The Univeristy hosted a Q&A session with four people from different creative industries. Three of these speakers were important for me to hear from. They were:

Steve Stacks – Creative Producer

Mark Wrily – Head of Design for a sports company

Jason Fox – Professional DJ who helped with JJ’s and runs event for CUSU (such as the Summer Ball)

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Each of the four people who were present at this talk had different stories to tell, and while none of them have worked in the industry I’m interested in (marketing), they gave life lessons than can be transferable to any type of job.

Steve spoke about how he spent 15 years in mundane jobs. However, eventually this allowed him to develop skills he needed to succeed in the industry in wanted to be in; the gaming industry. His story was inspiring to hear, because it emphasises that it can take time to get to the place you want to be. You may find yourself as far away as possible from your ideal job, but with time and patience you can work your way towards it. Steve also explained how important it was to network with people. He did some small work for a gaming industry, spoke to the managers about whether there were any jobs going and they called him in for an interview. I learnt that no matter what job you may be doing, if you don’t ask about an opportunity, you won’t receive it.

 

One speaker also spoke about how it’s important to embrace your failures. Be prepared to fail on occasion, to get things wrong. You need to come back from these failures and learn your lesson. Learn from it and improve yourself. Be prepared to take risks that could end in failure, because at least then you can improve from it. As the old saying goes, it’s better to have tried and failed, than to never know and always wonder.

The four speakers all also were asked to provide information about what qualities they think is important in an employee. They listed the following:

• Be a good person. Be friendly and nice, work well with others.
• Show initiative and enthusiasm
  • Show that you are enjoying your job
  • Know about the company/industry
• Be bubbly, don’t be flat
• Receive feedback well, react well to it , evolve and become a better person
• Communication.

I expected some of these responses, but I was shocked by how important friendliness is. The fact that they all seemed to agree highly on this one suggests that they all know people who are like this and understand how important it is to have a smile on your face. This perhaps is one of the keys to making yourself stand out from others.

At the end of the talk they were asked to provide the audience with one piece of advice. These were the answers:

• Don’t let opportunities go
• Get things done on time, get on with it!
• Take opportunities given to you
• Be flexible, use your initiative
• Do what you enjoy

 

I was happy to hear these last pieces of advice because they all stem from their own personal experiences and that says a lot. It means they know how to succeed, they know how they got to where they are now and if this is the advice they are giving, then I need to step up and make sure I am achieving these. I need to learn to consider opportunities given to me and use them while I can. This also stresses the importance of some of the skills I should continue to develop. But most importantly, they are saying to do what you enjoy, and I think that’s one of the most important bits of information. You need to stay to true to what you want to do. In the end, if I am going to succeed I will do so by doing what I enjoy, and that’s what I should be working towards.