Media student starts work experience role with Student Communications Team

A Media and Communications student has recently begun his internal work experience within the Student Communications team at Glasgow Caledonian.

The Student Communications team plays a key role in keeping students informed and engaged by promoting student initiatives, sharing success stories, and highlighting campus events and opportunities.

This academic year, the team has chosen one student to work alongside them to not only gain valuable transferrable skills but bring a fresh student perspective to their communications work.

Cole Pinder is a direct entry student who began his university career as a Multimedia Journalism student, recently made the decision to transfer course to fit around his interests.

We sat down with him to find out a bit more about why he has chosen to work with the Student Communications team.

What are you studying at GCU, and what year are you in?

“That is a complicated question for me now, I was studying Multimedia Journalism up until last week and now the university has given me the opportunity to change over to the Media and Communications course.

“I wanted to move over to media and communications because that is where my skill set is and I can't imagine myself working in journalism when I graduate. A lot of the modules I have done are related to media and communications and I have really enjoyed all of them and done well in all of them and that's really where my passion lies.

“I am glad that I have been given the opportunity to just take that forward."

What made you interested in joining the Student Communications Team for your work experience?

“The opportunity presented itself to me from one of my lecturers as I told her that I was interested in the media and communications side of things. She suggested that I apply for this work experience because it's really going to give me an insight into what it's going to be like when I go out into industry next year.

“I have seen what the Student Communication team do with their social channels, GCU Student Life, and that kind of content creation was something that really appealed to me and I am really looking forward to taking part in it.”

What aspects of student communications are you most excited to learn about?

“I would really like to learn more about like the kind of behind-the-scenes process that you don't see on social media like how everything is filmed and then edited. I would like to learn about all that in more detail so that if I ever wanted to go and do something like that on my own, I will have the skills to.”

Are there any specific skills you're hoping to develop during this placement and what do you hope to achieve by the end of your work experience with the team?

“That ties into what I said before, I really enjoy video editing, and I have done that a lot on my journalism course I've been doing up until now. I would now like to apply that to other videos that are not news pieces, and I will be able to develop that while I am on this placement. Also, building up my communication skills by going out interviewing people.

“I have got the groundwork that I have developed over the past few years and now it's really about just applying that and getting some more like some real experience.”

What can you tell us about Movember…?

“I could do with a shave anyway I think it's about time I've been putting that off and this gives me a reason to; it gives me some extra motivation. Do I think I will win? I don't know, I think my competition might be underselling themself and it might be a hard-fought battle.

“We will see how that pans out, but I am not going down without a fight!”

By Lucy Rodgers

Got a student story? Email me at lucy.rodgers@gcu.ac.uk.