Sean M.
About me
| Sean M. | |
| Politics | |
| Politics | |
| Undergraduate | |
| James | |
| 2009 | |
| United Kingdom |
My employment
| Producer | |
| ITV SPORT | |
| United Kingdom | |
| 2011 | |
| 17k |
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A day in the life of a Producer in the United Kingdom
My career history
I started at ITV in January last year on a 6 week diversity scheme but managed to keep my foot in the door through working on some documentaries for ITV 4. I have worked on 16 now for ITV4, now am a regular producer across ITV's live sport output.
What has helped my career to progress
Having a mixture of complete confidence in my ability but also a keen awareness of my lack of experience in the industry which avoids big mistakes.
Courses taken since graduation
Masters of Political Philosophy the Idea of Toleration
Where I hope to be in 5 years
Taking on more senior roles at ITV and become a leading force in our editorial teams. I've begun to take leading roles in our Snooker, Formula E and Superbike coverage and will try to expand on opportunities like this.
My advice to students considering work
Don't sit at home during holidays. Any spare time you have at Easter or during the summer should be spent working in internships or getting some work experiences. I realise this is easier for some than others in terms of working for free or minimum wage for big firms, but any work shows that you are a productive person that has real world experience - which will only count in your favour.
My other advice to people would be don't panic - it's a hard job market especially in things like sports journalism or the media but stick to your guns. Give yourself a year or two to do the job you really want to and don't let rejections set you back.
Having said that you must give yourself the best chance to get a job. Get out there and do internships or interesting things which will give you the edge above the competition. Sitting at home for 3 years will make it virtually impossible to succeed.
My advice about working in my industry
You must, must, must get as many internships as you can. Not because they will teach you that much about the industry to be honest but networking decides job opportunities in the sports media. If you make good impressions at good places, then you will get good references which you need when you are one of 150+ applicants for a position.
But apply for something you are passionate about as that will shine through at interview. You will start from the bottom so employers are looking for those with good people skills, confidence, a hard working attitude and passion for what they do.
Contacting me
I'm happy to answer any questions and look at CV's for people (CV's are where most people make mistakes). Get in touch using contact boxes on my profile!
What I do
My day to day role varies hugely depending on what I am doing which is one of the best things of the job. You can be in an edit suite cutting bits of VT and openers and closers and other music sequences for a show, or you can be building the analysis for studio pundits for live games. You get to travel a lot doing this job doing a variety of roles which is much better than the monotony of a regular office job if you ask me!
Skills I use and how I developed them
The fact I got a good undergraduate degree and Masters from York (and in a good subject) certainly stood me in good stead in terms of basic qualifications. But then the media is much more about the interview and previous experience. I think studying those subjects gave me the intellectual confidence to back myself in the high pressure situations which my job puts me in daily.
Degree skills:
Being able to think logically and think through problems has helped me immensely. I can also apply an intellectual framework towards sport (as I can with everything) which gives me a definite edge in my industry.
Extracurricular skills:
I played a lot of cricket at York and captained the University side which gave me great experience in leadership roles alongside my position as Sport Editor of the Yorker for a year.
What I like most
I watch sport all day and I love sport - that is the best thing by miles.
What I like least
Unsociable hours. For below average pay you are required to work a lot of weekends and late nights without extra reward. But you know this coming in - sport doesn't happen 9-5 Monday to Friday.
What would I change? I wish I could do more cricket all the year round!
Next steps...
If you like the look of Sean’s profile, the next steps are down to you! You can send Sean a message to find out more about their career journey. If you feel you would benefit from more in-depth conversations, ask Sean to be your mentor.