How was your experience of accessing Skills Bootcamp careers support?
The apps from the uni have been very useful and engagement with members of the uni team has been positive and helpful.
Questions
What are some of the best things about your Skills Bootcamp experience or your biggest achievements?
I enjoyed the sessions at BU immensely- the masterclasses were fantastic.
I enjoyed the role I played as 1st & 2nd and production coordinator for the film we made.
I loved the ‘chaos’ of the days that led up to the shoot – with each of us working hard to fulfil our roles. It brought us together as a team.
I have enjoyed learning about organisations such as Screen Skills and doing additional online training with them since finishing the boot camp.
I have begun to network with people in film * my understanding of what’s happening in and around Birmingham is growing.
I have joined Crew Birmingham and have attended Reel Brum sessions.
I am in contact with members of the boot camp.
During the placement, I met several helpful people – particularly the person who was shadowing as a director (Omari) a woman from costumes (Sandra) and two ladies from the BBC who were very insightful. I got to read the script for the six episodes and saw how a shoot operates in real life.
Please provide details of any employers in the relevant field who have invited you for an interview after completing the Skills Bootcamp.
I am doing temporary arts & mental wellbeing work for SAMPAD and Birmingham Mind. I have applied to other training opportunities linked to film.
Tell us about yourself and your journey to studying a Skills Bootcamp.
I began the move away from an extensive career in teaching to a return to the arts in 2023.
I trained with the Birmingham Rep Theatre’s Foundry programme in co-creation & workshop facilitation. I worked with SAMPAD South Asian Arts company as a trainee creative producer and with the Red Earth Collective in running creative well-being and mental health workshops. In March 2024,
The opportunity to train with the boot camp extended this move towards working in a creative field and the arts. I am now pursuing work in TV & Film production and the arts. Since both industries often offer short contracts and freelance work, I think it has been useful to develop skills so that I can alternate between them.
Why did you choose to study a Skills Bootcamp at the University of Birmingham?
The University of Birmingham has a good reputation and I assumed the course would be good. It is also the closest uni near to where I live. I had been toying with the idea of doing a short retraining programme, the boot camp was ideal. I found information about the boot camp when I was considering other courses at BU.