Job Roles (U24: P4, M2, D2)

Job Roles (U24: P4, M2, D2)

Learning outcome 2: Understand the behaviours, skills and attributes necessary within the advertising industry

P4 (U24): Explain the behaviours and attributes required for a specific job role

The pass task was completed as a group with Katie Mellis, Rafael Edmead, Theoni Bossman and I. The merit and distinction tasks were completed individually by me.

Social media manager- me

Behaviours and attributes required

Professional attributes

Communication skills 

It is important for a social media manager to communicate effectively and engage with who the advertisement is trying to target. This is because social listening is a significant aspect of being a social media manager, and quick feedback is necessary to ensure that the advert can be appealing and accessible to those it is trying to target in order to be successful. It is also significant for a social media manager to communicate effectively with other people working for the same brand. For example, they will have to communicate with the photographer. This is because they will need to know when the photographs are taken, edited, and ready to post, so they will be able to post the content.

Organisational skills

Organisational skills means that one will find it easier to manage their workload and schedule. It is important for one to plan their day and prioritise certain projects. This is so they are aware of which tasks they should be completing first, and can complete them with more efficiency. Time management is important as a social media manager, as their superiors will often expect them to meet deadlines. As well as this, they will be expected to attend meetings at specific times, whether this is online or face-to-face. Missing meetings could slow down certain projects and make those they are working with frustrated.

Personal attributes 

Adaptability

Social media is not something that is static, and therefore, social media managers must ensure that as new technology evolves, they develop and adapt their strategies to suit its needs. Those that are not able to do this may have difficulty competing with other brands in the industry. It is also important for a social media to be adaptable as it means that they will find it easier to work with any team or department. This is important as social media managers will have to constantly work with different members of the team.

Creativity

Creativity is needed as a social media manager in order to create visually appealing, multimedia content. It allows them to come up with the best possible plans, strategies and ideas in their social media posts. Being creative means that they will be able to come up with new and innovative ways to make their clients pleased with their work.

Director- Theoni

Behaviours and attributes required

Professional attributes

A directors job includes guiding their crew and actors to the vision and plan they have in mind. This will require them to display their leadership skills to make sure everything gets done efficiently and according to their specifications. The director who has good leadership skills is able to control the production process and keep the shoot on track. 

They should also be able to manage their time effectively, so that everything happens on time, the timesheets for actors are somewhat accurate, and everything happens by the required deadline.

Directors must also be fully committed to their job and always know what needs to be done. 

Directors must be extremely well educated as well as possess all the necessary qualifications. 

Resilience is another essential characteristic of a director. 

Having plans for when things go wrong during the production process is imperative, communicating well is another crucial component of a director's job. 

The director would also need to work in a team to ensure the entire team succeeds in a project. 

They would also have to be good communicators and ensure their cast and crew understand what they're doing, this includes camera shots, acting techniques, where to stand, etc.

The director would need to have a passion and love what they are creating. This is due to the fact that if the individual is not passionate then they are more likely to produce work that is not up to the highest standard and will let their team down.

Personal attributes

In order for a director to do the work they do, they must be very creative. This is because their vision needs to be creatively appealing.

They must have a great deal of leadership skills as well as excellent communication skills so that their vision can be efficiently realised. 

Their creative mindset can also help them plan and improve the way they present their presentations.

Moreover, they must be attentive to details and understand the processes well. This enables them to achieve their vision flawlessly and make no mistakes and create the perfect product. Having a smooth-running product can lead to success.

In addition, directors will have to cope with pressure well. People always look at the director first when a movie is announced, so they will have to deliver on what they promised. The director will have to deal with problems with actors and production staff. 

Time management is also essential in this type of work as it keeps all the staff up to date and on time for the production deadline too.

Graphic Designer- Katie

Professional skills

Good Communication Skills

A Graphic Designer is expected to have good communication skills as it is necessary that they are able to communicate with the clients and their employees over the phone and even by email for example. It is very important that a Graphic Designer listens closely to what the client is proposing and their different needs as they need to come up with different solutions and ideas to match the client's proposal. Good communication skills, it allows individuals to articulate the best work they can possibly produce. The piece of art must be appealing in order for the Graphic Designer to develop it.

Good IT knowledge  

It is imperative that a Graphic Designer has a good understanding and knowledge of IT as typically Graphic Designer will create their work online using different online software. A Graphic Designer should have knowledge regarding different online software and which one suits the different projects and this may affect their career development as this may include knowledge of how to for example recover a piece of work they have created or learn different short cut to save them time for future projects and learn all the different features all the app.

Good Time Management

A Graphic Designer must be organised and be able to work with the different clients at once who each have different needs. A Graphic Designer will be working to meet different deadlines some will be more important than others and need them to produce work at a faster rate. This just concludes how important it is for a Graphic Designer to learn to prioritise individuals' work and work to interim deadlines while multitasking every client's work. Good time management is paramount in order to build up a career and produce professional graphic designs to the client's specifications.

Personal attributes

Creative thinking skills

A Graphic Designer has to think outside the box and be creative while creating unique content in order to grab individuals' attention. It is essential that Graphic Designers take on different challenges and risks in order to stand out when producing and proposing different ideas to the clients. This is so important as a Graphic Designer need to capture individuals' attention while at the same time being able to communicate a message through the piece of artwork visually.

Design skills

Graphic Designers need to have a good understanding of how to use the different design programmes and software in order to develop their work using the different tools and fully utilising them as a result of having a good understanding of how to use each of them. Some of the software programmes may include photoshop for example where they will have a greater understanding not just of the basic tools but the more advanced features in order to produce outstanding work and create harder more skilled tasks in the future.

Good Attention to Detail 

Graphic Designers work very closely and interact with other designers which means it is so important to pay good attention to detail in order to stand out against others individuals' work. It is key that a Graphic Designer carefully reads the brief and pays attention to the detail of the brief in order to ensure that the client gets what they want and produce everything they want to be included in the design. This aids in being patient when carrying out the work as it may take many attempts to get the design right and how the client wants it to be as otherwise they may build up a bad reputation as a result.

Project manager- Rafael

• Good communication skills- A project manager needs to be able to speak to individuals in their groups and actively listen, this is an essential skill when being a manager as communication is key.
• Good leadership skills- They need to be able to lead and manage a group of individuals in their teams ensuring they are fair and everyone is confident in understanding what their job role is.
• Good time management- An individual needs to be able to manage their time well especially if they are in charge of a whole group of individuals, and this will ensure everyone meets deadlines.
• Critical thinking skills- Critical thinking skills can encourage more productive discussion in the group and encourage more open discussion which could be positive for individuals.
• Good organisational skills- It is essential that a project manager is organised as they are managing a whole group of individuals and if they are not organised this could affect a whole group.
• Good problem solving skills- This helps them find solutions to their problems and be able to keep everyone happy within the team.

M2 (U24): Explain how personal behaviours and attributes affect career development opportunities within the media industry

All the photos included are from social media jobs | Guardian Jobs (theguardian.com)

For this job, Inspiring Interns are looking for a social media manager who can enhance the brand and build strong online communities through our various social media platforms, with a salary of £25,000 per year. 

The ideal candidate should have 'hands on experience in content management'. This includes knowing what type of content works best on what platform, as well as understanding the different days and times that work best in each platform. 

The description states that candidates must have analytical skills. Analytics tell a social media manager what campaigns are working on each social media platform. Overtime, a social media manager should be able to spot trends and patterns that produce significant information which can develop and improve their social media strategies. Through this they will also be able 'monitor the competition and their social media assets to ensure competitive growth'. This will also allow one to 'measure the success and impact of the organic growth and performance of all profile based on key metrics'. This is to ensure that their time and money is going in the right places to the right people. 

The description also states that candidates should have excellent copywriting skills, without which, social media managers would struggle producing high-quality posts.They need these skills in order to produce online content, such as for websites, captions, posts, and tweets that is easy to understand. Social media managers are expected to be digital conversationalists that both embody and enhance the brands voice on all forms of social media. They should therefore be able to produce condensed copy that can still evoke an emotional response from an audience.It will also allow one to tailor writing for different audiences and social media platforms, as they all have a different way of communicating. Copywriting skills will also be needed to provide other members of the team an insight into their social media strategy. This can be done through emails, strategies and presentations, and will help make their ideas impressionable. 

With experience, one can develop within their career as a social media manager, and move into managing social media for larger companies or progress to a senior or head social media job. There is also an option of becoming an online digital community manager. This is where one acts as a link between consumers and businesses selling online products. 

For this job, Anthony Katrina Associated Ltd are looking for a social media manager within there digital team, working across all aspects of social media and digital marketing, managing clients accounts, and reporting into the Company Directors. This is with a competitive salary. 

The ideal candidate should have effective communication skills. These are needed to ensure that they can be a 'team player'. Successful communication allows them to better understand people and their situations. It will help them build a rapport between them and those interacting with the campaign. This creates a sense of trust and authenticity that audiences can associate with the brand. It is also significant for a social media manager to communicate effectively with other people working for the same brand. For example, they will have to communicate with the project manager to ensure that they are posting content they are happy with. Having effective communication skills will also prevent miscommunications from occurring, as nobody will get the wrong information and idea of what is going on. This will stop tension between employees from developing. As well as this, as each social media platform has a slightly different way of communicating, it is important for one to recognise these ways and adapt their strategies to suit its needs. 

The job description states that an ideal candidate should be creative: 'eye for creativity, applying this to the clients social media feeds'. The content must be innovative and original so that it appeals to the target audience, as well as anyone else who comes across it. It must also be aesthetically appealing. This is what will capture the attention of an audience. 

It is important for a social media manager to be creative as it means that they can be more easily inspired. Inspiration allows one to transcend their ordinary experiences and limitations. This can make one more motivated, which can have a positive impact on their work performance. Inspiration also facilitates progress towards goals.

The job description states that the idea candidate would have 'exceptional organisational skills'. Organisational skills are also vital as a social media manager, in particular, time management. Each platform has an 'ideal' time to post content. Scheduling ahead of time will help reduce workloads and ensure content is being posted when it is most likely to reach the intended audience on certain platforms. It is important to reduce the unnecessary files and documents in the workspace so they can be more productive. This can make it easier to manage their workload and schedule. As well as this, it reduces the risk of losing the documents and files that are significant. To not possess effective organisational skills as a social media manager can be very risky. For example, they may lose important files and documents which could slow down certain projects they are required to carry out, which may even lead to them missing certain deadlines. This can effect their relationship with both internal and external forces, and have a negative impact on their professional reputation.

D2 (U24): Explain the importance of etiquette when working on a media production

Etiquette is the customary code of polite behaviour in society or among members of a particular profession or group. Having proper etiquette is significant within the media industry, specifically as a social media manager, as it can be a factor as to whether they get a job.

One form of etiquette that a social media manager needs in order to complete their job is respect. Being respectful means to act in a way that shows care for how your actions may impact others. When working as a social media manager for a company this is important, as one will have to work well with a team in order to succeed and develop within their career. One should ensure that they get to the workplace and attend scheduled meetings on time. This is respectful towards those that have adhered to the rules and arrangements and turned up on time, and proves to those present that they want to be there. It is disrespectful to other people and their time when a person is consistently late. 

It is important to have respect for someone both above and below them within the workplace hierarchy. It is important to show respect to those above them because they have the power to fire them, demote them, or make their job harder if they get on the wrong side of them, which can easily be done without showing them any respect. Those at the top of the hierarchy are likely to have earned their place to get there. As a result of this, they will probably have a lot of experience, which means that one can learn from them, and even ask them for their opinions and ideas which can support them within their career. It is also important to have respect for someone below them in the hierarchy, for this does not mean that they are any less important. One should recognise that they cannot demand respect from others, and if they show them respect, it is likely that they too will show the social media manager respect. As well as this, there may come a day where they are in a higher position than the social media manager, and they will appreciate them showing them respect as they did to them. Someone that is respectful towards people they are working with is likely to gain a greater reputation.

It is also important to be polite, and have good manners. Without this, they could easily offend people they are communicating with which could result in them losing their job, or damaging their relationships with these people. This can create a negative work environment. A productive workplace is one with a positive atmosphere, in which all members can work together collectively to contribute towards the success of the company. As well as this, people are going to avoid wanting to work with someone that is not polite does not have good manners. 

It is important for one to be respectful and show good manners to other members of the team to allow others to complete their role successfully. For example, a social media manager is disrespectful towards their assistant then it is likely that the assistant will not want to carry out the tasks that they are asking them to carry out. A social media manager should treat their assistant with respect, as they are supporting them in their career. Their priority should be to produce successful content that the client is happy with, and this can be done more easily with support from an assistant. 

In conclusion, having good and proper etiquette means that they are more likely to gain a good reputation. This will have a positive impact on their career as a social media manager, because more people will want to work with them.