Quick update

So, you are now looking at (the writing of) a new producer of the "Chat City" radio show on Preston FM!

Although it is a voluntary position, I decided that for now the pros outweigh the cons. It's an excellent addition to my CV and I am going to learn a lot of skills, such as going through press releases and booking guests to appear on the show, as well as "pre-interviewing" them before they go on air. I may also get to write the news, and perhaps even read it, depending on how many other volunteers are around that day.

Still, it's a great place to pick up some experience.

The bad news is, however, that I will have to get up at 6am in order to get the bus to the train station, and then, obviously, the train to Preston. It's not ideal, but I am optimistically thinking that it is one of those stories that I will one day tell my grandchildren.

"When I was your age, I had to get up at 6am, walk to the bus stop in the snow (taking a bit of creative dramatic licence), get a bus, then wait half an hour for the train to even come, get on it, then go to the studio on foot... all for a job that was UNPAID! You don't know the meaning of dedication these days... Eee by gum..." (I am from Lancashire after all).

I emailed Scott Solder, an important editor at the BBC who worked on Radio 5 Live for a long time, before moving onto The One show where he is now. He told me:

 "I think in a nutshell, it’s time to make your face known, knock on as many doors as possible, and be willing and flexible to adapt to whatever needs any station/team might have … Good attitude is a must .. as is a willingness to get your hands dirty.."

So, I think I am following his advice down to the letter!

Anyway, back in for another Key 103 day tomorrow, will let you know how that goes :)

Week 1 Summary

Anyway, the past is the past. I can't change it. I think it's inevitable to feel a little like that when you come back to live in your childhood home with your parents, memories come flooding back and it feels partially like a step backwards in that you have come full circle, or it feels like you have never been away and not progressed. I believe though, that sometimes it is necessary to take a step back in order to gain momentum for the hop, skip and jump forward that will propel you on to better things. It was good to write it down and get it out of my system (blogging is very cathartic) but it's time to move onwards and upwards.

Week one of "the job/work experience/give-me-anything-you've-got hunt" has been a mixed bag of tricks. I fired CVs out at record speed on Monday, and I was extremely pleased to receive a call that very night saying that someone was interested in me. Lucky cow, you may think, getting a phone call on day one. However, this opportunity is only a volunteer position. I am not being picky, I need to get experience anywhere I can and I think that a place like Preston FM would be a brilliant place to start, but it is a question of practicalities. Preston is a fair way from my hometown (located conveniently about 10 minutes out of the outskirts of nowhere), so to get there and back every day would mean having to invest in a car. The dilemma, then, is whether or not to fork out for a car and its upkeep for an unpaid position. I would actually be paying a considerable amount of money to do the job. Still, I am staying open to the possibility and have a meeting there next Tuesday to have a look around and get a feel for the place. I'll let you know how that goes.

In the meanwhile, I have also been applying for jobs at production companies, trying to get in as a runner/researcher. I probably should have it a bit clearer whether it is radio or TV that I want to do, but I love both and would be more than happy to get into either. So, I am applying for both types (but leaning more towards radio), and leaving it up to fate to decide. Those applications haven't been going so well seeing as I have no relevant experience in that field. I have received some lovely, consolation emails assuring me that they will "keep my details on file" which is code for "thanks, but no thanks".

The one good thing that happened this week was the morning that I spent at Key103 in Manchester, as part of the Go Think Big scheme. I met many wonderful (and important) people who gave me some very sound advice, which I am definitely going to take into consideration as I try to move forward. Furthermore, having chatted to them in person (albeit briefly) now gives me licence to contact them in the not-too-distant future to pick their brains some more and say "Hey, do you remember me? We met in August.... Can I have a job please??". What's more is that I was also allocated a place on another Key103 training day next Friday, so I will be back there next week. Maybe they'll just get so sick of my pleas that they'll just give me some work experience to stop me pestering. Still, the competition is stiff, there were lots of young, talented people who were just as keen as I am. It won't be easy!

All in all, it hasn't been a bad start. We'll see what next week brings!

The clarity of hindsight

Yesterday I was clearing out a cupboard in my childhood bedroom, desperately trying to find my Boots advantage card which has laid there neglected since I moved to Spain - I had points that I have been accumulating since coming back to the UK which needed validating. It's all about priorities... they may get me a free nail varnish one day or at least a sweet chilli chicken wrap on the meal deal - and it was an interesting experience. 

I must explain first of all that my old room has now been turned into the family's dumping ground; anything that you are not keen to get rid of due to its sentimental value or an ill-conceived notion that it may be worth something one day (i.e. a full set of Natwest piggy banks in pristine condition) or just things that are deemed too hideous to display elsewhere in the home get thrown unceremoniously in there, with the door slammed shut behind them. Thus, going through the cupboard was like going through a real Aladdin's cave of memories... or, more appropriately, simply an avalanche of general tat. Amongst the items, I found birthday cards from years gone by (I am approaching 28 in a couple of weeks, and found ones from my 21st and even my 18th which made me a little sad), old teddy bears, expired make up and congealed nail polishes (hence why I needed the Boots card in the first place!), photos and their original films of me on school trips and D of E expeditions as an eager 16 year old, Nokia 3310s with chargers and even a tin full of pogs (if you don't know what they are, you were never a child of the 90s). Right at the back, however, I found some stories I had written at the age of eight, with "written and illustrated by Kayleigh Mills" proudly emblazoned on the cover, accompanied by some old copies of the Lancashire Evening Telegraph and the Rossendale Free Press from when I did work experience there and got my name in the paper or had something I had helped with printed. I even found old newsletters from my time volunteering at my local hospital radio, which has now ceased to exist. Rather than be overwhelmed with a warm, fuzzy feeling of nostalgia, the whole idea was rather disconcerting. I had everything so clear at the age of 16. I knew I wanted to work in journalism/radio. So where did it all go wrong? Why am I not doing it now?

I started off on the right track, I was getting lots of work experience and was told not to study media at University but rather to do something else to offer a different skillset. So, I went on to study Spanish. Instead of choosing a three-year degree at an English university, which, in hindsight, would have given me plenty of time to have done a postgrad in broadcast journalism afterwards, I fell in love with St. Andrews and went up there. Even then I opted for the five-year degree, instead of the four-year option. As I write this, I am incredulous of the fact that I took these decisions. As much as I adored my time at the home of golf, after five years I wasn't prepared (or economically equipped) to go into further education/training. I then panicked and didn't know how to get into what I really wanted to do. At the time, I had never heard of any BBC training/grad schemes and didn't feel that, at my age (then I was 25) I could feasibly go back to living with my Dad, work for free and start from the bottom, making the cups of tea and slowly working my way up. I then felt extremely nervous, I didn't know what to do.

So, I sent some CVs off to English Language schools in Spain as a plan B, and when I was offered a job that same night, I jumped at the opportunity and thought my problems were solved. I had a job. A month or so later, my bags were packed and I headed off to the relatively unknown. 

What's the moral of this story? In part, I can never regret that decision because it was there that I met the love of my life. However, professionally speaking, I do regret just taking the first job that I was offered out of blind panic and not investigating the other options more in depth. So I feel that I am back now, 10 years later, to square one. Sure, I have got some life experience under my belt and some admin/managerial work to boast of on my CV, but I feel that I am no further forward in regards to my dream job than I was a decade ago. In fact, if anything, I was better off then as I was more actively involved in things. They say hindsight is a wonderful thing, and if you were to ask me if I would have done things differently, the answer would be yes. Still, they say that everything happens for a reason. I am older and wiser now, and not arrogant enough to think I am above making cups of tea and starting at the bottom. That's what I actually want to do now. Who knows, maybe in another 10 years' time, I'll look back and think everything happened as it was meant to. After all, it was only because of the jobs in Spain that I now have the money to support myself while I work for free and gain experience. But right now I can't help feeling that in some way I have wasted years of my life. Let's hope I'm wrong.

The time is now

After months of anticipation and blogging about it, the time to actually throw myself into applying for jobs is upon me.

Indeed, my holidays are now over - Scotland was wonderful by the way (and I highly recommend you try a deep-fried Mars bar) - and so I have been updating my CV and doing proactive things like making a list of all of the local radio stations/production companies I am going to apply to. I don't know what it is about list-making that makes me feel more productive, but it genuinely does and I am sure that I can't be the only one. (I am not one of those people who put "make a list" as number one of their to-dos though, just so they can cross it off and therefore have a sense of accomplishment before their day has really begun).

I did see, however, a couple of interesting opportunities on the gothinkbig.co.uk website just before I went away and decided it was worth applying. If you don't know what the "Go Think Big" initiative is all about, I recommend you visit the page, but just as an overview, it's a wonderful site dedicated to helping young people get their foot in their door of their dream career. Luckily, I have been accepted onto two different training days at Manchester's Hit music station: Key 103. I am extremely excited and grateful for the opportunity, and hopefully I will make some good contacts and gain lots of inspiration and knowledge.

It's a great start to my journey of breaking into the media and I'll obviously let you know how I get on... this is what the blog is all about! Wish me luck :)

The Return

After a very hard final month at work, and a very tiring year in general (see previous posts for more information), I finally packed my bags and have left Spain to return to the UK. 

The journey itself was rather straightforward; all the suitcases were miraculously within the weight limit, my hand luggage, which I think was possibly a few millimetres larger than the stated limit, wasn't measured, everything was on time and the little girl behind me only kicked the back of my seat for about half of the journey, which I consider to be a bonus. I'd also like to think that God or the universe or whoever it is that controls these things gave me a sign when we were disembarking the Jet2 flight to Blackpool and Take That's "Back for Good" started to play. I was wholly convinced that the universe was telling me that this was it now, I had made the right decision and I was about to start on a new adventure and a new life here. My boyfriend, however, who is rather more pragmatic about these things, pointed out that it probably was not coincidental that they had chosen that song, and it was just part of the company's marketing strategy. Furthermore, it was probably more akin to a threat: "You are back here in rainy Blackpool FOR GOOD..... Unless you book one of our package holidays now!!"

Still, I am choosing to look on the bright side of life, as any Monty-Python-respecting Brit should. So, the torrential rain hasn't yet managed to dampen my spirits, and I am really enjoying being home. I am taking this week off to relax and revel in the glory of temporary* joblessness. Firstly because recharging the batteries is essential, (and, without meaning to sound too arrogant, I think I deserve a wee break) and secondly, I can use this time to get my errands done and cover my human MOT: doctor, dentist and hairdresser, so that I can concentrate one hundred percent on my applications later. 

Then, next week I am heading up to Scotland for a wedding and to stay with my best friend for a few days. After that is when the job hunt really intensifies. This blog has always meant to be about my entry into the media and so, as of next week, is when the entries are really going to pick up some pace. But, I am feeling good, I am feeling positive, and I'm ready to give them everything I've got. :)

(*Here's hoping! I may be talking about how wonderful joblessness is now, but it is only due to its novelty value...  if a year down the line I am still desperately begging people to take a chance on me, then it will not seem as wonderful. I was always one of those children who spent all year waiting for the six week holidays, and then got bored after two and was itching to go back. I'm sure that's how this will go too! At least it will give me something to write about!)