Written by Robert Watson
Working for a corporate media and communications company can provide you with many opportunities for experience and progression. You could be working within media planning, event planning, sales or in a creative content role… the list is endless. Once you get your foot in the door, you are able to gain access to hands on experience that can advance you towards numerous career paths and help you develop skills that are beneficial for your career growth within the media industries.
In my second year of university I was lucky enough to bump into a friend’s ex who landed me a promotions role at Australia’s leading radio station, Nova 106.9. My job involved cruising the streets of Brisbane in a branded Nova car to promote the radio station and its clients. After a while working there I realised that the job wasn’t overly challenging, and it became a bit repetitive. Despite this, it did give me the opportunity to make some amazing connections and gain an understanding about the various roles within a corporate radio station.
Within weeks of working for the company, I gained a comprehensive understanding of how important workplace culture is and your individual contribution to this. I also discovered how working in a small role creates opportunities for you to learn and gain first-hand work experience in a variety of different areas. I had the opportunity to explore and participate in a variety of tasks throughout my role including paneling, assisting with live recordings, and partaking in leadership roles at paid events.
During my time at Nova, I noticed that many of the employees moved to different areas of the company and adapted to their new roles in order to gain skills and further their knowledge of the industry. Someone might begin in a promotion’s role and then after a while move into creative content development or sales. The ability to work with a variety of teams throughout the company was something that stood out to me at Nova and is something that any future employee of a large corporate company should consider doing. Although the tasks are diverse and different in nature, employees move around a lot internally because of the relationships that are built with co-workers and leaders. If you work hard enough and are noticed by your supervisors, there is opportunity to grow within the company. Nova, in particular, provides many opportunities to advance your skillset, and they have many positions in which you can do this.
Finally, if I could do my time at Nova all over again, I would make more of an effort to be noticed and express whatever passions I had within the industry to the General Manager on the very first day. It has to be noted, and I can’t stress enough, how much everyone wants to help you. You just have to make it clear which areas you want to work in and lay out a goal for how to get there from day one.
Tips for working in a corporate media and communication company:
- Befriend as many people as you can.
- Understand that big corporate companies aren’t for everyone, don’t be oblivious to the opportunities that lie with startup companies.
- Take every opportunity you can get and show your superiors that you are wanting to further yourself in the industry.
- Stay in contact with people in areas you were interested in after leaving.