A career in new media?
The influence that new media has on our society is huge to say the least. Yet we have all adapted to working, surviving and imagining the future with it. However, it comes down to not what you know…but who you know. Only developed through networking and establishing connections.
With knowledge of new media forms, a logical thought process could be
“Could I make a career out of this?”
Followed by…
“Where do I see myself in 5 years time?”
Professionals within new-media were asked this question in a report by Rosalind Gill. Not one was able to respond or furthermore picture what they would like to still be doing in 5 years time. The long hours, ‘requirements to “keep up” and stay up-to-date in a field that is changing rapidly,’ (Gill, 2007), are just some difficulties these professionals face. Due to constant changes does this make a career in new media stable?
Lee (2011) states in her blog that because work is now multi-sited and multi-temporal, people can do work whenever and wherever they want; Showing the shift in career opportunities within the environment of social interaction, technology and media. These factors will always influence career possibilities through networking and adaptability to embrace a work setting that is always evolving.
Reference List:
Gill, R. (2007). Informality is the New Black. In Technobohemians or the new Cybertariat? New Media work in Amsterdam a decade after the web. Amsterdam: Institute of Network Cultures: 24-30 & 38-43. Accessed April 16, 2011 from http://www.networkcultures.org/_uploads/17.pdf
Lee, Faith. 2011. “The Network Society”. Faithchantal’s Blog- Everything and anything. April 17, 2011. Accessed April 17, 2011. Accessed http://faithchantal.wordpress.com/2011/04/17/the-network-society/
Hi Rachel
I found your blog very interesting! I’m trying to think of what I would say if asked the five years question in a job interview and after racking my brain I decided on this…I would hope I had gained a multitude of experience working in public relations and media & communications and had been involved in and responsible for a variety of important, influential and successful projects. I agree with you that it is really hard to see what you will be doing in the future because the opportunities for working are so vast and with technology changing constantly. I also agreed with Lee about working wherever and whenever we want to, but the unpredictability does scare me a little. Hopefully I’m able to find a semi regular job that I allows me to work with flexibility and security! I’d be interested on your thoughts of where you think you’ll be in five years?
Cheers, Katie
Way to ask the tough questions!
“Could I make a career out of this?”
‘This’ for me is arts marketing (mostly performance/theatre), and I’d like to say yes! It’s clear that attitudes towards traditional/old media are changing and teamed with the fact that the theatre/arts section is the one most likely to be scrapped in favour of advertising, it’s important that there are people out there who understand this and can assist young/emerging independent artists with working their way around this.
“Where do I see myself in 5 years time?”
I think I’d like to be running my own business, or acting as a consultant (or freelance, or maybe these are all the same thing!) to help those young/emerging independent artists to achieve their publicity goals – combining traditional marketing with new media approaches. Everything from taking them through the steps of writing a press release and gathering contacts to maintaining a website, how best to use social networking sites, etc. No one (that I know) does this kind of work, so I’m not sure how I’ll get there, but it’s a plan in the making!
As Katie said above, I’d love to hear your thoughts too.