Hi students,
In the media sector, there are many professions that all of you are able to explore. However, if you were to examine these professions closely, you will realise that most of the skills that are required are transferable. It is also important to note that the more skills that you are adept with (read: fluent in both theoretical knowledge and practical applications), the wider you are able to explore in terms of media professions.
Take for instance, the profession of a writer. To be a writer, you need strong writing skills, as well as editing skills. This is about it. The rest of the skills that are required for a book to come to fruition such as layout and design are often taken care of by media specialists in the publishing house. Nevertheless, if you were to put in the effort to upgrade yourself by learning layout and design, you will be able to handle the task of editorial design and layout. Does this not make you a Layout Designer? And if you were to go on and learn photography, doesn’t that make you become more than a writer? In fact, you have just upgraded yourself to become a photographer / photojournalist.
In a nutshell, the more skills you have, the more market value you command in the workplace. More importantly, there are more job opportunities out there for you. Of course, the workload will increase accordingly but I strongly believe that we can achieve anything as long as there’s passion in our endeavours. We just have to make sure that our passion for our jobs do not fizzle and burn out. However, it is important that we balance work and play and do not stress ourselves too much. If not, we will not be able to do well in the workplace anyway.
Now, below are some of my recommended skills that I hope that all of you are able to master at your own time (since all of us learn at our own time):
- Writing skills
- Editing skills
- Presentation skills (personal grooming, use of visual aids, simplification of abstract or complex information, verbal communication, body language, gestures etc)
- Communication skills (public relations, media relations, cross-cultural communications, issues and crisis management, corporate communications)
- Organisation skills (should include how you are able to manage your emails with ease in the workplace)
- Analytical / Critical Thinking skills
- Creativity skills
- Layout and Design (An ideal place to practice will be at http://www.scrapblog.com)
- Photography (both the technical aspects [such as ISO setting, shutter speed, aperture, depth-of-field, white balance etc] and the artistic aspects of composition [rules of thirds etc])
- Photo Caption writing
- An in-depth understanding of how words and photos blend together
- An in-depth understanding of both old media (newspapers, magazines, radio, television, cinema etc) and new media (internet blogs, forums, social media etc) (Do a study on how media consumers – especially the young – consume the media)
If you are able to master all if not most of the abovementioned skills, then you should be among the great communicators and media professionals in due course.
While learning new skills is important, do not forget to constantly develop your portfolio. Whenever you have created something on your own or with your teams, put it into your portfolio. Make your portfolio development a lifelong endeavour. During any job interviews, select 3-5 best works of yours that are the most relevant and show it to your interviewers during interviews. It will help you greatly then.
Keep upgrading yourself (be it in school or on your own) and I believe that each of you should do well in both your studies and career.
