Tell us about your current job/career path. 

I currently work as an Audio Visual Technician, for live corporate events, specialising in Video Engineering and Broadcasting. My day-to-day involves building temporary Audio Visual studios and operating Audio Visual equipment for live events; large scale conferences, live-streams, government events, sports events, award shows, etc. I mostly operate video engineering and broadcast equipment, but also would regularly setup and operate audio desks and PA systems, lighting, and cameras. It’s very busy, and quite demanding, but it’s great fun!

Did you enjoy your time in CMP?

Yes! I couldn’t have asked for a better college experience. I did the Creative Music Production course, where not only were we taught both valuable practical skills and theory, but we were also supported and allowed to find what we were interested in by the lecturers, who would always push us to explore new areas, and support us when we expressed an interest in something, giving us learning materials and helping us to really excel. All of us in the course found things we loved, but it was because the lecturers encouraged us to really look for it ourselves - you get out what you put in. It was thanks to the support of the lecturers that I was able to find many topics I was interested in, and work I enjoyed doing.

How did it help you with your career?

Creative Music Production gave me the fundamental technical knowledge I needed to progress into the world of technical AudioVisual work, and also the technical fundamentals I needed to begin my learning of Video Engineering. The course taught us to think on our feet, to think fast in a ‘’live’’ environment, and taught us how to manage our work effectively and become very organised and methodical in how we worked. The course taught us to troubleshoot effectively and to problem solve effectively - whether it be to understand and fulfil a brief, or to find a fault in a signal chain in the studio, it gave us the transferable skills to problem solve, something I carry with me in my work every day. One of the most valuable things we learned in the course was soft-skills: dealing with groups, clients, briefs, working collaboratively; things I use in my work every day. The course allowed me to grow and develop as a person, and gave me the support and space to do that.

March/April 2023