Anyone who tries to find work in the Media Industries soon becomes aware that the industry is dominated by people who work freelance. This is particularly true for jobs in production areas such as directors, producers, researchers, camera and sound people, animators, and designers. If you are planning to work in any of these areas you will certainly need to work as a freelance for part of your career. Working as a freelance broadly describes a one-person entity or partnership who finds work from job to job, working for lots of different employers. For tax purposes you will probably be self-employed and meet all your tax obligations under that designation.

Moving from short-term job to short-term job without any guarantees or security can be a great challenge and many people really enjoy the unpredictable lifestyle and the chance to apply their skills on a variety of projects and work with a range of different people. If you are good at what you do, reliable and self motivated, you may get all kinds of interesting and sometimes well-paid work. You'll often get the opportunity to travel and get the tax benefits of being self-employed. But it is a risk: getting work depends not just on talent, but on your ability to sell yourself, to develop a network of contacts, to negotiate a fair rate of pay and to organise the business side of your work effectively.

For most people, the desire to earn a living doing the thing you love to do provides the motivation for setting up in business as a media professional. The process of planning and managing a career as a media producer means understanding how the media is managed and organised in order to exploit creative opportunities. It is an industry that is notorious for short-term contracts and instability. If you decide to establish a freelance career in the industry you are going to need drive, passion and ambition as well as good contacts, strong interpersonal skills and sound business awareness.

Most media freelances chose freelancing because it is the only work available to them in the area in which they want to work. There are various routes in but a qualification in media production or other relevant area, then gaining experience, seeking out opportunities, developing your skills and a network of friends and contacts in the industry will all help you to achieve success as a freelance.

			Interview Material

Our Media Professionals introduce themselves, and talk about the the routes they took into their careers, including their first jobs after University and their reasons for choosing to freelance.

			Victoria Noble Introduces herself and talks about her career to date

			Vin Arthey Introduces himself and talks about his career to date

			Christine Molloy Introduces herself and her company 'Desperate Optimists'

			Kate Broome Introduces herself and talks about her career to date

			Sarah Beecham and Graham Howard Introduce themselves and their company 'Art of Memory'

			Victoria Noble Talks about her first jobs after graduating University, and how she managed to climb internal ladders to gain experience for her freelance career

			Kate Broome Talks about how she got into TV and film, her first jobs after graduating, and how they led to her first documentary commissions

			Sarah Beecham and Graham Howard Explain how they got into their industry

			Christine Molloy Explains how she got into her industry

This section has aimed to provide you with an overview of routes into the industry for freelance media professionals based on the personal experience of people actually doing the jobs. You should have gathered an understanding of the transferable skills required, and have an indication of the kind of tenacity, spirit and level of commitment required to achieve success and to sustain a small business or a freelance career. You clearly need to have a true commitment to what you are doing, and you will need to be working to your strengths and talents. You will need to have the courage to take risks and the ability to recognise the opportunities that come you way.

			Task 1 - Your Key Qualities and Motivating Factors Download and print out the Task 1 worksheet (395Kb PDF)

Task 1 is designed to help you achieve an insight into what is important to you and what motivates you to achieve your very best, and assist you in researching the jobs and roles in which you would flourish.

This task should have helped you to recognise your strengths and your favourite skills; it could have also alerted you to possible difficulties you could face if you choose to work outside or against some of your clear motivating factors. Think about the gap between what you do well and what the qualities are for the role you seek.

			Web Research

This process will assist you in addressing the Personnel section of the Business Plan. Go to the following websites to see how your skills match the job descriptions.

• BBC Jobs - Get to Know Us
• BBC Jobs - New Media Training Scheme
• BBC Jobs - Programming Making Jobs

Make a list of the jobs and roles that interest you and relate your skills and experience to the requirements of the job. E.g.

Production Assistant

An essential part of the production team, PAs provide vital administrative support. A wealth of material is created by a production office such as scripts, call sheets and daily reports. The Production Assistant will be involved in producing these as well as booking hotels, hiring equipment and sorting travel arrangements.

My Skills

I'm well organised and can manage my time effectively.
I enjoy working under pressure.
I am confident about talking to people and using the telephone.
I have good team skills.