For the last few years, I have been working towards and building a career in television and radio production. My focus has been on editing, mostly in video production, but since gaining employment as an audio producer at a radio station, my interest has shifted towards sound design and audio production, which I think is where I want to work towards and learn more about in the future. In my career the main things that I look for are having a good work-life balance and being in an environment that is open and respectful.
My core values are honesty, open-mindedness, and respect. In my mind, all three overlap significantly. Honesty creates better relationships and overall communication between individuals, as does respect, which, to me, requires a level of open-mindedness.
My interests include music, video games, movies, and exploring. Some of these interests overlap both my personal and professional life. For example, my interest in music and movies includes the production and sound design side, which comes into play as an audio and commercial producer in radio.
Being surrounded by like-minded people with similar goals, passions, and interests inspires and motivates me. Seeing how others work, and seeing their fire and willingness to grow and improve in turn does the same to me. This includes friends, family, peers, and work colleagues.
The majority of my experience in this industry comes from university, therefor the people that I admire most I have met throughout my degree. Although there are a few who come to mind, one person within my industry that I admire is Zaine Harvey; a tutor (and later a lecturer) at UniSQ. Zaine has been one of my aforementioned inspirations, and not only have I learnt a lot of industry skills from him, I also see a lot of my core values in him.
Technically, no formal qualifications are required to work in television and radio production, however, speaking from personal experience, I believe my studies at university have greatly benefited me and my career. Some skills required to work in the industry, specifically in my area of interest, include strong attention to detail, knowledge around editing and editing software, and problem solving. These are skills that I have either learnt throughout university or have built upon significantly.
Reflecting on my career, I can see how it connects with my professional and personal goals in a few different ways. As somebody who studies and works in television and radio production, my professional identity has several key aspects. My interest throughout university has mostly been in editing, both video and audio. As an editor, my job would be to help create and deliver other people’s stories and messages. For example, one of the first projects that I was involved with at university was creating a short video for Project Search; an organisation that focuses on helping people with disabilities gain employment. As an editor on that project, my job was to help structure and deliver that message through both video and sound. As I have moved further into audio and radio production recently, my current job is similar to this, but instead of focusing on the video side, it’s much more focused on the audio, delivering messages through radio advertisements. I am lucky enough to be in a workplace that matches and respects my values. I am surrounded by like-minded people who are respectful and open with each other. It also allows me to have a good work-life balance, which I am thankful for, as this was one of my biggest concerns going into this industry. As an audio producer, I also get to use my interest and passion for editing and sound design. I think one of my professional goals right now is to learn more about audio and sound production, which working in my current industry will allow me to do.
