The Value of Work Experience

By George Ward,  Year 2 Journalism Student (2011/12)

Journalism placement, paid internships and work opportunities are regularly sent round journalism students and this was how I learnt of the opportunity to be a runner for the BBC on the live Sunday morning show ‘The Big Questions’ last weekend.

A runner essentially assists with those small yet important tasks such as ensuring the guests are all accounted for and feel welcomed at the venue (and are put in a good mood before going on TV), setting up the audience and front-row guest rooms and helping out with other tasks set by the production team.

Yes, I may have had to get up at 5:30am on the Sunday morning and yes, it was unpaid, but it is definitely something for the CV and even though you might not be specifically wanting to start a career in TV production I would thoroughly recommend getting as much work experience roughly related to your course as possible.