Student Profiles

My degree was very vocational which gave me the perfect stepping stone towards getting a job in a media archive. When I started my studies the internet was fairly new and my course embraced it; it taught me that technology is ever changing and you need to utilise it and adapt with it, something that I have done throughout my career.

The course also included two month-long work experience placements and the University found me placements in media organisations within my hometown. These not only gave me valuable experience but also helped me demonstrate how serious I was about working in the media once it came to applying for jobs after graduating.

In my final year I wrote to BBC Manchester’s archives department and was given some casual work one day a week when not in lectures. In the summer of my final year they found me a full time role as a Library Assistant, which allowed me to work across all areas of the archive. I have been there ever since, moving to the role of Research Librarian and now Media Manager.

If you know what you want to do, try and get as much experience linked to that as possible. If you can prove that you’ve already started to work towards your goal it will really help. Placements provide valuable experience to put on your CV, and if you are unsure what you want to do post-degree then they give the opportunity to look at options within your field.  Also, we are all file based now so information management in general is really important, both professionally and home - and don’t forget to back up everything you do!

My first boss at the BBC, Heather Powell. She saw how enthusiastic I was and found me a role that suited my limited experience and helped me develop a full range of media archive skills by insisting I multi-skilled across all areas of the department (even when this meant I was out of my comfort zone).

Manchester; I am a west country girl and fell in love with the place.