education Work Based Learning
WBL
"My Pit experiences at shows including Lion King, Wicked and Legally Blonde, have allowed me to interact and work alongside top industry professionals. I have come away with some incredible advice and knowledge that I cannot wait to put into practice."
EVAN CARSON FD yr2
"We have used BIMM Live Sound and Tour Production students and they have all been absolutely fantastic. Definitely shows that BIMM is preparing students well for the outside world and a career in the music industry. We would definitely use them again without hesitation” Live Sound & Tour Production Students."
TOM CARSON - Jägermeister Music Manager
"I got a real sense of what various careers involve, had a lot of fun and met some great people."
ED JACOBS. Foundation Degree. Eagle Rock, NY
"An internship with Secret Records gave me the experience I needed to secure a full time job here, I’m so pleased to be working with great people on such a diverse and talented roster of artists"
ARDZIV SIMONIAN. Graduate
"My work experience at Universal opened my eyes to real life music industry situations and knowledge needed to work in this environment."
SIMON DEW. Foundation Degree Graduate
"Working at Sony was an amazing experience, I learned so much and was able to meet frontline artists. I came to appreciate first hand how the modules I am studying at BIMM are truly relevant and applicable in the real world of the music industry."
TOM BECK Foundation Degree Graduate
"Internships with Dazed and Confused magazine and Artrocker were really good fun and gave me the opportunity to develop a portfolio of writing whilst working with great people. I then went on to a work placement at The Fly magazine and it was nothing short of amazing really. Lot’s of writing experience and I’ve found that each internship leads to a new exciting opportunity"
LIAM LIDBETTER. BA (Hons)
"I was fortunate to gain some excellent work experience in Brighton’ s Theatre Royal with a professional pit band. I am very grateful for the experience and thoroughly enjoyed it!"
PETER DARKE Foundation Degree Graduate
"It is priceless gaining first hand information from someone who works within the industry rather than reading it from a book"
GEMMA MILROY. Music Entrepreneur Diploma. – The Agency Group
"My WBL placement has had a very positive influence on a my future career plans as I continue to work promoting live music"
PRUE LANGFIELD (Foundation Degree Graduate) The Brickyard in Carlisle
"As someone who’d been reading Rock Sound magazine from a young age it was a great experience to get an insight into its day to day running. As the month went on I was given more creative tasks, the results of which ended up in an issue. The team were friendly, welcoming and made the whole thing a really valuable and enjoyable experience. I’ve been kept on as a contributor and hope to develop this in the future"
ROBERT SAYCE.BA (Hons) Graduate. Rock Sound Magazine
"My work based learning at KONG Promotions not only enhanced my experience of the FD course at BIMM, but also helped to propel my career forward by giving me unique opportunities for networking and to refine and develop my business skills."
LUCY OSBORNE Foundation Degree Graduate
"I was co-ordinating The Great Escape convention and was highly impressed with the level of competency and enthusiasm of the BIMM students"
NATASHA HADDAD – MAMA GROUP
"Carmen was a great asset to the Breakfast team. She's bright, efficient and has a great sense of humour. She had a very good understanding of radio, a great knowledge of music and her production skills were excellent. I would highly recommend Carmen for future work and she would be welcome to come back to Juice anytime."
GUY LLOYD – JUICE FM
"I absolutely loved my summer internship with Dean Street Studios Soho. It was an awesome experience, and I learnt a lot!"
BETH CANNON. BA( Hons)
"Going to Tru-Thoughts helped me re-define my career goals as it gave me an insight into each area of running a label."
FLORA SCUTT Foundation Degree Graduate.
"The BIMM WBL program has been very beneficial so far to The Hook Up. The students are keen to learn and apply themselves extremely well on projects."
JONNY GOODWILLIE – THE HOOK UP CONSULTANCY
"My time at The Brickyard allowed me to gain experience into various fields of the music Industry; stage manager, live and studio sound engineer and promoter."
"Matt has an impressive music industry knowledge and is intuitive when it comes to the right approach to a catalogue of tasks. He is a credit to BIMM and with continued hard work he should look forward to a successful music industry career. Most important for my company is that he has a passion for my roster and a genuine desire to help my bands succeed."
JULIAN DEANE- Raygun Management
"Joe immediately impressed us with his friendly character. He has already sat in as a Broadcast Assistant a couple of times and slotted seamlessly in, covering the logging of songs and researching bits and pieces with calm efficiency, while we recorded the show. He’s now a part of our regular rota and we look forward to welcoming him back very soon."
RICHARD PITT – BBC INTRODUCING
WHAT IS WORK BASED LEARNING?
Each BIMM course is highly vocational and is designed to act as a springboard into employment .Work-based learning is an essential part of this process and involves actively using the workplace as a learning environment. It is therefore more than ‘work experience’ learning outcomes will be specified that can be met through activity in the workplace which will help students to develop the full set of skills needed to establish a long term career.
BIMM is committed to sustaining its role as a centre of excellence for Work Based Learning and ensuring all students have access to placements appropriate to their course. We have unique links with the music industry and use our extensive contacts to generate opportunities for students to engage with the music industry.
Students have access to a dedicated WBL advisor who will discuss career goals either as musicians or industry practitioners. BIMM continually monitors placements and projects to ensure they are relevant and offer students a safe and secure learning environment.
HOW WILL WORK BASED LEARNING HELP MY CAREER?
The changing nature of the music business has impacted on the demand for higher level skills. Work Based Learning (WBL) is essential for improving skills in the sector and helping the workforce of the future to diversify.
Work Based Learning is in place to ensure that our students are ‘work ready’ with the relevant experience, contacts and skills to compete in a highly competitive industry.
BIMM graduates go on to work across a range of sectors in the music industry, many as performers, it is BIMM’s aim to mentor students through experiential learning, developing self-employed and entrepreneurial projects.
Work Based Learning plays a central role in developing key employability skills including self management, team working, enterprise, application of IT skills and communication.
Our graduates are equipped to pursue employment as either full time employees in the music business or as self-employed musicians or entrepreneurs with skill sets suited to a portfolio career in the industry.
All students are invited to attend one to one tutorials with the WBL team to discuss CVs and career action planning we also offer support to graduates with employment opportunities and auditions through the A-Team, our dedicated alumni department
WHAT ARE MY CAREER OPTIONS IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY?
There are nearly 8000 businesses in the UK’s music sector generating a wide range of careers.
Every year, BIMM are proud to celebrate a large number of our graduates starting work in the music industry. We currently have our alumni working across a diverse range of roles:
A&R, PR, marketing, radio and TV plugging, live agents, promoters, publishing, venues and studios, song writing companies, managers, music journalists, TV and radio broadcasting and in tour management.
We also have alumni who work as workshop leaders, teachers, musical directors, pit musicians, sound and lighting technicians, session artists and of course as successful recording artists.
Other careers in the industry include collection society executives, instrument makers, music librarian, music supervisor, music therapy, retail, distribution and social media / digital marketing, a rapidly developing sector.
Many people choose to pursue portfolio careers, taking on more than one role at a time. The industry is naturally fast moving and people working in music need to be adaptable and receptive to new challenges to succeed.
Diversity is the key to entrepreneurial success and this can be developed by making the very most of your time at BIMM by: Developing a song writing portfolio, organising and promoting gigs and tours, planning and executing structured promotional campaigns, gaining teaching experience and setting up teaching practices, establishing and promoting function bands, session work for live, media or pit work, designing branded merchandise, contributing to the BIMM student magazine, shadowing live music professionals at gigs and festivals, volunteering to work as part of street teams or as gig reps at industry festivals.
BIMM supports your career plans during your studies and we continue to work with graduates through our dedicated alumni careers programme; ‘The A-Team’.
WBL Placements
Volunteer for Brisfest
Your festival needs you!
BrisFest is built by hundreds of volunteers, all giving their time for free to create Bristol’s community festival.
We really need your help to make it all come together. Volunteer now to help organise the festival, build the site, run the event and clear it all away again afterwards. All volunteers get tickets to the whole event, a free t-shirt, after party tickets, entrance to the VIP area all weekend… and warm fuzzy feeling! It’s a great way to get more experience, enhance a CV, meet people or give something back, plus lots of fun!
VOLUNTEER FOR BRISFEST NOW…. contact getinvolved@brisfest.co.uk
CV Advice
NB: When applyin
g for any job always do your research on the company that you are hoping to work for.
The CV (Industry)
- Remember that your CV is an advert for you and your skills so sell them!
- Employers may receive hundreds of CVs and do not have time to trawl through pages of waffle so only include relevant experience to that specific job (this may mean that you need more than one CV for different role applications) and make sure you keep it concise and to the point.
- Format your CV in an ‘easy to read’ layout with headings and bullet points if necessary.
- Take value in your experience. Include anything relevant — paid and unpaid positions, summer jobs, voluntary or extra-curricular activities. Pull out what you learned or what made you shine. Describe entry-level experience using phrases such as "learned the business", or "trained to..." to emphasise your aptitude for professional development.
- Sounds obvious but remember to add your current contact details!
Example: Download Example CV
Template: Download Template CV
The CV (Musician)
Whilst the tips for the industry CV still apply to musicians here’s a couple more to make sure you stand out from the crowd:
- Add a recent professional photo(s) to your CV
- Be a bit more creative with the presentation of your CV, remember that you are selling yourself as an artist. (see examples below)
Examples: (Download PDFs of Rachel Wood and Ben Thompson)
Template: Download CV Template
Links:
Total Jobs - CV and cover letter
JOB HUNTING AND SOCIAL MEDIA
With social media being such a huge part of our everyday life research has shown that employers are now starting to look online for potential new candidates. Sites such as Linkedin and Facebook-CV are handy tools to promote yourself online.
Warning! Be careful what you share openly on your personal social media sites. Make your account private, so only your friends can access it. Be professional, and don't post anything that you don't want a prospective employer to read.
Video CVs are becoming more popular and this may be a useful tool for a musician. Click on the link for some examples.
Links:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12194581
http://www.cvtips.com/resumes-and-cvs/video-cv.html
Further ADVICE
Tips for Interns:
Visit www.about.com for 10 great tips!
Writing a Cover Letter
- First impressions last so make sure it is presented well and in a professional and easy to read layout
- Tailor your CV to each individual employer and the job descriptions that they provide
- Keep it clear and concise
- Use your key skills and relevant information from your CV
- Make it clear why you are perfect for the job and the job is perfect for you!
Links:
Covering letters and applications
How to write a covering letter
Interview
If invited to an interview for a placement or job, remember that preparation is key, so do your homework. Make sure you have thoroughly researched the company and their website and remember to think about a few interesting questions which will spark conversation and show how committed you are to the position.
What are the most common interview questions?
What are the ten most common questions asked at graduate interviews?
Links
BIMM Documents:
BIIMM Employer Guide to Work Based Learning
BIMM Brighton WBL FD-Student Handbook
BIMM Bristol Employer Guide to Work Based Learning
BIMM Bristol Student Guide to Work Based Learning
Useful Links:
Intergrating Work and Learning
The Higher Education Academy - Employability
http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/employability
UK Music - Representing the intrests of the UK's commercial music industry
BBC Music
http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/introducing/
Creative and Cultural Skills
British Phonographic Industry
The Musician’s Union
http://www.musiciansunion.org.uk
PRS for Music
Phonographic Performance Limited
UK Music Jobs
The Unsigned Guide
http://www.theunsignedguide.com
Music Week
CMU
Record of the Day
