Monday 12 December
Today we welcomed BBC Radio 1 and Radio Bristol presenter, Elliot Darby, and BBC Researchers, Brian Buller and Tadhg Kwasi, to talk to Years 7 to 10 about ‘storytelling’ careers and the importance of ‘finding your path’ in a special careers event to mark 100 years of the BBC.
The BBC 100: Share your Story education project is designed to inspire young people to achieve their goals and help realise their ambitions. BBC staff and big names from TV, Radio, Sport and News are visiting schools in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland throughout 2022 to share their personal stories.
Tadhg is a Ghanaian-born Irish poet with a degree in Philosophy who is now working as a BBC Researcher after a successful internship. Tadhg did not have an easy route into his BBC career. He struggled at school, and felt he didn’t receive the right support to help him achieve his goals . He set out to prove to everyone that he could succeed. After a diagnosis of dyslexia at 18, he realised that the science subjects that he had been pushed to study did not suit him. He then chose to study creative subjects and philosophy, where his passion for writing and storytelling began through the student magazine, poetry and songwriting.
From his own experiences, Tadhg’s key messages for our students were to ‘find your own path’; don’t let anyone define who you are but pursue your own dreams and goals; pursue what you are interested in and make sure you get the right support to help you achieve your goals.
With a passion for video-gaming and live-streaming, Brian returned to education as a mature student in his mid-thirties in order to develop his skill-set and pursue a career in digital marketing. After a chance conversation with a lecturer on a university Open Day, he chose to apply for a Digital Media and Communications course, and graduated with first class honours. His key messages to our students were to work hard at GCSEs now rather than having to re-sit them later; GCSEs provide you with more options to go on to further and higher education, either when you leave school or if you return to education later on.
Host Elliott said, “People’s career paths change all the time. It’s ok to not know today what you want to do in the future. Eventually, you will find your own path. Find out what your strengths and weaknesses are, discover your passions, and follow your dreams. There is not one clear correct path into careers. People follow different routes into careers. It is the subjects and activities that you love more than others that may inspire your eventual career path.” For example, Elliott was given a karaoke machine at age 8, which inspired him to follow a path into presenting. At secondary school, he became involved in community radio before going on to study Media at university, which eventually led him to jobs in radio presenting.
Elliott spoke of ‘soft skills’ being as important as academic achievements. You need to work on developing your ‘soft skills’ now that will make you more employable in the future. This includes leadership, problem solving, listening, speaking, staying positive, creativity, teamwork and aiming high.
Both Tadhg and Brian said that work experience and pursuing extra-curricular activities will be really valuable to develop your employability. Work experience will help develop your soft skills whilst extra-curricular activities will help you follow your passions and provide you with relevant experience and interests to include on your CV when you start applying for jobs. Brian said he had applied for 115 jobs before securing his job with the BBC – his message was to ‘stay positive’ and to keep going.
The BBC Bitesize Careers pages give young people lots of advice on developing your CV, applying for jobs and finding your perfect job. There are useful tools to explore different careers, Q&A sessions and real people giving you the wealth of their experience to help you.
For more information, go to: Careers – BBC Bitesize
And if you’re interested in a career in media, like our BBC guests today, watch the video below:
Media careers: What qualifications do I need? – BBC Bitesize
