Task 5: How to apply for a job 10:09

Examples of Work


An employer will be interested in knowing what work you have completed. Often, you will be required to take a Record of Achievement which is a portfolio of all the qualifications that you have attained. In many creative and media sectors employers will ask to see a portfolio of work you have completed. There are services available online like Behance that allow an indiidual to upload all work they have completed and to write about what the project entailed. Below is an example of my Behance portfolio. As you can see I have documented projects that I have completed so far in my life.

Curriculum Vitae


A CV is always necessary to take when seeking job interviews. It is a document, usually just one page that summarises everything about you to employers including references, qualifications, past employment and a short paragraph about you. You include contact details on your CV so that the employer can contact you if they would like to interview you for a position in their work place.


Application Letters


An application letter is a document that accompanies your Curriculum Vitae when applying for job interviews. It is usually tailored to that work place and explains why you are the right candidate that the employer might wish to consider for a position in their organisation.


References


When you leave a job it is good practise for an employer to give you a reference letter explaining how well you did on the job as an honest review of your work for the company. An employer does not have to give you a reference unless it is in the employment contract.


Interview Skills


Before attending an interview it would be wise to:

• Research the company and find out what they do
• Who their customers might be
• What kind of an organisation they are
• What you might be expected to do on the job
• How your skills can be used in the company

Planning for the interview will involve making sure that you are prepared for what the interview will entail. Things like planning your journey can be especially important and help with time preperation, perhaps doing a trial jounrey would be a good idea. Also, if you need special arrangements like disabled access to the building it would be wise to check with the employers before the interview to make sure this is in place.


Creating the right image is important because the employer will focus a lot on your first impression. You should decide what clothes to wear the day before the interview and aim for a neat, tidy, professional appearence so if you lookgood you will also feel good.

When you are in the interview you should make sure that you speak in full and proper English. It would be especially important to not use any slang words. Pronouncing words in full would also be good practise.

Below is an example of a Job Application email that I have written for applying for a producer role at KCC Live:
Below is an example of a job application letter that I have written for KCC Live. You write in different tones in email and letters and you can see the difference between the two mediums:

Task 4: Employment Opportunities and Job Roles in the Interactive Media Sector 10:10

Full-Time Employment


Full-time emplyment is where an employee works the entire number of hours as defined by the employer. Full-time employment often will bring benefits over other employment times like annual leave, sick leave and holiday leave. Full-time employment usually paysmore than part-time employment and will carry more hours a week. A full-time employee usually works more than 35 hours each week. People might choose to work full-time to find a family, a house or for different reasons.


Part-Time Employment


Part-Time workers work fewer hours each week than full-time workers. There is no statute with the numbers that define full-time and part-time workers by hours but rather a full-time worker fills all hours defined by the employer where a part-time employee works less. A part-time worker usually works beneath 35 hours each week. Someone might work part-time because they have a different work-social balance or may have caring responsibilities.

Freelancer

A freelancer is someone who is self-employed and isn't commited to an employer long-term. They can be represented by a company or agency who resell labour to freelancers. A lot of freelancers will require their clients to signa  contract or verbal agreement so they do not see themselves loose the job they have been working on all this time and a client can't just pull out of the agreement.

Shift Work

Shift work is an employment pracitice where the employee make use of a service of provide a service for a clocked amount of time. This term covers long term night shifts and work schedules where employees are able to change or rotate shifts with one another.

Permanent Work

Permanent work is where an employee is paid wages directly by the employer. In addition to wages, holidays, illness and retirement plans are covered in the tenure. Workers in this sector might be able to join unions if they are available too.

Temporary Work

This type of work is also considered contractual, seasonal, interim, casual or freelance work. Under this employment you would be expected to leave the employer after a certain amount of time.

Multi Skilled Work

Multi Skilled workers are trained and confident across completing a variety of tasks in their sector of employment. Jobs in Interactive media concerning this work well for climbing the career ladder because this makes you more efficient and able to complete more tasks. Producers are often multi skilled workers.

Voluntary

Volunteers are unpaid workers who are helping a charity or organisation in activities. This usually offers mutual benefits to both parties because the voluntary worker is able to develop skills they could not get anyway else.

Casual

Casual work contracts are where a workers working hours change on a weekly basis. Employees under this kind of work usually fill in holiday or sick leave of permanent workers.

Hourly Paid

Under this kind of work the employee is encouraged to work overtime to earn more in their wages. Workers clock in using a machine and clock out with this once they have completed. There is little motivation behind this type of employment but with a lot of emphasis on completing the task set.

Piece Work

Piece work is a type of employment where employees are paid a fixed rate for pieces of work made. This type of employment does not focus on the time taken to complete the piece of work. The rate of work under this kind of employment is reliant on the employees work ethic.

Recruitment

Recruitment can work in a manner of ways for a worker. In the interactive media sector a lot of jobs come from word of mouth, trade press, personal contacts and networking. These recruitment styles work best for many employers in the interactive media sector because if someone find out a job this way then they are actively involved in the interactive media sector.

Professional Development

Education and Training

Education and training in Interactive Media surrounds the skills you have and how they can be utilised in a working environment. This would be such things as completing curriculum in schools and colleges to more advanced qualifications like Apprenticeships or the BBC College of Production.

Work Experience

Work Experience shows an employer that you have been able to work well in the sector. Work Experience will usually be completed after a set time with feedback from the people running the experience stating how you were in this time. This is a great way to get your foot in the door of the sector if you are unable to find paid work.

Continuing Professional Development

When one has a job in the Interactive Media Sector it is important that you and your skills can change as the industry and its standards change. An example of this is becoming proficient in new software programs to complete your work more efficiently. This might also involve job training where your employers send you to complete qualifications in order to allow you to complete your job better.

Information Sources

Information sources in the Interactive Media sector are well covered. Websites like Skillset are aimed at students and people trying to get in to the Interactive Media sector providing information that can help them to understand what the sector is all about. There are also specialist organisations like the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) who provide lots of information on web standards and how to utilise the Internet.

Unions and Careers Services

Because the Interactive Media industry is so vast members might be available to join a number of different kind of unions, the NUJ (National Union of Journalists) might be appropriate for web editors for example. Unions protect workers with their civil rights and make sure that they are worked fairly with union protection behind them when completing their job. Career services are often used in gaining employment in the Interactive Media sector and services such as Job Centre Plus, Medua UK or Connexions are services that are particularly helpful.

Record of Employment and Skills

A record of employment or skills is a professional portfolio that an individual keeps with them from when they leave education at the age of sixteen. This document holds all qualifications gained and statements from past employers. This includes accurate information surrounding the dates that these qualifications were gained.

Career Development

In the Interactive Media sector developing ones career can be done in relation to the skills attained for one to advance. If you have the right qualifications or are simply in the right place at the right time then you may be asked to complete tasks in the workplace. When this is evident to an employer you are able to start climbing a workplace ladder and reach higher roles in the organisation.

Self-Training

Self-training is something that a lot of people do when they are not able to get jobs. If a person collects lots of qualifications then they become more and more unique which is impressive when visiting potential employers. Self-training may involve completing private qualifications that are available from organisations like Microsoft Certification or a BBC Producers qualification.

Functional Skills

Functional skills are qualifications that you must have for an employer to want to consider you for working in their workplace. Things like English, Maths and ICT, usually at at least a C at GCSE level are enough for an employer to want to take you on along with the other qualifications that the employer is looking for.

Professional Behaviour

Reliability

Reliability of an employee is an important quality that employers will be looking for. An employer will want to know if they can rely on the individual to complete tasks set and that they can work efficiently in the employers set working environment.

Attendance and Punctuality

Attendance and punctuality are something that an employer will closely moderate. An employer will want to know how much time an employee is working for and if they are meeting the contracted agreement of working hours. If an employee is consistantly late for work and meeting then lots of time will be lost through out the year meaning lots of money will have been lost.

Commitment

Employers will want to see their employees commited to their work as this will make them more efficient when the employee is completing their work tasks. If an individual shows they are commited to the media sector in their interview then this will have a good lasting impression on the interviewer because they can see you are passionate and focused on your work.

Efficiency

Efficiency is about how well you can work. Being efficient will mean that you have the right skillset to complete a task set and that you are able to keep to a brief properly. In the interactive media sector employees will have to keep to a brief as set by the employer or a client.

Self-Presentation

Self-presentation is especially important when making a first impression on someone. If you turn up to an interview dressed smartly and well groomed then the interviewer will see you being professional and you will be far more likely to gain a job.

Communication Skills

Communication skills are important skills to have across all media sectors as communication is the foundation that the industry relies on. In interactive media companies an individuals communication skills will be highly utilised when working in teams or communicating with other companies and organisations. It is also important to consider when you are communicating from a workplace that you are representing them when you are making contact with other people so standard english with good grammar and spelling is important.

Contribution to team projects

In this area it is important for employees to communicate well with other employers in order to contribute well to a team project. Members of the team project will have to get on well with everybody in the team and must be able to share skills and work creatively to complete the task set.

Time Management

Managing your time is very important when working in the media sector. In interactive media individuals must have a clear understanding of how long it may take them to complete a task. If one was to work with a client to complete a project then the client should understand how long it may take them to complete this task thus meeting client expectations.

Personal Responsibility

Personal responsibility is something that an individual must understand is placed on them. This might be in making sure that work they take home with them is kept safe and is not damaged in the process as well as things like a duty of care to other employees and to report and dangerous or hazardous incidents to someone in the workplace so this can be dealt with.

Task 3: Regulation in the Interactive Media Sector 15:00

Regulatory and professional bodies:

           Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL)
           The International Visual Communication

           Association (IVCA),

           Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C)

           British Web Design and Marketing Association

           British Interactive Multimedia Association (BIMA)

Regulatory issues:

€        censorship,

€        taste and decency,
           Monopoly,
           Consumer choice.

Preliminary Notes:
Interactive media in the consumption of music entertainment in the new media market.


Phonographic Performance Limited


PPL are the UK music licensing company that undertake the collective rights management from recorded music and music videos used in public performance, broadcast and new media use.


Everywhere in the UK that play music available for public consumption must have a PPL license. From bars to schools to restaraunts to internet radio stations, everybody.


The PPL also have international bilateral agreements to allow licensing to work overseas.


In 2008 PPL collected £127.6 million and distributed £110.3 million to performers and labels.


The International Visual Communications Association


The IVCA represents its members to governments and other stakeholding organisations. They promote effective communication for business and public bodies.


The IVCA are a professional body and if you are in a sector that communicates internationally you would most likely join this. They work in a similar way that TES work with Teachers. The IVCA seta  framework to guide businesses with their communications internationally and hold networking events and conferences for companies and organisations to network and talk about stratergies of effective communications. The IVCA hold award ceremonies each year where its members can win awards for using communications with guidance from the IVCA effectively.

Worldwide Web Consortium
The WorldWide Web Consortium is an international community of people where member organisations, full time staff and public members all join to discuss and develop how to move the web forwards by setting standards. It is led by the inventor of the Internet, Sir Tim Berners-Lee and W3C CEO Jeffrey Jaffe. The W3C's mission is to lead the web to its full otential.

British Web Design and Marketing Association

The BWDMA is an inclusive organisation that is open to all individuals and companies that have interests in the new media sector. The association aim to improve E-Business stratergies through sharing knowledge based on best practises in the industry.

Income of the association is generated through subscription fees, private funding, advertising, corporate sponsorship and event management.

British Interactive Multimedia Association

The British Interactive Multimedia Association is an industry body that represents the UK's digital industry. It was formed in 1985 and is partially made up of digital agencies. Each year they hold an awards ceremony to celebrate excellence in the UK's digital industry. They have an online hall of fame to recognise those who have contributed well to the UK's digital industry.

BIMA have offices in England, Scotland & Wales with regional representatives. They also represent the UK globally in the interactive multimedia sector.

Censorship

Censorship of this sector would involve censorship of the networks and models used to access the media. The most common gateway to these services is using the Internet.

The Internet is notoriously dofficult to censor as it grows a vast amount each day. Governments have tried to do this as we have seen lately protests regarding ACTA where the EU were trying to push through laws allowing the EU to ban access to websites. A similar movement was seen in the USA with protests regarding SOPA where the US Government could restrict access to websites to US citizens. Some countries governments do have laws preventing access to content they believe will be harmful to its citizens such as in China, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Egypt and many more. In countries that governments do monitor Internet access they must abide by the countries laws and follow other regulatory issues such as taste and decency and consumer choice.

In the countries where the Internet is not monitored by the government like here in the United Kingdom, it is often left to companies and individuals to regulate self-censorship of Internet access made through their connection, often for reasons of protecting their employees, stop them from accessing websites they do not want them to access whilst in work and other reasons.

An example of this here in my Sixth Form College, Park Hall Academy. The Internet connection inside the Academy is regulated by technicians so that students and staff are protected from harmful and dangerous content as well as to stop students and staff from using media they shouldn't be when inside the Academy.

Taste and Decency

Taste and Decency is where everybody involved on the media product consider its taste and how it will appeal to its target audience. It usually comes down to the products location, governments laws and morals seen in the country. Some examples of this is if you are launching an application stereotyping British people, this would perhaps not be best placed to be sold in the United Kingdom as this is in the British Isles and the citizens there would most likely not enjoy the product.

Taste and Decency is particularly important in countries that have much surveillance on their citizens Internet access as the Internet is a growing delivery method for interactive media products. In places like Syria where the internet is censored, taste and decency would have to appeal to not only the countries citizens but also the government there. It would be important not to upset people whom have lots of authority or influence as this could lead to the demise of the product.

Further issues in taste and decency is how well the product integrates with a country. Different countries have different standards. For instance, Syria has a lot of ethnicities and minorities where lots of people are religious. For a product to be rather succesful there it would be best not to touch the subject of religion because this could offend different people. Another sensitivity in Syria is the Arab Spring which has seen lots of protests and Syria being suspended from the Arab League. With 90% of Syria's population being Arab this is a sensitive issue, particularly at the moment and any products that touch upon the subjects of protest or the uprising of Syrian citizens would perhaps not be so succesful as the Syrian government may not appreciate a product like this operating in their country.

Monopoly

Monopoly is the exclusive posession or control of a trade in a service.

In the Interactive Media sector this is a sector with lots of innovation and fearce competition to meet the demands of new audiences looking for the latest interactive media products. Just yesterday (22/03/2012), the chancellor, George Osborne stressed how important the UK's digital industries are for the grows of the UK economy. It was announced in his second budget in 2011 that £100 million would be available for super fast broadband access and yesterday in his third budget he announced a further £50 million for smaller cities to have better Internet access. I quote from Mr Osborne's Budget 2012 announcement: “The fastest digital speeds in the world available in our cities, with the most connected countryside in Europe – and the most creative digital content anywhere. That’s what a modern industrial policy looks like.” It is clear that the UK government are relying on the Interactive media sectors in the United Kingdom as something that our citizens are good at creating, after all, even the creator of the Internet Sir Tim Berners-Lee was from London, UK.

From music consumption to video games, there are lots of companies behind the products looking at ways to tap in to the industry and how best to collect revenue from the industry. A company that I think are playing the industry well is Apple. Apple is the largest publicly traded company in the world by market capitalisation and is the largest technology company in the world, more revenue and profit than Microsoft and Google combined. In some ways people might think that with Apple having so much control in the Interactive Media industry that they may seem like a Monopoly to some people. Apple have an App store with more than 725,700 interactive media products. Whilst the developers here choose to submit their products to the app store, it is there choice which is why Apple can't be criticized for acting like a monopoly. Apple are a marketplace. If this is how monopolies were judges then eBay (online auction website) could be seen as a monopoly in the second hand goods industry, but of course, sellers, companies and individuals all choose to place their items in this marketplace. Of all applications published in the App store, Apple take a 30% cut of the sale of the product as Apple has acted as a vendor of the product.

Consumer choice

There are many different aspects considered in consumer choice. The main three are demand, consumption and preferences. A producer of content would consider each of these closely to make sure that their marketing campaigns are effective.

Demand

Product demand is something that changes a lot in the Interactive Media sector as new products are released each day to feed the demand for various genre of product. In this setor the highest demand comes from entertainment. People want to be entertained short-term and long-term. A short-term demand we would see is playing a game on a mobile phone while travelling places. A long-term entertainment type in this sector could be a video game to complete through a course of time. The highest and easiest demand is the short-term entertainment and we see this with the Apple App Store in the volume and success applications has had.

An example of this is the game 'Angry Birds' which is cross-platform available on computer, mobile handsets and other consoles. The game cost Rovio $140, 000 to create the game and it made over $7 million after it was published to these platforms.

Consumption

Consumption is an important aspect for content producers to consider. They should consider who will be using the product as well as who might be purchasing the product. In Interactive Media consumption is made mostly on the basis of the content being there and consumers being able to instantly access this. This can drive decisions and is something that has hurt other physical economies.

An example to study that has became more noticable is the demand for video entertainment. Consumers can access a whole host of premium movies that are available from VOD (Video on Demand) retailers and in rental retailers only. This has hurt Blockbusters video rental store considerably. The choice a user has of either finding a video retailer versus downloading the film from the Internet is a no-brainer to a lot of consumers, they would much rather download this because it is instant and means they can consume this faster. Many consumers may sacrifice the benefits of visiting a video retailer in able to download the movie, such as quality for example.

Preferences

Preference in Interactive media can be defined in the term of a technical preference of a personal preference. As a personal preference this would have to meet the requirements that a user would expect from the product. The demands that a user would place on a product would be, for example, in an action game they would expect a lot of fast paced action, levels to complete in the game and a way of loging achievements in the game. As a technical preference in an Interactive media product, these requirements would differ such as the quality of the product, resolution, interactivity, how well the produt functions and how the product runs on the device it is being consumed on.

Case Study: The impact online movie rental companies have had on physical movie rental companies.

Online movie rentals is something that the UK have been use to for a while now. The new sector really boomed around 2006 when Apple launched movie rentals and purchases over their iTunes platform. However, other services have been available before this like Lovefilm has been available in the UK from 2001 including its subsidiary companies. These methods stream or download the movie to your device and allows you to watch it through there with copyright protection applied to the download so it can only be played on licensed devices.

The download or streams image and sound quality varies with your Internet connection. If your connection is slow the vendor would usually supply you with a lower quality version so you are able to watch the film sooner; there are usually options to toggle how this works.

This method of consuming movies has damaged the profits seen by Dish Network, the company who own Blockbuster. As more people would prefer to reach their media more quickly, the Internet allows this to be an instant product so consumers do not need to leave their home.

Below I have created a report on how the share price has changed between Netflix and Dish Network. You can immediately see that the share price has mostly grown with Netflix Inc. The share price is rather bumpy for Dish network Corporation after having a serious downfall around 2008.

I believe that consumer choice is what is mostly at play here and with Blockbuster closing stores because of less demand this means they are loosing an area served. Consumers want to reach their movie as quickly as possible and personally if I did not have a Blockbuster store nearby then I would not like to travel a long distance to reach a Blockbuster store, I would most likely choose to stream through my broadband using Netflix.

For Blockbuster to become more succesful I think that they need to consider how their consumers behave and adapt their business stratergies to cater for this, perhaps opening movie streaming as a part of their business.