The Power of Work Experience

‘’The only source of knowledge is experience.’’ – Albert Einstein

Hello,

Work Experience.

What does ‘Work Experience’ actually mean?

Well, according to the Cambridge dictionary it means ‘’a period of time in which a student temporarily works for an employer to get experience.’’

Now, many may see work experience as a waste of time, but I see it as a goldmine.  Let me tell you why.

From January 9th through January 13th, I spent the whole week from 9am till 12pm at my local commercial radio station Signal 107 at Wolverhampton. Now, when you are studying any degree at a university and you get the opportunity to have work experience, you carry this belief in your head that you already know everything that there is to know about in your field of study… Trust me, you don’t.

I walked in thinking that there wasn’t possibly anything else that I could learn about radio, I mean after all I understood how to produce and present a radio show but what I learned within that week was phenomenal.

You’d imagine that working within the media industry was exclusively reserved for those that are knowledgeable in that field however that isn’t necessarily so. When it comes to running a commercial radio station, it’s more than just pushing buttons and talking for hours on end. There is the sales and marketing aspect which plays a vital role in ensuring the station can establish a client base that they can utilize and create adverts for (which actually is fantastic as I’d never thought the station actually produced the adverts that it aired). There is also the digital aspect of radio that covers the online based content for the station, social media, websites, competition to name a few. I loved my week at Signal 107 as it allowed me not just have a taster of everything but also reminded me why I want to work within the radio industry.

I’d highly recommend work experience to anyone as it allows you to experience all aspects of working in your chosen field and best of all you meet new people which you can stay in contact with long after your work experience is finished.

Peace.