5 August 2010

Woman and Home Grown Up Work Experience

Woman and Home were looking for women, aged between 36 and 55, who would love to change their jobs and would like to go for some 'grown up' work experience in the job of their dreams.

Woman and Home August I was thrilled when Fiona Wright told me that Woman and Home had chosen me to be featured in their changing career direction article and that they were inviting me to take part as a TV presenter and be photographed and interviewed for the magazine. Fiona contacted BBC Radio Berkshire as she was keen for me to experience the making of a talk show and had cherry picked The Anne Diamond Show.

Well! Remember the days as a kid when you counted sleeps before a special outing? and then you couldn’t sleep before the big day? You wouldn’t expect that to happen in your 40s, but there I was counting sleeps a few days before visiting BBC Radio Berkshire for my Woman and Home Career Change work experience. And like the kid, I couldn’t sleep with excitement the night before. Learning the ropes and with special access being privy to the vital ‘behind the scenes’ action of Berkshire’s favourite radio station. And in particular, broadcasting legend Anne Diamond and ‘helping her’ with her show.

Okay, I couldn’t possibly help as it would all be too much to absorb on my first day, but I fancied I was about to play a vital role!

Did I cut it?

Here’s the verdict:

THE PRODUCER
It fascinated me how John had to be ‘fast’ on his feet., be a quick thinker and have contingency plans to hand in case of phone callers rambling on. He sailed through the show and even came up trumps when a guest, McKenzie, mentioned that his inspiration for his latest comedian shows at Edinburgh Festival came from a U2 song. In seconds John had the track and we were all stunned and, admittedly, a little in awe at how fast he found the track and replaced it with the planned song. Smooth player John, well done!

Woman and Home August Article THE PRESENTER
Anne oozes charm from every pore. She has such a beautiful speaking voice its no wonder she commands 100s of 1000s of listeners across Berkshire. I enjoyed watching Ann and John’s silent communication while on air with ‘eye-talk’ and sign language. I quickly realised how integral the role is between producer and presenter and what great synergy they displayed. Anyone wanting to follow a career as a radio presenter would certainly need to have a broad knowledge of news in general, a deep understanding and affinity with local culture and a cool, calm head for live on air conversations.

BROADCAST ASSISTANTS
Behind the ‘behind the scenes’ assistants also keep up the hectic pace of radio life as they handle callers, phone ins, contact experts for topic opinions and so much more. Too much to mention here.


BCC RADIO BERKSHIRE’S VERDICT
Show editor Marianne Bell’s verdict: “Paula has all the ingredients to make a good presenter – a good voice and warm tone, plus interesting things to say about her life and what’s going on in the world. She was excited to be on the show, which is what you need, and her maturity helped her  fit into a daunting and pressurised environment.

Radio presenting is hard to break into and very competitive. Having said that,
people do become presenters by following many different routes – some will gain
experience at hospital radio and on commercial radio, some will make a move from
production into presentation, some will come via TV, some begin their careers as travel reporters or news reporters.

Whatever Paula decides, all the team wish her the best of luck and we’ll definitely have her back on the show.”

So, all in day, my day started with no sleep from the sheer exhilaration of  grown up work experience and ended that way too. This time it was all the thoughts of the day buzzing through my head. Needless to say it took me days to come down from my Radio Cloud!

Check out the September issue of Woman and Home, on sale now (August).



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How to set up a home office ...

Before you set up a work station at home, check out our Seven Top Tips on how to work from home:

Your Home Office
Ideally, you will have a spare room to create a home office. If not, a corner of another room, will be fine as long as you are not constantly distracted in the family fast lane. Set up your kitSet up your computer, files and phone to give you maximum comfort for long hours. Have enough plug points for PC, printer, phone, scanner, mobile charger, fax machine and answer phone. Even better get an all in once mod con to save on a jumble of cables and wires.

Pick your desk location
You should be able to see the door of the office from where you are sitting or at least more of your surroundings. Beware of facing the garden and the bird bath – too tempting to watch the world go by! A hard chair will give you backache so spend a little extra on a good one.

Working Hours
Working outside 'normal' working hours helps to balance your work and home life so don't feel guilty dashing off to take the lads to footie after school, as long as you get your work done. Catching up in the early morning or later in the evening works well, but also watch out for going OTT. Make sure you close down and walk away at some point or the family will go hungry.

Have a breather
No matter what kind of work you do or what home you do it in, you can go bonkers if you spend 24 hours a day at it. Get out, whenever you can, to clear your head and to see other people. Use lunch time as a good break to pop down to pick up groceries for dinner, step outside to feed the birds during your coffee break or walk the dog around the block to clear the cobwebs. This is also a great way to mull over a document or get inspiration for new ideas.

Keep in Touch
Have no fear that your social life at work comes to an end if you leave your office to work from home, in fact in some cases your relationship with your colleagues may improve. Email is instant but be careful of 'funnies' – they can eat up a huge chunk of time. Chat through business issues by phone and meet for a quick bite every now and then.

Goal scoring
Give yourself little goals and objectives and then reward yourself when they are complete. Make sure family and friends know your hours or days of working at home and stick to that. Don't be tempted to pop over for a coffee or cook a large meal. Give yourself this time as a reward for getting up early on a Monday to finish a long-winded report. Or if you score well with a new client take five to put your feet up before the school run. Whatever incentives work for you, use them to motivate yourself to balance your time around your other responsibilities.

If you have any suggestions on working from home, please submit your articles to grace@remoteemployment.com.

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