Job Roles (U24: P4, M2, D2)

Learning Outcome 2 (U24): Understand the behaviours, skills and attributes necessary within the advertising industry 

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

This P4 task was completed in a group with Solly.

Photographer

Professional 

Time management: A photographer needs to have excellent time management skills to ensure they are not wasting or missing opportunities. For example, as photographers are often hired for individual jobs for brands, they must organise their time to ensure they do not miss any jobs by spending too long on one. They also must make sure they spend the correct amount of time on each sector of their job, such as not wasting time on setting up equipment that is not needed.

Public image: A photographer needs to ensure they have a good public image and reputation. This is because if they are well liked and known in the advertising industry, more suitable clients will seek out to hire them and work with them on their product.

Creativity: A photographer must be creative and flexible with their work to ensure their products fit the brief they are given by their clients. When creating their products, although it is good to have a personal style that is recognisable, photographers still need to separate their jobs to make sure that their creations look unique and attract the brand's target audience.

Technological skills: A photographer must be highly skilled in photographing with a range of devices. Not only does this refer to cameras, but lighting equipment, tripods, and backdrops. This ensures a range of styles and techniques can be created, thus providing the photographer with a large portfolio, featuring different styles they can achieve. 

Personal

Social skills: Photographers need to meet and interact with a wide range of people, such as models, editors, and directors. As such, photographers need to have excellent social skills to not only get their name and work known in the industry, but to be able to listen to ideas from others, and incorporate them into their work.

Focusing skills: A photographer must be very focused when creating a product for the client. This is so they do not forget the skills they have developed and requirements set by the brief. If they are not focused and something goes wrong, they may be blamed and will receive a negative reputation, meaning others will not want to work with them. 

Organisation skills: A photographer must be very organised to ensure they can create the product in an ideal manner. For example, they must know where all the equipment that they will need is, and must have contingencies in case something unexpected occurs. 

Networking skills: As photographers are often hired by a range of brands wanting to create different products, a photographer must have  strong networking skills. Platforms, such as LinkedIn allow photographers to be found by clients searching the job title. Photographers may also decide to have social media sites or their own website with contact information, displaying their work so they can be discovered by potential clients. 

Graphic designer 

Attributes needed 

To be a graphic designer you need to be creative and to have a great imagination and always be able to come up with new innovative ideas to improve the design and that keeps up with the trends that have recently been successful. 

A graphic designer must be able to work well in a team by realising their role in the team and if they are the leader they need to take controller and make themselves clear on their ideas and have good and quick decision making for efficiency so that it doesn’t get confused later in the process so they don’t need to start over. 

A leader will also need to listen to everyone’s ideas in the group and try to infuse all their ideas to collaborate and reduce any animosity that may be created if the leader doesn’t let everyone else give their input.  

A graphic designer will also need good accuracy and attention to detail to make the design look professional.

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

Photographer Job 1

The Guardian

Job role

The Guardian

For this job, Hampshire County Council are looking for a photographer to create advertising campaigns on a range of platforms. With a salary of £26,544 - £29,583 per annum, they require the photographer to be experienced and able to provide a portfolio of work.

The description requires the candidates to drive. The ability to drive is an understated skill that photographers should strive to get if possible. This will help them succeed at their job as they can do not need to rely on others to travel to different locations to display their work. They can also travel to sites needed to photograph at, and can store their equipment in their own vehicle. 

The description also states they need to have excellent planning and communication skills. By meeting this criteria, the photographer will be seen as punctual, and in turn, receive a positive reputation. As a result, the photographer will progress in their career, in ways such as working for more people and getting paid a higher salary. 

A skill that is needed for this job role would be is creativity. This is to ensure the photographer can always think of new ideas to promote the client's product and make it attract to the target audience. By being creative, the photographer will build a large portfolio with a range of content and knowledge on how to appeal to a mass audience. This also makes them stand out from other candidates, making them more successful than others as they know how to think outside-the-box. 

The company will provide the photographer with the equipment needed: a MacBook, a Nikon D750 and Z6, and the software/hardware. As such, technical skills are required to ensure the photographer knows how to use the equipment perfectly. This means the company won't need to waste time teaching the photographer how to use it as they already know, allowing their career development to progress faster and get straight into working. 

Photographer Job 2

ASOS

Job role

ASOS

For this job, ASOS are looking for a photographer to photograph a rang of content and come up with creative ideas for the brand. The salary is not explicitly written, however it can be assumed that it will be within the average annual salary for a photographer, which is between £20,000 - £35,000. They require 3+ years of experience within the industry.

The description requires the photographers to be up to date with social media and what is currently trending. They must attract the brand's target audience, especially on social media. To develop the career and the job, photographers should have an online social media presence, ensuring they are up to date with the latest trends, and develop their awareness and understanding of the target audience. This maintains a brand identity and style, whilst being flexible to adapt to new trends. 

This job requires the photographer to have good time management. This is because not only does the job require photographing models and clothing for platforms and the website, help come up with content ideas, and create mood-boards and references. As a result, keeping organised will help be successful and productive, ensuring all work needed to do is done to the best standard. To help stay organised with timings, photographers can use a gantt chart to structure all the work they must complete in a time frame, and how long to dedicate to each sector, allowing for contingencies. 

Another skill that is required for a photographer to be successful in this job is technological skills. Whilst all photographers know how to use a camera to photograph, having skills in new digital technologies, such as PhotoShop will separate you from other candidates. This is because a lot of photographers depend on an editor to edit their photographs. Having skills in these new softwares and technologies allows photographers to be successful in their career as they can save money and time by editing or doing other post-production processes themselves, building their reputation. 

In order to develop their career in this job, photographers must have strong communication skills. This is because they are constantly conceptualising ideas with others to create the best content for the target audience. They must be open for feedback and criticism, which in turn, builds relationships with colleagues, allowing for their career to develop and succeed, whilst creating the most ideal product for the target audience. 

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'. Within the media industry, specifically for photographers, etiquette is extremely important as their reputation can be the deciding factor on whether they get a job or not. 

A form of etiquette that is important is being respectful. This is the 'regard for the feelings, wishes, or rights of others'. Respect is important as it shows you accept someone for who they are, even if they are different, or you do not agree with them. Respect in all relationships builds feelings of trust, safety, and wellbeing.

One reason why a photographer must ensure they are always respectful is because their job is based on reputation. Often, photographers work for themselves, relying on getting hired from outsiders that need their service. Although building a portfolio of work is important, a client will likely not choose to commission a photographer if they have heard negative stories about them. For example, if a brand hears that a photographer treats others with a lack of respect, they will not want that to occur in their workplace, and choose to hire someone else. 

Within the workplace hierarchy, photographers work with a range of people. Above them in the hierarchy may be producers, directors, and managers. Below them may include models, assistants, and editors. A form of respect is treating people fairly and politely. In a modern society, with laws such as the anti-discrimination act brought in in 1977, and the 2010 equality act, it is more important than ever to treat people equally and fair. This is because everyone must start somewhere, and someone may complain if you are not treating them well. This could lead to a photographer being fired from the project due to the unethical way they are treating co-workers. Therefore, the photographer would not be able to progress within their career and job.

Another effect of a photographer not being respectful, polite, and fair is that they may not allow others to complete their role successfully. For example, if a photographer speaks in a harsh tone to their assistant or editor, they will be hesitant on doing what they want. Although the photographer may be seen as higher in the workplace hierarchy, others will not always do what they say without being respectful. Another role that may be seen as below photographers is a model. As the photographer will often tell models how to pose to promote the product effectively, they have a very collaborative relationship, where one cannot succeed without the other. Therefore, a photographer should be polite and respectful to their models so they can work together and listen to each other's opinion in order to create a successful and ideal product for the client. 

Overall, etiquette is extremely important when working on a media production to ensure that everyone involved and collaborate productively to create the best intended outcome.