IntJobs Week #5

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11882284_729698580468347_8757313360589793632_oIt’s Week 5 and the group’s progress is on par. The multitalented Aki has completed a campaign design, which means that the social media crew can begin pushing out content for students to discover. As seen on the image above, the group has also begun filming the promo video directed by Angus. More information on that soon.

On my end, I’ve spoken with my contact Josh McNicol about potentially speaking for us and he seems keen about the idea. Although he doesn’t have a conventional “international job” I sold the idea to him of working with foreign clientele and assimilating with varied cultures rather than finding jobs abroad. He said he can also recommend someone to me who’s currently working in the Australian Ballet, but has had experience working in China and I think Europe (?)

I’ve also contacted Adam Smith, who is based in Miami as the Executive Director of Social Responsibility and Public Affairs at the Laureate Universities. He’s also a connection of mine, but I was initially apprehensive to approach him as 4 PM Skype/FaceTime session in Melbourne will be 2 AM in Miami for him. But the great thing about him is his story. He didn’t have a traditional education in communications and forged his career by networking and hard work. He’s told me he will check his schedule and get back to me soon, but if he’s unable to do it, he can recommend someone he knows who’s based in Melbourne.

My only concern about these potential speakers, and also something which Vicson has spoken to me about, is their careers’ focus on communications rather than media. According to the Facebook poll we shared on the media pages, there is more interest on media graduates to invest in a career within film and television production, which is nothing to be surprised about given our course. On this case, I must cater for our audience’s interest and continue to look for people with established careers in production overseas.

What now?

The impending end of my tertiary education looms ever so closely. Tomorrow morning, at 8 AM, I must to race to book down the class times I want against my university classmates, and this has only made me realise even more how close I am to the finish line. Years of my life spent studying have made me reliant on this autonomy, and even though yes, I excelled most of the time at school, it was something that also inhibited me as a big fish in a small pond. It seems like only yesterday that I worried over meeting people and making new matches in university. Three years have just flown past and I must once again make decisions for myself that will ultimately, affect the rest of my life.

At this “end”, also makes me reminisce of my “beginning”, or I guess you could say the journey itself. The last “end” that I faced, after graduating in VCE, I was in the same situation picking out which passion of mine I wanted to call my career (just as I am, now). For growing up, I had been one of those creative types who sought to redeem my physical incoordination and failure to meet social expectations through expression of art, whether visual or performance. I invested myself in music and drama, visual communication and design, film-making, and even dabbled in history which fuelled the source of inspiration for my writing. I thought a Bachelor of Communications (Media) at RMIT was more than suitable for me, in fact, it was dare I say, perfect for me? It was creatively expressive enough for me that I could continue to write and make short films and other experimental media material that built up my portfolio, with the reputation as a course that would potentially lead to many possibilities. Yet here I am, once again shattering my freshman illusions that at my graduating year I would already be working part time, as an unemployed almost-21 year old student with a half-creative half-technical degree.

What’s even more depressing is that with my return from Montréal, I am left without my past job in retail, an empty bank account and a reliance on my parents. And I hate having to rely on my parents. But I recognise that I am not the only one in this position. Other people probably have it harder than me, when I should be appreciating what it is that I possess and have already accomplished. Like the apparent 90-100 other Media students graduating at the end of 2015, I’m just going to have to compete for that dream career, whatever and wherever it is. Here’s hoping that what I’ve done will be enough to push me through, because I will not settle for less.