1.1, 1.2, 1.3 (Sources - https://www.gov.uk/employment-status/)
There are various types of employment status in business and these also carry over to the Creative Media Sector.
Company Employees
You can be an employee of a company. This can either be part-time or full-time and you will often have a specific job role at the company you work for. Part- time could be any number of hours that you're required to work and full-time requires a minimum of 40 hours a week in the UK. Regarding the Creative Sector, this job role could be marketing, graphic designer or even a photographer. As an employee of a company you are entitled to specific employment rights such as statutory sick pay, maternity, adoption and paternity leave and pay and the right not to be unfairly dismissed. You also have to pay income tax when you earn over £7745. Your employer will work out the tax that needs to be deducted for you which is something that people with other employment statuses don't have. You have some form of job security being an employee. If you are working competently to the level that the employer feels is right then you're going to be able to keep your job. On the other hand if you're not putting in the work you may be let go at some point. Flexibility when employed at a company can vary. Part-timers may have set shifts of they may be changed week to week. Full timers work 9-5/5:30 and there isn't much leeway unless your job description specifies it.
Contracted employees
Contracted employees is another employment status. These employees obviously have a contract that will have specific hours and tasks that they have to work towards. When the job has been completed the worker is finished and the contract expires. This means that the worker will have to find work elsewhere. These type of contract workers may have job roles such as a cameraman, make-up artist or a sound guy for a production. When the production ends, so does their contract. Contracted employees also have some form of employment rights. A few of these are they're entitled to the national minimum wage, the statutory minimum level of paid holiday, not work more than 48 hours a week (unless they opt out of this), and to not be treated less favourably if they work part time. Some workers might get extra entitlements depending on what the employer gives them in their contract. This type of work may suit some people as they're not held down with the burden of having to work the same job for the same company. This can have it's downsides though, the main reason being that if you can't find the work then you don't have a steady income to support yourselves. You may also get flexible hours depending on what's laid out in your contract.
Self employed
Another employment status is self employed. Here you basically work for yourself. You are your own company, having to compete with other companies to win work, spend money on resources that enable you to do the job and even hire people to assist with the job. Free lancers need to constantly be looking for work which may appeal to some people but not to others. They also need to be good at prioritising and managing their time. Being self employed doesn't give you and employment rights because you are the boss. However you should still be mindful of health and safety for yourself and others and any protect against discrimination. Both contracted workers and self employed people have to do their own taxes that would otherwise be done by an employer if they were hired at a company. Job security with being self employed is much like contracted workers. Some people it may suit while others may not find the idea of a unsteady income appealing, the constant battle to find work and that you make your own working hours.
Apprentices and Volunteers
Aside from these three main employment statuses there are also things like apprentices and volunteers. Volunteers often work for free and they can be volunteering for a charity or event. It can make your CV look more appealing and can be beneficial to get real work experience working with people. Apprentices are basically employed students. They are still learning/earning a qualification all while working for a specific company. Volunteers don't pay tax and don't receive and employment entitlements. Apprentices however fall under the employed category and will receive certain rights and will also have their taxes done for them if they're earning over a certain amount. They also benefit from some form of job security like an employee would.
Any worker that is earning a salary must pay an income tax to the government. This must be paid whether you're employed by someone else or you work for yourself. There are various bands that you can be put into depending on the wage you earn. These bands determine the percentage of your wage that you must pay as income tax. The more you earn the more you have to pay proportionally. Below is a table showing the tax bands:
Like mentioned previously there are some benefits and disadvantages when it comes to paying tax depending on your employment status. Being employed by a company usually means your taxes are sorted out for you hoever self employed persons need to work out out much they need to be paying depending on their income. This can obviously be a hassle. Volunteers don't pay tax because they're not earning a wage. Apprentices don't usually start off paying a tax because their income is too low to fit into any of the above bands that require a paid percentage. If an apprentice does goes above 11000 then they will start to pay tax. Again much like an employee of a company the taxes are worked out and paid automatically out of the apprentices wage. This is all done by the employer.
2.1
The first company that comes to mind is the one that I'm undertaking my apprenticeship with. Page One is a small company that has been going for the past 20 years. There are 5 people currently on the team and we offer both photography and video b2b services. We have worked with companies such as EON, Uniper, Boots, Nottingham City transport, providing photos for internal and external use on things like websites and yearbooks. We've also done video for several companies that have been used for marketing purposes. There are a lot of resources we have that can be used to produce a good product. Software and equipment such as Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Illustrator, After Effects DSLRs, lighting setups and audio solutions allows us to efficiently manipulate media to create something that a client desires. We all share a basic knowledge on how to use everything we have in house (with some people more proficient in an area than others) meaning we're never at a loss if someone can't make it to a shoot.
2.2
Choosing where to work can be a daunting but rewarding task. It helps to take your time and consider certain factors. You should ask yourself if the job you want is going to be interesting to you and that you're going to be keen to perform. If it's going to be something that you're going to find hard to stay motivated with then it's a wise decision to look at a different option. What are you looking to get out of the role is another consideration. Do you want to work your way towards a qualification or a higher position in the firm. If that is achievable with what you're looking at then that's obviously a good option to go for. One of the final factors could be your skill set. The job role you're applying for may require a specific skillset. If you're able to meet this criteria then that's another plus when deciding if the role is right for you. And finally, what is the salary going to be like. Earning enough to live is detrimental. You have to be able to pay for your own home if you don't still live with your parents and you're going to have to buy your own food. On top of that there are secondary expenses like travel money (fuel for your car, or a bus journey to work) and is the location of your job going to be a hindrance because you cannot pay to get there. You may also want to spend money on leisurely activities - going out with you mates or taking a holiday. Taking into consideration these factors, is the salary going to be able to support your lifestyle. If it's not enough then you should more than likely look for another position or make changes to how you live. Both of this these can be overwhelming to deal with and should take some time being considered. Overall, not jumping into anything is beneficial to yourself as it gives you time to make sure your decision is what is going to suit you best.
3.1
You can find my most up to date CV in my One File evidence titled 'Adam Cooper CV Updated Jan17' I had also made a presentation that showcased some of my previous photography. I used this when I initially applied for the apprenticeship and also showed it when I met the guys at Page One. It had some examples of photography I done and a video I made for my Media Studies during my GCSEs. I unfortunately don't have the presentation anymore but I do have the video that was featured in it. Below is said video.
Here is a graphical CV I designed also.
3.2
Last year I was asked to make a short presentation on what I had learned at my time at Page One and where I feel I should be heading/ where I fit in with the production process. I have a passion for music and found that I wanted audio to be my expertise. This wouldn't be designing or composing music but rather more recording audio on a shoot and later mastering it so it is as high quality as possible. In my PowerPoint presentation I talked about what things I had learned during my time at college and at the workplace. Here are some simple screen shots from the presentation.
Strengths
There are various types of employment status in business and these also carry over to the Creative Media Sector.
Company Employees
You can be an employee of a company. This can either be part-time or full-time and you will often have a specific job role at the company you work for. Part- time could be any number of hours that you're required to work and full-time requires a minimum of 40 hours a week in the UK. Regarding the Creative Sector, this job role could be marketing, graphic designer or even a photographer. As an employee of a company you are entitled to specific employment rights such as statutory sick pay, maternity, adoption and paternity leave and pay and the right not to be unfairly dismissed. You also have to pay income tax when you earn over £7745. Your employer will work out the tax that needs to be deducted for you which is something that people with other employment statuses don't have. You have some form of job security being an employee. If you are working competently to the level that the employer feels is right then you're going to be able to keep your job. On the other hand if you're not putting in the work you may be let go at some point. Flexibility when employed at a company can vary. Part-timers may have set shifts of they may be changed week to week. Full timers work 9-5/5:30 and there isn't much leeway unless your job description specifies it.
Contracted employees
Contracted employees is another employment status. These employees obviously have a contract that will have specific hours and tasks that they have to work towards. When the job has been completed the worker is finished and the contract expires. This means that the worker will have to find work elsewhere. These type of contract workers may have job roles such as a cameraman, make-up artist or a sound guy for a production. When the production ends, so does their contract. Contracted employees also have some form of employment rights. A few of these are they're entitled to the national minimum wage, the statutory minimum level of paid holiday, not work more than 48 hours a week (unless they opt out of this), and to not be treated less favourably if they work part time. Some workers might get extra entitlements depending on what the employer gives them in their contract. This type of work may suit some people as they're not held down with the burden of having to work the same job for the same company. This can have it's downsides though, the main reason being that if you can't find the work then you don't have a steady income to support yourselves. You may also get flexible hours depending on what's laid out in your contract.
Self employed
Another employment status is self employed. Here you basically work for yourself. You are your own company, having to compete with other companies to win work, spend money on resources that enable you to do the job and even hire people to assist with the job. Free lancers need to constantly be looking for work which may appeal to some people but not to others. They also need to be good at prioritising and managing their time. Being self employed doesn't give you and employment rights because you are the boss. However you should still be mindful of health and safety for yourself and others and any protect against discrimination. Both contracted workers and self employed people have to do their own taxes that would otherwise be done by an employer if they were hired at a company. Job security with being self employed is much like contracted workers. Some people it may suit while others may not find the idea of a unsteady income appealing, the constant battle to find work and that you make your own working hours.
Apprentices and Volunteers
Aside from these three main employment statuses there are also things like apprentices and volunteers. Volunteers often work for free and they can be volunteering for a charity or event. It can make your CV look more appealing and can be beneficial to get real work experience working with people. Apprentices are basically employed students. They are still learning/earning a qualification all while working for a specific company. Volunteers don't pay tax and don't receive and employment entitlements. Apprentices however fall under the employed category and will receive certain rights and will also have their taxes done for them if they're earning over a certain amount. They also benefit from some form of job security like an employee would.
Any worker that is earning a salary must pay an income tax to the government. This must be paid whether you're employed by someone else or you work for yourself. There are various bands that you can be put into depending on the wage you earn. These bands determine the percentage of your wage that you must pay as income tax. The more you earn the more you have to pay proportionally. Below is a table showing the tax bands:
 |
| https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/tax/ income-tax-how-much-should-you-pay/income-tax-rates/ |
2.1
The first company that comes to mind is the one that I'm undertaking my apprenticeship with. Page One is a small company that has been going for the past 20 years. There are 5 people currently on the team and we offer both photography and video b2b services. We have worked with companies such as EON, Uniper, Boots, Nottingham City transport, providing photos for internal and external use on things like websites and yearbooks. We've also done video for several companies that have been used for marketing purposes. There are a lot of resources we have that can be used to produce a good product. Software and equipment such as Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Illustrator, After Effects DSLRs, lighting setups and audio solutions allows us to efficiently manipulate media to create something that a client desires. We all share a basic knowledge on how to use everything we have in house (with some people more proficient in an area than others) meaning we're never at a loss if someone can't make it to a shoot.
2.2
Choosing where to work can be a daunting but rewarding task. It helps to take your time and consider certain factors. You should ask yourself if the job you want is going to be interesting to you and that you're going to be keen to perform. If it's going to be something that you're going to find hard to stay motivated with then it's a wise decision to look at a different option. What are you looking to get out of the role is another consideration. Do you want to work your way towards a qualification or a higher position in the firm. If that is achievable with what you're looking at then that's obviously a good option to go for. One of the final factors could be your skill set. The job role you're applying for may require a specific skillset. If you're able to meet this criteria then that's another plus when deciding if the role is right for you. And finally, what is the salary going to be like. Earning enough to live is detrimental. You have to be able to pay for your own home if you don't still live with your parents and you're going to have to buy your own food. On top of that there are secondary expenses like travel money (fuel for your car, or a bus journey to work) and is the location of your job going to be a hindrance because you cannot pay to get there. You may also want to spend money on leisurely activities - going out with you mates or taking a holiday. Taking into consideration these factors, is the salary going to be able to support your lifestyle. If it's not enough then you should more than likely look for another position or make changes to how you live. Both of this these can be overwhelming to deal with and should take some time being considered. Overall, not jumping into anything is beneficial to yourself as it gives you time to make sure your decision is what is going to suit you best.
3.1
You can find my most up to date CV in my One File evidence titled 'Adam Cooper CV Updated Jan17' I had also made a presentation that showcased some of my previous photography. I used this when I initially applied for the apprenticeship and also showed it when I met the guys at Page One. It had some examples of photography I done and a video I made for my Media Studies during my GCSEs. I unfortunately don't have the presentation anymore but I do have the video that was featured in it. Below is said video.
Here is a graphical CV I designed also.
3.2
Last year I was asked to make a short presentation on what I had learned at my time at Page One and where I feel I should be heading/ where I fit in with the production process. I have a passion for music and found that I wanted audio to be my expertise. This wouldn't be designing or composing music but rather more recording audio on a shoot and later mastering it so it is as high quality as possible. In my PowerPoint presentation I talked about what things I had learned during my time at college and at the workplace. Here are some simple screen shots from the presentation.
 |
| These were some skills I learned during the college workshops when we had a go using Illustrator. |
 |
| As part of my coursework I had to reasearch different types of copyright and what the details of each were. This has been useful in video production as I now know what things are copyright protected. |
 |
| During my time at Page One I've learned about various aspects of DSLRs like how to work them, the basics of focal length, f-stop and shutter speed and also how to use a microphone into the camera to get audio. |
 |
| During this slide I talked about my current strengths and weaknesses and what kind of position I would like to be in in the company. The area I preferred was taking responsibility of audio on various shoots. |
- Good knowledge on how camera and lighting gear works
- Good knowledge on Premiere Pro editing suite
- Can colour correct and composite audio and video together
- Can set up audio equipment efficiently so achieve high quality results
- Good understanding of editing audio on Adobe Audition to get the best quality out of i
Weaknesses
- Limited knowledge on creating graphical assets on Illustrator from scratch
- Limited knowledge on some aspects of VFX work in After Effects
So these were examples of things I skills I'd identified that I had in my own job. If I were applying for a job thought I would have to do a similar sort of thing but present it in a way that markets myself better and makes me stand out from any competition. First of all it's generally a good idea to know about the position you're applying for. What skills do I need or should I have? After you've seen the requirements then it's a good idea to think about your own strengths and weaknesses. For you strengths you should say what they are and give examples od where you've put those skills into action. In my case when I applied for Page One, I showed the interviewers examples of the photography and video I had produced in the past. It's alright to say you have a skill but if you can't back it up with any examples you have done the employer has no idea if what you're saying is true. After identifying your strengths many interviewers will ask about any weaknesses. You should know these beforehand but you shouldn't paint yourself out to be incompetent. Instead you should give examples of things you're actively working on to improve or skills that you want to develop and hope that by getting the job you will be able to do so.
3.3
I have pitched a creative idea to the pupils in my workshop group for college. You can find the video for this in my Onefile evidence. There is also an example of the feedback I received from everyone and my comments to this feedback. This ties in closely with unit 2 and the evidence for my pitch is in the Folder Unit 2 of my OneFile evidence
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