How to fill a CV once credits are accounted for

Do employers regard an MA as experience or is it just seen as a qualification? If that is the case, how seriously do employers look at these qualifications? Do they prefer experience over education?

What’s the best way to gain contacts

Any advice for someone just starting in the industry?

Any tips for someone who doesn’t really know what they wants to do in the industry?

Is freelance worth it, is it difficult

How much experience in the TV industry had you had before you started off as a researcher, and how did you know this was the route you wanted to take in becoming a Talent Manager? @ElsaSharp

I am currently trying to change career into TV/Film within the Assistant Directors department. I’ve been working in London’s Westend theatres for 14 years in Stage Management and other technical departments.
Can you give me some advice for a person who has no experience or qualifications in TV/Film but has the transferable attributes? On how to gain the foot in the door, what positions would be best to start in to learn, how to show my theatre abilities in a way that will suit the industry?

Are there any job sites or pages that you’d recommend to look for entry level jobs on? I’m struggling to find many TV related jobs on the generic sites like Total Jobs and Linked In.

After leaving my teaching career to re-start my Photographic practice with over 25 years experience, some of which TV Stills. Any advice on who to approach as it has change a great deal.

There is a really good facebook group for runners and @MarkWatson @JudeWinstanley @BenettaAdamson @AdrianPegg are doing a great job supporting the new entrants' community

Are there any particular challenges you may have faced when starting out as a runner working on your first few credits? For example, things you might not have expected from the job?

Do you have any advice for making the transition from unscripted to scripted TV?

Do you have any advice for graduate students who have been unable to do work experience in their final year due to the pandemic?
How would your recommend graduates build up contacts?

What sort of networking events/ schemes could you recommend for someone still at university trying to enter the TV industry?

Can you please share your insight on finding more long-term or inhouse work in development? Is this more word-of-mouth? What kinds of job titles would be great to chat with in order to form connections?

Is it considered pushy or proactive emailing individuals from Production/Broadcasting companies asking for feedback/advice after not being successful in an interview?

Any advice for people looking to transition from branded content to tv? Happy to do running jobs but many of them require credits within the specific content niche (e.g. scripted, unscripted, science, gameshow), and I'm struggling to get around this. Thanks!

Do you have pet peeves with networking attempts and advice to network in a way that you would find welcome?

What would be the best approach to get into research and development for TV?

I don’t officially have credits, but I have worked on projects, live events and programmes uncredited. Is this still beneficial to the hiring process as experience or do employers just look at credits?

@BethBacon Where would you suggest to look to get some script reader experience?

Do you have any advice on how to transition into editorial/development from a production background? How to get the first job as a Researcher for example?

Do you think its possible to move from the production management route to editorial?

What are your thought on how to contact successful candidates? Do you prefer email or phone calls? @ElsaSharp

What are some of the major UK production companies, apart from the BBC and Channel 4?

Hi, I changed career/industry in August and have been working as a Researcher in Fact Ent since and ideally I would be following the advice to network but it's tricky to get to know people beyond your team at the moment as we're all working on Zoom and many of the traineeships and programmes that I have applied to seem to be looking for people with less than 6 months or people around AP level. Where are the best places to get advice and training at the moment while we're not in the office?

If you want to find out real pay rates, The Talent Manager has a 'RateChecker' so you can see what actual rates people are being paid in different roles, and how those vary across channels, time slots (peak, day time etc). www.thetalentmanager.com/rate-checker

Agree with Grace - TV is a fantastic place to work, but you can get boxed in. Hello Elsa!

Is it best to send my CV to Production Managers for roles as Production Secretary or to Talent Teams?

Hi, so I have graduated from my masters in September and although I do have some researching and running experience I have been having trouble finding runner positions as I am under 25 and most of them require your own car which I don't. But I do really wanna find something in researching so I guess my question is, could I still find a job in development even though I'm just starting?

Should CV's be on a white background? I've been seeing a lot of creative CV's in order to stand out - is this useful or is it unprofessional?

Any tips on what to write a cover letter and a personal statement on a CV? How long should a cover letter for an entry level position be?

You have spoken about long hours, how do you get a work life balance and manage seeing family, particularly as a woman, while working in TV? What is taking and coming back from maternity leave like?

The BBC scheme for PhDs that @ElsaSharp mentioned, especially wildlifers - that's me!... tell me more! Where do I apply?

In terms of CVs, always worth doing a bit of road testing to make sure it's clear: hand your CV to a friend for 5 seconds, then take it back & ask them a few questions about what they gleaned about you: 'what is it I do?' (eg runner, camera assistant), 'What are my key work achievements/ credits' (you worked on 'Grand Designs', at Aldi etc); what are my key skills (you speak fluent Spanish, use on FS7 etc) If they don't ''get you'' in those few seconds, redraft your CV so it's clear.

Online networking events would be great

Great idea Sarah!

Regular zoom events sound like a great idea! It would help increase accessibility and confidence in networking effectively. It would also help career movers very well.

Yes, please to networking events. Maybe having them aimed at different levels would be useful too :)

@BethBacon I know you spoke a little about mental health regarding TV, but how would you suggest keeping you chin up in a wave of quite a lot of rejections starting out? I know it can be brutal and a tough industry, and you have to keep going, but how do you avoid a slump?

If you have a Business management experience would that work for a production manger style role

@BethBacon Really relate to wanting to move into scripted, to jump on the volunteer script reader role, what sort of experience did they expect you to have beforehand since it was on a volunteer basis? having written scripts before? your blog?, etc...

@elsasharp I haven't had much luck with finding many running positions as I don't have a car in the UK but I do have an international driving license but considering that literally 3/4 of the running jobs require you to either have your own car or be over 25 (I'm about to be 23 in a couple of months) for insurance purposes I haven't had much luck finding many running positions in the UK and it's stressing me out as I wanna find a job as a researcher.

Hope, as Grace said, Zoom will open up the industry for people outside of London and the South.

A zoom to meet fellow creatives is always useful.