How many of us who have chosen to venture down the road of an arts degree have had to face that unavoidable question of, “What are you going to do after…teaching I suppose?”  As an English Literature student of Queen’s I can say I have had that question posed to me on many occasions . 

My response was always a rather unconvincing, “No..I’m not really sure”. 

However ladies and gentlemen, I had a break through this summer thanks to work experience. I was very lucky to have had the opportunity to work within a PR office for Cinemagic in Belfast. I really cannot emphasis the benefits of work experience, not only do you get a clear insight into a profession but you also learn a thing or two along the way. 

BY SUZANNE MCDONALD

Cinemagic is a Belfast charity based organization that seeks to help young people by giving them an insight into the somewhat evasive television and film industry through industry master classes, film screenings and workshops with industry professionals.  Cinemagic has been responsible for holding workshops with famous faces such as Dermot O’Leary and Suranne Jones.

As I walked into the Cinemagic Offices in Botanic on my first day, complete with my fabulous Kurt Keiger ribbon shoes, I could not have predicted the whirlwind that would be my time at Cinemagic.  If I had to describe my time in Cinemagic in one word it would be “busy”. The PR industry is most definitely not all about long lunches and creating guest list for parties. These include writing promotional articles, lots of computer work (don’t EVER expect to leave your computer) and general office work (figuring out how to use the photocopier was a very fun afternoon.)  Not only did I have to figure out how to use Excel (or indeed what it was) to create Media Databases for LA and New York, I had to make what felt like millions of phone calls, send many emails and try my best to help everybody in the office with anything I could (even if that meant ordering sandwiches).  The experience was great because I was able to see at first hand all aspects of the industry in practice – from the development of promotional ideas, to the promotion itself which involves notifying press, creating press releases and photo shoots ( one of which I got to take part in).

I found my work experience very useful as it provided me with a real insight into a future career path.  As a student this experience not only looks good on your CV but it is also of great benefit to you.  The skills I acquired at Cinemagic would not have gained by going to lectures and tutorials for three years.

My favourite part of working at Cinemagic was meeting Joe Dempsey from the Channel 4 teen drama “Skins.”  This was an insight into the slightly more glamorous side of PR i.e wining and dining lovely celebrities.  Joe was taking an acting master class and I was very privileged to go along to this and see exactly what happens.  Having been at a Cinemagic acting workshop I would thoroughly recommend anyone to go to the workshops they offer.  Their programme of events is definitely worth a look at with script writing workshop with Ryan Rowe and a workshop with casting director Ros Hubbard to name but a few.

So maybe one day I will be a PR executive and will have upgraded my Kurt Keigers to the fabulous red soled Louboutins…