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1. BTEC ExtendedDiplomainCreativeMediaProduction
Unit 7: Understanding the Creative
Media Sector
Learning outcome 4:
Know about employment opportunities
and job roles in the media sector
Name: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

2. BTEC ExtendedDiplomainCreativeMediaProduction
Employment opportunities and job roles in the media sector
The purpose of this workbook is to get you to understand different job roles, different
ways of working and opportunities for professional development. You will have to
explain different terms, give opinions and source relevant additional information in
order to help you comprehensively explain employment opportunities and job roles in
the media sector with reference to elucidated examples.
This first section considers different ways of working. You should use information from
the lecture, your own experiences and further research to help you answer each
question. Wherever possible, you should use specific and detailed examples. This will
help you achieve a higher grade and also give you a deeper understanding of the
subject.
Describe the following different types of employment and some of their advantages and
disadvantages:
Full time
40 hours per week is considered full time each day is 8 hours.
Advantages- permanentjob
Guaranteed a monthly payment
Disadvantage- childcareproblems
Expected overtime
Lack of free time
Part time
A part-time contract is a form of employment that carries fewer hours per week than a
full-time job. They are usually defined by working any hours less than 40 hours per
week. Those who have other things they need to attend such as college usually take
part time work.
Freelance
Freelance is working with multiple clients and being able to work on your own hours
Advantages- working own hours
Disadvantages- fussy clients
Voluntary
Working for free to gain experience
Advantages- experience, job offer
Disadvantage- unpaid

3. BTEC ExtendedDiplomainCreativeMediaProduction
Describe shift work. What does it entail and what types of media job might require it?
Working different time shifts to ensure someone is in the workplace at all times.
Television media broadcasts have different shifts to keep the show running by having
someone there at all times.
A permanent contract is one where:
The employee has relatively strong job security, and confidence that there will be an
effective paycheck at the end of each month. Part time and full time employees work
permanent contracts, although the vast majority of full time workers work on a
permanent contract.
What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of such a contract?
Advantage- job security, able to take out loan
Disadvantage- limited time to evolve in workplace
A temporary contract is one where:
A temporary contract is one where the employee is paid in a monthly period like most
other employees do, except the pay will only go as far as they work. The temporary
contracts usually last up to 6 months.
What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of such a contract?
Advantage- people who freelance, this can be useful to them.
Disadvantage- cant source income
What is multiskilling and which skills could you combine together?
Workers who are trained in multiple skills for several projects.
Photography-photojournalism
Photography and videography
What is casual work? Who does it benefit the most? What are some of the arguments
against casual work?
Casual work is a zero hour contract you can chose if you want to go in or not, call might
take time for them to offer you some hours to go in and work.
Explain hourly paid work. Find a job, which pays by the hour to help you with your
explanation.

4. BTEC ExtendedDiplomainCreativeMediaProduction
Hourly rates vary hugely between people of different ages and professions, and I some
cases genders and ethicality. Most part time jobs pay hourly, these jobs can include
waiting/waitressing, shelf stacker, stockroom assistant, sales assistant and more. An
example of an hourly paid job is a sales assistant where they would work on tills in a
work place such as retail they would also put out stock in the workplace and they get an
hourly pay for there work.
What is Piecework? What do employers need to be careful about when employing
someone this way?
This is when an individual is paid to do a single project, an example is that someone is
making and developing t-shirts and get paid around 60p per shirt made. This can take
money away from a business over time if they have hired someone to do piecework for
them.
This section is concerned with finding work. You will have an idea of the sort of job you
might like to do in the future. Keeping a specific job role or industry in mind when
completing these questions will help you provide more detailed and focussed answers.
Starting to think about a specific area of employment at this stage will help you in later
sections of the workbook.
Why would you use careers guidance? Provide the names of at least 2 organisations
that can help people plan their careers.
Careers guidance can be used to help find a job for you by looking at your strengths and
weaknesses and find something which would best suit you.
Nationalcareerservice.direct.gov.uk
Job centre
Prospects.ac.uk
Creativeskillset.org
Totaljobs.com
What is a trade fair?
When businesses in same industry or background come together and show of their
services.
This helps because it can hep you to get the opportunity to network with them and gain
experience in the work.
Can also help to see what products people are showcasing, used for inspiration.
Which trade fairs could you attend to help you with your career? How could they help
you? Be specific here to help you comprehensively explain.
Publishing and media expo is a trade fair, which can be attended.

5. BTEC ExtendedDiplomainCreativeMediaProduction
What could some advantages and disadvantages be to using the national press to look
for work?
Advantages-high paying jobs, great variety of spaces available,
Disadvantages-larger reach of individuals, expected to travel great distance for job
What trade press publications could you use to help you find work? Would this be a
better option than using the national press? Explain your answer using detailed
examples.
Total films is a magazine, which is similar to the empire, they have a section, which
displays media based work that is available. This helps people get work in media based
Subjects, which could appeal to those who want to, take this path.
The york press would also be best because it is more of a local area which appeals to
people who live in York as the workplace will be close to where they live and easily
accessible.
What would be a good way of keeping track of and in touch with your personal contacts?
How could this help you when looking for work?
The best way to keep in touch with personal contacts is using social network such as
Facebook. This helps because of word of mouth, which is where people talk about a
subject that might involve a job position.
What is networking and how could it be useful to you?
Networking is when an individual hoping to gain contacts socially, the individuals they
want to be at the same level as could be their bosses, potential employers, or even role
models. Networking would be useful for me as I could socialise with people who could
potentially get me to a good career in something, which I would like to do.
Explain word of mouth as a way of getting work. Is this a reliable method for obtaining
work?
Word of mouth is a when you are getting information about a job role from another
person, this could be from someone about a job placement or talking to someone who is
in a similar job role to the one you want where you can gather information about the job
placement to see if it is the right thing for you to take.
This next section requires you to do further research in to your chosen career.
Creativeskillset.org is fantastic resources, which will help you learn about the
qualifications, skills and experience you need to gain to work in industry. It also gives

6. BTEC ExtendedDiplomainCreativeMediaProduction
detailed overviews and case studies, to help you understand what each job really
involves.
It will help you find other useful sources of information from details on unions, trade
websites and publications to job adverts. You should investigate your chosen job role
or sector and sum up the skills and qualifications you need to do that job as well as
fully investigating what it involves.
What job role would you like? Explain your reasons? What kind of job is it (creative,
technical, editorial etc.)?
(http://www.creativeskillset.org is a great place to start)
I would like a role in video games that involves the making of the game such as the
game setting and overall movement because this will allow me to use creative ideas that
I have and convey them into the game.
The job that I found is called Game designer
What skills will you need for that job?
The skills that I will need for this job are to be creative and imaginative in my work, this is
a main skill that I need because the game will need to look the best it can if it is to attract
people to buying the game. I also need to have skills in interface design such as being
able to design the game using the systems given.
Summarise what is involved when doing this job.

7. BTEC ExtendedDiplomainCreativeMediaProduction
Game Designers devise what a game consists of and how it plays. They plan and
define all the elements of a game: its setting; structure; rules; story flow; characters;
the objects, props, vehicles, and devices available to the characters; interface design;
and modes of play. Once the game is devised, the Game Designer communicates this
to the rest of the development team who create the art assets and computer code
that allow the game to be played.
What qualifications are required for that job?
You don’t need a specific qualification to be a Game Designer. However, most
people entering the industry are graduates.
Find at least 2 courses you could do to help you get in to the industry. You should state
the name of the course, the level of qualification (level 2, level 3, Degree etc.), the
institution that you would attend and their entry requirements)
MA Games Design and Development, The facilities, including 24/7/365 access to
studios equipped with the latest hardware and software are available for anyone to
access. As well as film and TV equipment. The entry requirements are for anyone who
comes from a similar background to this course such as art designers or people who
have studied humanities.
MSc in Computer Games and Entertainment. Goldsmiths, London. Lectures are
provided within the college campus. Additionally a games lab will be available to you all
year round. This course will equip you for a career as a Programmer, Producer (junior),
entrepreneur, Technical Artist and Game Designer (with good programming skills).
Where could you find out more information? (Investigate at least 2 other sources of
information and give a brief summary of why this resource is useful)
I can find out more information about this job role by doing some research into it such
as what types of grades are needed and what types of people go into this job type and
what it offers after the course is over.
This section requires you to do some job hunting, so you can see what is required
from the perspective of employers in the industry. You should think about the
different places you could look for work. It is good to see what jobs are available,
what they pay, and what you need to do to get them.

8. BTEC ExtendedDiplomainCreativeMediaProduction
Use at least 2 different sources to find a job that you would like to do.
Job: Games Designer
(West Pier Studio in Brighton is looking for a Games Designer who has a good understanding of g
system design and functionality.)
Source: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/jobs/west-pier-studio/brighton/south-east/england/uk-and-
europe/game-designer-id71281
Summarise the skills required:
• Strong background in core systems design and seeing those designs through to execution. You
experience of balancing large sets of data and numbers for unit balance, progression system
• Experience of designing and tuning free to play monetization
• Have experience of working on a strategy game system designer
Is this job full time/part time/freelance?
Full time
What do you need to do to apply?
Register an account on the website and send off an application.
Job: Unity Games Developer (Unity Games Developer with Unity, C# scripting, gaming and 2D/3D
development expertise is highly sought by a multiple award winning games studio based in Birming
Source: http://www.jobsite.co.uk/job/unity-games-developer-
956170651?src=search&tmpl=sem&sctr=IT&position=1&page=1&engine=stepmatch&search_refer
Summarise the skills required:
• CommercialUnity GameEngineexpertise
• C# skills (scripting within Unity)
Is this job full time/part time/freelance?
Permanent full time
What do you need to do to apply?
Register an account on the website and send off an application.
Work experience can be a good way to test out working in industry and can be a way
to get a foot in the door. If you perform well during your work experience or
internship, you will put yourself in a good position if a bigger role becomes available.

9. BTEC ExtendedDiplomainCreativeMediaProduction
There are lots of media organisations that have work experience and intern
programs as well as other companies who specialise in getting placements for their
clients. Be specific when answering the questions below. Give website addresses
and discuss what you have found. The more detail, the better your grade.
Work experience:
What are some of the benefits of work experience?
Work experience allows you to get used to workplace, which prepares you for going into
work full time. You also gain skills in work experience, which also helps for future work.
Where could you look for work experience?
To look fore work experience one place that you could look at is online at some sites
where you can find some work in an area you want to go into when you want to get a
job.
Where would you like to do work experience? How would you go about applying?
I would like to do work experience in a place that does anything to do with video games,
whether it is game developer or game designer just so I could get some experience in
something with what I would like to do because if the employer sees I have experience
in video game then they will be more likely to employ me in the job.
As well as looking at your industry skills, employers want people who are able to
work efficiently and communicate effectively. In this section, you should evaluate
your own functional skills level and consider what action, if any, you need to take to
improve your skills in this area.
What grades do employers normally like to see people have for GCSE Maths and English?
Employers usually like to see grades that are starting from a C grade to an A* this
applies for English and maths, as the employers want to see a pass grade.
Why is it important to have good functional skills?
It’s good to have good functional skills because then it helps with you to get a good job
and helps with maths and English to make sure you get a good grade.
Are there any areas of Maths, English or basic I.T skills that you need to work on?
I need work on basic I.T skills because there are some parts of I.T, which I don’t get,
which can easily be dealt with.
This final section requires you to think about your own skills for employment. You will
be assessed on this as you progress throughout the course. This helps formalise
your ideas on these key skills. Some questions are very similar to those you might
see on a detailed job application or are questions you may be asked in an interview.

10. BTEC ExtendedDiplomainCreativeMediaProduction
Thinking of examples of when you have used these key skills before an interview is a
good way to prepare.
How reliable, committed and efficient are you? Give examples when you have
demonstrated some of these qualities. Do you need to improve any of these areas?
I am a reliable person because if someone tells me to do something I am reliable to do
this work that someone has applied for, me to do. I am also committed to what I do, my
work I am committed to finishing it so it’s all in on deadline date and that it gets a decent
grade.
Attendance and punctuality are very important. What was your attendance and
punctuality like at school? If your figures were good, how will you maintain them? If your
figures need to improve, what steps do you need to take to improve those figures? Be
specific in your answers.
I was good with my attendance and punctuality in school, I was in everyday because it
was important when it came down to GCSE’s because whatever you missed you had to
catch up in your own time and it was much more difficult work than being in lower years
at school. I can continue my punctuality by being in all the time being in my lessons and
not being late to any of them.
How important do you think self presentation is during an interview?
I think it is important because being presentable to the interviewer affects if you get the
job or not, you need to be smartly dressed to show commitment to the job and show you
can war a smart uniform, having nice manners helps even saying thank you and please
during an interview because this shows you are good mannered which is useful when
speaking with customers at the job.
Can you think of a time when you contributed to a group project? What was the project?
What role did you take and how successful do you think you were?
A group project I did was a role play in business studies where I had to film as a group
different scenarios of customer service, it did go well because I got a L2 grade which is a
pass grad and a GCSE grade.
Give an example of when you have had to manage your time carefully and how you
went about it?
Revision is a time when I managed my time. During exams because I had a lot of
exams to take I had to revise for all of them, what I did with time management when it
came to this was set what days and what revision I will do for a subject so that I have a
routine for revision on the different subjects so I get all subjects revised for to help get a
good grade.
Give an example of when you had to take personal responsibility for something. What
was the scenario and what was the outcome?