Writing my first Media CV!

So, this week LJMU kindly put on a Media CV Writing Workshop for us all, to help us learn how to write a suitable CV so that we can send it off to companies as we need to get a work placement for 80 hours at the same organisation over the summer. The idea of a placement really excites me as I cannot wait to spend some time in the media industry and pick up lots of knowledge and hopefully a few contacts.

I found the workshop inspiring as I went into the room feeling quite hopeless about the prospect of writing a CV as I didn't have a clue where to start, and thought that I had very little experience and skills to put onto it. However as the presentation was progressing I started to realise that, actually, the thought of writing one is much harder than just going ahead and getting on with the job. I also realised that I actually have many skills and abilities to offer a future employer and need to be more confident within myself about these. One of the key things I learnt was that the presentation of the CV is everything as if it looks bulky and wordy, then the employer will be less keen to read it and may just immediately disregard it. So this caused me to ensure that the layout and presentation of mine, needed to be as perfect as I could make it, with short and punchy sentences, bold headings and plenty of space on the page so it doesn't look overloaded.

After this session, I immediately went home and made a start on it because the information was fresh in my mind and found that it was a much easier job than anticipated showing me that I should think less about doing things and just actually do them! When I'd finished it I sent it off to the careers advisor for the Screen School for any tips to improve it and was shocked with the reply! The advisor commented about how great my first draft of my CV was and that I should be proud of it and only gave me 2 minor improvements to make. This made me think about how I am when I submit work. I often think it is of an average standard and I will receive a low mark but get surprised when I achieve a good mark - noticably twice this year when I've received firsts! I should definitely have more confidence in my own work and need to learn to be proud of what I have done, instead of being embarrassed of doing really well - I've never been one to take compliments well! 

Overall, the experience of writing my CV made me really excited for the future, when I will be hopefully leading a successful career in the media. After researching possible positions I feel that the media was definitely the right choice for me and will continue learning more about the industry so I am fully clued up for when I graduate!