Summer job UK

[Liam:]

Im 15 years old and interested in photography/sport photography mainly
maybe as a job in the future.
But i was going to ask hw i could get into the industry, by maybe getting a summer job in a cmaera shop or in some sort photo industry.

Does anyone have any tips on how I can get some experience, as when ever i try and get a media pass im refused as im to young, which i think is a bit unfair.


thanks for any advice

liam.

[DarrenL]

Have you considering contacting the local newspapers in your area and offer your services? I did a week of work experience with a daily newspaper years back when I was your age at school.

I had to do a few office duties but for 95% of the time I was with the photographers, playing with 600mm lenses at the cricket :D, in the dark room and printing room, looking at how images effect page layouts etc. and getting an insight into the working life of a staff photographer. I was so knacked by Saturday that I fell asleep in the car driving between assignments. I was quite embarrassed but loved it.

Darren

[DarrenL]

Plenty of people, world wide get jobs because of who they know and not what they know. The UK is no different. Some are lucky enough to have someone open the door for them, most people need to give it a shove them self.

I would strongly recommend the newspaper route, try all of them if need be, research the paper, contacts, editors, daily\weekly circ, and be ready to answer questions.

Darren

[Zilly]

media is all about contacts contacts contacts im a student and have been on several filming sets including pinewood because of who I know. Im 16 go and find companies that specalise in what you want to do and contact them see it you can do some work experience and who know where it might end up

[Tall_Paul_2000]

Darren's advice is spot on, you will learn more if you can spend a week or so with a local paper. You will also know pretty quickly if its the career path you want to go down.

Media passes are not easy to get hold of unless you are shooting for an agency/publication.....by all means ask, but don't be surprised if the answer is no as you are asking for the pass to shoot for experience (I assume).

Working in a camera shop is a quick way to learn a lot about cameras and kit etc. I spent a chunk of my gap year working for small chain of shops and learnt a huge amount, not to mention the staff discount that was incredibly useful. I learnt how to shoot in a studio not to mention a whole load of other bits and pieces.

Research all your local papers, write a letter (they get god knows how many emails a day, so do something different and send a letter!) and then call to follow up the letter. As for the shops, just have a wander around town and go in and ask. That is what I did, purely on the offchance...I started the following day!

Here are a couple of links to lists of newspapers in the UK, this should definitely give you a few leads

http://www.mediauk.com/newspapers/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_newspapers_in_the_United_Kingdom

Good luck - hope that you get what you want out of this! (and the realities of it don't put you off!)

Paul

ps Rhys - an interesting generalisation.......:D
pps Darren - you fell asleep on your work experience? Brilliant! Bet they loved you!!! lol:lol:

[PhotosGuy]

If your school offers business classes, be sure to take some, & good luck!

[Liam:]

thank you all for the advice
is greatly appreciated
i think im gonna try going going to local events and then just dending my photos in,
and maybe meet any other photographers there

thanks again

liam.

[DarrenL]

media is all about contacts contacts contacts

I'm not denying that at all, I agree. However, there is nothing to say these contacts cannot be self made. It's morre difficult but ultimately more satisfying knowing that you made it your self.

Darren

[Tall_Paul_2000]

Liam,

I would do this in addition to getting some work experience.

If you do decide that ultimately working as a press/sports tog is your cup of tea then having some time spent doing work experience with a paper or agency will look infinitely better on your CV when you come to apply for positions. I only say this since it was one of the things that was mentioned to me the other week when I was chatting with the pic ed at one of the papers I freelance for about how they pick up new staff togs.

Hope this helps - feel free to shout with any questions.

Paul

[DarrenL]

pps Darren - you fell asleep on your work experience? Brilliant! Bet they loved you!!! lol:lol:

They did laugh yes but it was great work experience and I had a picture of a CCTV camera that looked directly into a flat published in the paper. It was great because the 2 women who lived in the flat both had massive norks :D

Darren

[Liam:]

ok
thanks for the help
well i did try and get some work experience
but the letter i sent was ignored which has sort of put me off
but i think i will try again
do have any tips when i write/ask on how i can make it look more appealing to
whoever im asking?

liam.

[Tall_Paul_2000]

They did laugh yes but it was great work experience and I had a picture of a CCTV camera that looked directly into a flat published in the paper. It was great because the 2 women who lived in the flat both had massive norks :D

Darren

Good to see you were taking the photo for all the right reasons!! :lol: :lol:

[JurekB]

At your age you should also really consider a photography course at your local college, if you are 15 now then come September you should be able to start a BTEC. You'll get loads of hands on experience, an excellent grounding in theory plus they will probably give you at least 2 work placements during the course.

When I was at college I did a week of work experience at my local rag which was great fun although I didn't get anything published. Twelve months later I had finished college and so I rang the picture editor to see if there was any chance of some temporary work over the summer and he was really keen as he was apparently quite stretched but the decision was down to the editor who said it wasn't the papers policy to take on temporary staff!

I also did a week in the studios of Cadburys/Schweppes in Birmingham who did all their photography in house. That was pretty interesting and also a good opportunity to overdose on chocolate.

[Tall_Paul_2000]

ok
thanks for the help
well i did try and get some work experience
but the letter i sent was ignored which has sort of put me off
but i think i will try again
do have any tips when i write/ask on how i can make it look more appealing to
whoever im asking?

liam.

Rejection is something to get use to pretty quickly with photography!! But perseverence is a good thing!

First tip - if you send a letter/email ALWAYS follow up with a phone call. Worst case scenario, they haven't read it....but at least it gives you an excuse to be talking to the person and a starting point for the conversation too. At worst they will ask you to give them a call back - set a time and call back at that time (on the dot!). Small things like that do make a huge impression (well, they do with me, but I'm a little old fashioned like that!)

I've had a look at your pics on your website and there is some good stuff in there. To this end, if you email or write a letter, ensure that they are pointed to your website. Again - another talking point for when you call to follow up the letter.

As for the letter - keep it simple and concise. I worked in Recruitment for a while and my pet hates during that were......long covering letters and long CVs!! So, letter should simply be - who you are, why you are writing, what you want to get out of it and how to contact you (and also the fact that you will follow up the letter/email with a call).

I may have missed some of your posts, but pop up some of your sports type stuff in the Sports forum and take on board the C&C that comes from that - there are some brilliant togs who post there and their advice is exceptionally useful.

Jurek's advice is strong too - if I remember from your site you are at boarding school and therefore taking a BTEC course might not be practical, but see whether you can incorporate photography into either GCSE art (which is what I did and the only way I passed it - my drawing was woeful) or alternatively, if you have a school magazine, see if you can do photos for that.

Finally (sorry, I've gone on!), consider maybe spending some time with a commercial photographer. Technique wise you will learn an awful lot, but also you will get to see the business side of photography, which is awfully important too.

Hope this is of some use!!

Paul

[Liam:]

thanks a lot for all that advice
trying to take it in
well im the school photographer at the moment
so hopefully this year i can try and get better at sports
as i only went one rugby match, thats why there not that gd,
but i will try writing a letter again to a newspaper or some sort of photo industry..

and thanks again
liam.

[snapzz]

thanks a lot for all that advice
trying to take it in
well im the school photographer at the moment
so hopefully this year i can try and get better at sports
as i only went one rugby match, thats why there not that gd,
but i will try writing a letter again to a newspaper or some sort of photo industry..

and thanks again
liam.

Liam
If you are your school's photographer then contact your local newspaper and ask who you should send any newsworthy pics to.Tell them you are only interested in a byline as credit. This could open a few doors for you and get your name known which may help in the future. This could be handy when/if seeking work experience.

[Zilly]

lettets get ingorned so do emails the best way is to pick up the phone or better yet go and vist

[Box Brownie]

Hi Liam

Just some thoughts for you to consider by way of adding to all the various items of good advice above. Apologies in advance if in refering to any posts above I do not note who said it ;)

It is said that we get 30seconds to make an initial impression - this is applicable to all things in life but especially when you are selling something & trying to get that first 'job' is, believe me, selling. In this case selling yourself!

Make sure that any communication you use is to the point - if an email or letter make sure it is grammatically correct without spelling errors. You may be trying to get recognised by a newspaper for your photographs but the photo editor may have at one time been the copy editor and any mistakes will leap of the page at him/her. Do not make it overly long - a cover letter should be maximum of one side of A4 with any attached CV equally short.

If you planning a phone call as your first approach I suggest the following chain of events ~
1) call and ask the receptionist (or whoever answers the phone) who it is that looks after employing/engaging/commissioning/editing etc photographers and photographic offerings. Once you have the name unless you are ready and prepared to talk to 'that' person then & there if whoever you are talking to offers to put you through decline it at that point. NOTE during this initial discussion which nominally should last no more than a minute if you can avoid giving your name then do so.

1a) The above is the initial fishing exercise to find out who your prime contact should be and is equally useful for either email or letter as next step if not the next phone.

1b) Some companies operate a 'no names, no packdrill' mentality i.e. no names are ever given out just department titles.

2) Ring again a couple of days later either asking for the person by name or using their direct dial if that was given to you. NOTE Some organisations will willingly give the name as e.g. John Smith. When you phone by all means use the name as given but bear in mind you have never met the person so once through to him ask for Mr Smith

2a) The above technique is well founded for getting over the hurdle of some well meaning but jobs worth type individual who thinks they are there to stop such callers getting through to the higher ups. NOTE you are asking for a named person rather than "please put me through to the head of dept X" always a more professional approach.

2b) There are times when taking step 1 above if asked why you are calling rather than saying you are calling on your own behalf you can say you are calling behalf of your organisation NOTE Is there a tutor or master who can act as your mentor for such business contacts?

3) As part of your preparation for the call in step 2 bear in mind the 30 seconds rule - he/she will expect you to say as succinctly as possible why you are calling but do so in an unhurried way & it can never hurt to make you first words include "please can you help me with.........". It would be a very hard nosed individual who would not respond to a request for help.

Oops! I had not realised how long winded this has become.

So lastly, I see you are in Guildford. Well the offices of the Surrey Advertiser are in Guildford (in Stoke Mill on the A322 near where it goes under the A3). Having looked at your sports images they are fairly typical of the sort of image I see in the SA sports section and as far I can recall they are not all taken by staffers. However, can I suggest you get a pBase or other webspace for the images you wish to promote because I am on broadband and they took an age to load - back to the 30 second principal.

HTH and the very best of luck with achieving your aims.

:)

[Tall_Paul_2000]

Definitely some very good advice in there.



1a) The above is the initial fishing exercise to find out who your prime contact should be and is equally useful for either email or letter as next step if not the next phone.

1b) Some companies operate a 'no names, no packdrill' mentality i.e. no names are ever given out just department titles.


Regards the info finding, try this for the Surrey Advertiser:

http://www.surreyad.co.uk/contact/

A lot of the papers now list the key editorial staff and their email addresses on the internet or in the paper.......definitely easier than the ordeal of telephone "research"!:D :D

[Box Brownie]

Paul

Thanks for finding that extra 'local' paper info for Liam. I wonder how many other local papers or such organisations that Liam could potentially be contacting are so publically open.

:)

PS I sell B2B and there are still companies that operate the 'no names given out drill' I once met a very understanding receptionist who like me wondered how 'their' company found new customers.........! But I still could not get her on side to give me a relevant contact.

[Tall_Paul_2000]

I find a fair few papers will publish some form of contact info, although someones it does require a few minutes of leafing through the paper in the newsagents rather than being able to find it online.

As for the "no-names" drill I can sympathise....I worked as a headhunter for a while...."no" was a word I because very used to overcoming!!

And that last part about the understanding receptionist? Thats just cruel on her part!!!:D

[Box Brownie]

As for the "no-names" drill I can sympathise....I worked as a headhunter for a while...."no" was a word I because very used to overcoming!!

And that last part about the understanding receptionist? Thats just cruel on her part!!!:D

Yes, getting round/past the "no" - in many situations there are ways to get a contact name ~ only fair means though, never foul but sometimes very indirectly :lol:

As for that receptionist, well that was years ago and very much water under the bridge. In the same vein I was recently given a name and DD number but very much "you did not get that from me, did you.....";)

Not wanting to hi jack the thread with barrack room chatting.

I hope Liam manages to get those first few contacts and steps up the ladder, IMHO if he is up for it and and goes for it, he will get someone taking him seriously.

[Liam:]

thanks a lot for all the tips
i will probably be phoning shortly

liam.