Module Information

Module Identifier
FM20300
Module Title
Career Development and Work Placement
Academic Year
2017/2018
Co-ordinator
Semester
Semester 1 (Taught over 2 semesters)
Pre-Requisite
Successful completion of Part 1
Pre-Requisite
Confirmation of the work placement opportunity
Other Staff

Course Delivery

Delivery Type Delivery length / details
Lecture 9 x 2 Hour Lectures
Lecture 6 x 2 Hour Lectures
 

Assessment

Assessment Type Assessment length / details Proportion
Semester Assessment Portfolio 1 ( written assignment)  40%
Semester Assessment Portfolio 2  (Forms confirming placement arrangements)  10%
Semester Assessment Portfolio 3 (route a or b)  (Portfolio and Reflective Assignment, equivalent to 3,000 words)  50%
Supplementary Assessment Portfolio 1 (written Assignment)    40%
Supplementary Assessment Portfolio 2  (Forms confirming placement arrangements)  10%
Supplementary Assessment Portfolio 3 (route a or b)  (Portfolio and Reflective Assignment, equivalent to 3,000 words)  50%

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

1. Demonstrate enhanced employability skills such as initiative, communication, independence, planning, presentation and professional deportment.

2. Demonstrate an enhanced understanding of contemporary professional working practice and the business environment of the creative industries, and the considerations facing aspiring entrants to that field.production, and the considerations facing aspiring entrants to that field.

3. Reflect on and evaluate experience acquired from work placement in order to draw up strategies for career development and entry to the creative industries beyond graduation.

Aims

1. To introduce students to the challenges facing graduates about ot enter the media and creative industries, and help them develop strategies to plan this transition.

2. To provide students with the necessary critical, theoretical and conceptual underpinning that will enable them to understand and evaluate their position as professionals in a fast-changing media environment.

3. To enhance students' awareness of the business context of the media industries, including concepts of entrepreneurship and the requirements for operating as a freelancer, or staff employee, in the creative industries.

4. To provide students with support to undertake part of their 5-15 day work placement in an appropriate professional environment. The placement aims to heighten students' awareness of contemporary professional practice and develop employability skills.

Brief description

Production Research Placement aims to introduce students to the requirements and considerations facing graduates about to enter the media and creative industries, in order to help them bridge the gap between education and post-graduation employment. It helps them to develop greater awareness and first-hand experience of the industries in which they hope to work, as well as enabling them to develop strategies to plan their entry paths into these careers. It equips them with tools to market specific media projects relevant to their specialism and chosen career path, enhances their awareness of business start-up and emplyment market issues, and seeks to develop their professional 'deportment' and emplyability.

The module has two mutually-informing components, which are developed concurrently. In the first, students will be required to build on their existing knowledge of the creative industries acquired in other modules in order to understand and evaluate the economic, social and cultural challenges facing these industries. This will include a consideration of competing/varying business models (including that of the freelancer and the ways in which start-ups are generated), marketing strategies and career structures within a multiplatform context. Alongside this, students will be asked to apply their knowledge to their own situation, and will, for example, learn how to produce a business plan, write a CV appropriate to different audiences and consider how a project might be pitched and/or presented to potential employers.

In the second component, students will be supported in the search for a work placement in a relevant media industry. Students will plan, source and organise their own placements, supported where necessary by academic staff, according to published guidelines.

Content

Course delivery:

15 x 2 hour Lecture over the 2 semesters

In addition to a three week placement, the module comprises lecture/workshop sessions and includes sessions on the following which are taught on alternate weeks during Semester 1:

1. Ideas generation and pitching
2. Developing the idea
3. From idea to location: production logistics and budgeting
4. Team Working: how to find and fulfil a role
5. Marketing: the marketplace, selling the programme and selling yourself

Module Skills

Skills Type Skills details
Application of Number
Communication Communication skills - oral and written - will be developed in the module through written assignments. The module will draw further upon a range of communication skills during the work placement periods but these will not be explicitly assessed.
Improving own Learning and Performance There will be a continual dialogue throughout the module and students will also receive feedback on their written assignment which will help them improve their learning and performance. There will also be an opportunity during the work placement to evaluate learning and performance.
Information Technology This is not developed explicitly, but students are expected to engage with a range of IT tools as part of the module in terms of research for the module and during the placement.
Personal Development and Career planning This forms a central part of this module and is developed both through the teaching sessions and during the placement itself. The skill is assessed via the portfolio and the critical evaluation of the placement.
Problem solving Students will be required to develop their problem-solving skills and this skill will be assessed through the critical documentation submitted following the placement.
Research skills These skills will be developed throughout the module and form a key part of the work which will be undertaken by students. The skills will be assessed through the portfolio.
Subject Specific Skills The module develops specific skills in production research which will be applicable to a range of media industries.
Team work This is developed durin the placement where students will be placed in a media environment. Students will be required to reflect on the teamwork aspects of their placement experience.

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 5