrich their lives, targeting those that are disadvantaged or disaffected and young people that have special educational needs, learning difficulties or disabilities.