The new AGCAS video for disabled students and graduates

The Disability Task Group has announced the release of ‘Get that Job’, the new AGCAS video for disabled students and graduates, which is aimed at supporting students and graduates in their transition from university into employment.

The video is available on MyCareerHub and looks at the following areas,

  • identifying disability-friendly employers
  • applying for work
  • disclosing a disability
  • adjustments in the workplace

Get that Job features opinion from disabled graduates who discuss their experiences of moving from university into their jobs. They talk through their feelings and experiences of the recruitment process, the pros and cons of the notoriously grey area of disclosure, as well as their advice for present students.

To assist present students with finding the right employer and the transition into the workplace the video also shows the perspective of employers from different sectors, a specialist Disability Careers Adviser and a representative of the not-for-profit organisation EmployAbility.

Additionally the video also looks at adjustments in the workplace. Although need in this area vary hugely depending on the individual, some of the graduates discuss those they have in place. For adjustments where there may be a cost, there is also information and advice on obtaining funding.

 

Summer Vacation Opening Hours for the BU Careers & Employability Service

The BU Careers & Employability Service will be open during the Summer Vacation.

All face to face, telephone and Skype careers appointments will be available to book via Careerhub.

The Edge Student Development Centre (outside the library) will be open Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm for enquiries and access to careers resources.

Graduating in 2014?

As you enter a competitive graduate recruitment market, we understand the need for our BU students and graduates to have access to careers and employability advice and support for as long as possible.

That’s why, as a BU Graduate, you can still access the services of the BU Careers & Employability Service for up to 3 years from graduation, whether you are still living in the local area or have moved away.

Access MyCareerhub 24/7 for all your career planning needs, including access to careers appointments via skype and telephone and all the latest job vacancies, recruitment events and employability resources.

BU graduate who wrote & directed feature film back to give advice

A Scriptwriting graduate who has since gone on to write and direct his own successful feature film was back at BU to share his advice and experiences with current students.

Ben Cookson – who graduated from the BA (Hons) Scriptwriting for Film and Television  degree course in 2006 – wrote and directed Almost Married, a feature film which was released in cinemas across the UK in March.

The comedy drama – which stars Emily Atack and Philip McGinley – follows a groom-to-be who returns from his stag do with a sexually transmitted disease.

Ben was back at BU to share his experiences with current students, as well as give advice on how to break into the industry.

“The biggest challenge is coping with the stress of basically working on a project for effectively three and a half years,” he said.

“You have put all your eggs in one basket and it could go wrong.”

Ben graduated with a First Class Honours degree, as well as winning the Alan Plater Award for Best Screenplay for his final project.

After leaving BU, he ran a scriptwriting competition for the European Independent Film Festival in Paris and was a regional winner in BAFTA’s Sixty Seconds of Fame film competition.

He said that winning the awards helped him get ahead in the industry.

“To get an agent and getting your scripts read by anyone is pretty difficult,” said Ben, who is now working on his next project – a romantic thriller set in Paris.

“The thing that made me stand out was the award I won for my final project, so when I contacted agencies, it meant they did read my script and so did a lot of producers and off the back of that I did get an agent.

“Winning something does help open doors.”

He added networking was key, and that rejection should be seen as a positive.

“If every door you knocked on just opened and it was easy, you’re never going to develop as a person to the stage where you can properly succeed,” he told the students.

“You need to want it a little bit more than everyone else and you’re only going to get that by wanting to prove people wrong.”

The event also featured a screening of the Almost Married, which was shot in just 18 days.

Ben said he wanted to come back to BU as he had been inspired by guest lectures from the likes of director Anthony Minghella while he was studying, and felt he owed his career to the course.

“It nice to come back and see some of the teachers who taught me because I wouldn’t have got where I am without them,” he said.

“I came to uni to get my head down – I was a geek and I went to every lecture. You have got to work hard and not waste your time here.

“Three years is nothing and it’s so important to make the most of it and go to your lectures.”

BU graduate ‘scores’ publishing deal with football book

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A Bournemouth University graduate has found success with the publication of a new book for budding football professionals.

Dean Caslake, an Accounting and Finance graduate, wrote ‘The Footballer’s Journey’ alongside current professional footballer Guy Branston to offer practical tips on becoming a professional footballer.

‘The Footballer’s Journey’ is aimed at young footballers, parents, amateur coaches and even current footballers who are looking to find success on the football field. The book also talks about the importance of education and how to react to setbacks within professional football.

Dean is no stranger to competitive football, as he was a key part of BU’s men’s football team while studying at university and nods to BU in his book. On studying at BU, Dean said, “Ultimately the experience at Bournemouth University improved my drive to achieve and opened my eyes to the possibility of doing something for myself and going it alone.

“After playing football myself and having a couple of unsuccessful trials with professional clubs, I was left wondering how the pros are different and what they had done that I didn’t to make the transition from an amateur level to a Professional level.  I initially had the idea to actually explore these unanswered questions in my final year at Bournemouth Uni.”

A number of current and former professionals were also involved in the book including current Manchester United footballer Chris Smalling and former Bournemouth striker and television pundit Steve Claridge.  Much of the work in contacting professional players was done by Dean, who said, “I contacted clubs and then sent individual letters to a large number of players at their clubs training grounds. Then it was a waiting game and thankfully quite a few responded.

“I must say I was hugely impressed with their willingness to help, they were brilliant throughout and gave up huge amounts of their time, and never once asked for a penny.”

The forward for the book was written by former footballer and television personality Neil ‘Razor’ Ruddock, who says, “The Footballer’s Journey is essential reading. It helps guide and advise not only football hopefuls, but also parents, and even current professionals when looking at life after football.”

The book was released in April 2014 and has been well received, with mentions in FourFourTwo magazine and an appearance on Sky 1 television programme Soccer AM due in May.  Further endorsements for the book have come from the likes of Gordon Taylor, Chief Executive of the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA).

Dean graduated from BU in 2013 and had these words of wisdom to share with current students who are burning with an idea for the future, “If you come up with an idea, or a project you have a great passion and drive for, and you think it can really make a difference and be successful, give it a try or you’ll forever wonder what might have been.”

More information about The Footballer’s Journey can be found through Amazon.

BU graduates have animation selected for prestigious film festival

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A short film created by recent graduates from Bournemouth University will be shown at a prestigious international animation festival after being chosen from thousands of entries.

Espero? (Hope?) was created by Simone Giampaolo, Yifan Hu and Henrik Linnes as their final year project while studying at the National Centre for Computer Animation (NCCA) at BU in 2013.

It has been chosen for inclusion at the Annecy International Film Festival this June – one of just 201 selected films from 2,290 entries.

Simone, who studied BA (Hons) Computer Animation Arts at BU, said being part of the prestigious French event was an unbelievable opportunity.

“We’re thrilled about Annecy. It is one of the most prestigious animation festivals worldwide and we still cannot believe our work will be part of it,” he said.

“I remember attending the Annecy festival as a student a couple of years ago, when the idea of having a film in the official competition was still only a dream.

“Now that it actually happened, it really feels unreal. “

Espero? is the first 3D animated film fully dubbed in the universal language Esperanto. It follows the story of Mother Earth and shows what happens after she creates humanity.

Simone, who acted as director for the film, said: “The general aim of this project was to create a high-quality, funny, entertaining and educational animated short that presents in a sarcastic way how humanity has been affecting planet Earth over the centuries.

“I see animation as one of the most powerful mediums to reach a wide range of audiences, which goes from kids to adults. It allows you to talk about inconvenient and sensitive topics in a funny and relaxed way, which is much more difficult to achieve through life-action.”

Annecy is not the first prestigious accolade the film has gained. It has already been shown at more than 20 international film festivals and won several awards – including the Children’s Prize at the Dieciminuti Film Festival 2014 in Italy.

Henrik, who also did the Computer Animation Arts degree at BU, said: “It feels great! We put so much work and effort into this short so it’s really satisfying to know that people like it.

“It’s been going really well so far, so let’s just hope that good things keep happening.”

All three of the team – who received the prize for Best Major Project at their BU graduation ceremony – are now working at animation and production houses in London, and hope they will have chance to work together again on an equally successful project.

It was amazing journey working with those two guys and I feel really lucky that our film has gotten this far,” said Yifan, who did the BA (Hons) Computer Visualisation and Animation degree.

“I’m very proud of our achievement and, as we are all working in London now, hopefully we will get a chance to work together as a team again soon.”

Watch Espero? (Hope?)

BU Journalism graduate named NCTJ’s Alumni of the Month

A recent journalism graduate from Bournemouth University has been named as an industry body’s Alumni of the Month.

Rachel Bartlett completed the BA (Hons) Multimedia Journalism degree at BU in 2010, and is now editor of journalism.co.uk, a popular site for journalism news, innovation and resources.

She was chosen as the National Council for the Training of Journalists’ (NCTJ) Alumna of the Month for March and was profiled on the industry body’s website, talking about the course and her career.

Rachel told the site that she chose to study Multimedia Journalism at BU as she wanted to gain a broad range of skills, as well as the opportunity to take the NCTJ preliminary journalism exams.

My decision was driven by the fact that I was keen to ensure I entered the industry with a range of skills across media platforms, including newspapers, magazines, television, radio and online, and the ability to study for, and take, her NCTJ exams at the same time,” she said.

“I went to university fairly open-minded about what area of the industry I wanted to go into, and the variety of the course helped guide me in terms of which areas I was most interested in.”

She added that gaining industry experience while studying was vital, as was learning shorthand – despite the wealth of digital technology available.

“While passing the NCTJ arguably helps to demonstrate that you can reach certain standards in your reporting, I would also stress the huge importance of also gaining real industry experience, being able to demonstrate a proactive attitude in finding original, relevant stories, and show some digital prowess and awareness of the different ways people are finding and consuming journalism today.”

Read Rachel’s interview in full on the NCTJ website

BU TV Production graduate receives BAFTA nomination

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An MA TV Production graduate from Bournemouth University has had his short film nominated for a BAFTA.

Ben Mallaby, who completed the Master’s course at BU in 2006, directed Island Queen, which has been shortlisted in the Short Film category for the 2014 BAFTAs.

The film, written by and starring Nat Luurtsema, follows a young woman on a small island who decides to have a baby using a sperm bank – only to find out it came from her brother.

“It’s such a huge honour to have been nominated for the BAFTA, I still can’t believe it happened,” said Ben, 30, who lives in London.

“The film was shortlisted, I’m sure, down to Nat Luurtsema’s great script and performance.”

He added: “Island Queen came about after I read an article about how some countries have to import donations for their sperm banks because, due to having such a small population, they couldn’t guarantee that you weren’t getting a relative’s donation.

“So our story is about Nat’s character Mim deciding she wants a baby and to her horror discovering it was her brother’s sperm.”

Ben, who is now a lecturer in Digital Film Production at Ravensbourne College as well as a freelance film-maker, said his time at BU helped kickstart his career.

“The MA gave me the time and resources to make films for a year – you don’t get much chance when you’re starting out as a freelancer to work on your own passion projects,” he said.

He and Nat are now working on a new project, called Annie Has Body Issues, which goes into production in May.

“The BAFTA nomination has already helped open doors for us, said Ben. “It’s helped validate the project and I’m really hoping we can take the film further now.”

Ben also plans to attend the 2014 BAFTA awards ceremony, which takes place at London’s Royal Opera House on Sunday 16th February.

He said: “It’s very exciting to have been invited to the awards ceremony next month.

“It’s going to be weird to be surrounded by so many high profile filmmakers and actually have a film in competition.”

Watch the trailer for Island Queen

Find out more about Television Production at Bournemouth University

BU TV Production graduates up for prestigious industry awards

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A number of recent graduates from BU’s BA (Hons) Television Production course have been shortlisted in the prestigious Royal Television Society (RTS) Student Awards.

Four BU 2013 graduates have been nominated in the Best Factual, Best Entertainment and Best Fictional categories for the RTS Southern awards, which take place at Winchester Guildhall on 21st February.

The Awards celebrate the best in emerging talent in the South, and highlights the quality of content produced by the region’s students.

Beth Lamont and Ben Witt have been shortlisted in the Best Entertainment Category – Beth for children’s cookery show Mini Munchies and Ben for music video, Letting You Go, which features two ‘flycycle’ enthusiasts, separated when one of their bikes breaks down.

Ben said: “The only way for them to be reunited is to hunt down the rare replacement light bulbs that power the bike. It’s quite a surreal, fun film that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

“It feels great to be shortlisted for an RTS Award and it’s testament to the amazingly talented cast and crew that helped bring the project alive.”

Beth’s Mini Munchies programme is aimed at pre-school children and shows a mother and daughter cooking together.

“Similar to a parent hiding veggies in their kid’s mashed potatoes, I tried to sneak some basic cookery and nutritional education into a (hopefully) entertaining piece that encourages families to swap the Wii for a wok,” she said.

“It’s a real honour for Mini Munchies to have been recognised by such a well-regarded institution, especially as the film was such great fun to shoot and edit alongside the cast and crew. The shortlisting is a credit to all who worked so hard on it.”

Matt Cotton has been shortlisted in the Best Factual category, for his documentary Stitch by Stitch, which shows how women in rural Kenya have been empowered by working for a grass-roots business called Kenana Knitters.

Matt, who went out to Kenya to work on the film with fellow student Oliver Clubb, said: “I was motivated to make this film as I’m really passionate about social justice.

“My mother grew up in Kenya, and I have visited multiple times. This is how I knew about the Kenana Knitters, the grass roots business that the film is immersed in.

“It’s great to be nominated for the award, mainly due to the fact that people will get to watch the film.”

Another 2013 BATV graduate Gulliver Moore has been shortlisted in the Best Fiction category for film Walking Against the Wind, a surreal fantasy drama set and partially shot in Paris.

“The story follows a young boy’s struggle as his parents refuse to communicate with him in any way but mime,” said Gulliver.

“His rebellion against their lifestyle leads him on a journey to discover what is really important in life.”

Gulliver added that it was “wonderful” to be shortlisted for an RTS Student Award.

“That the film has been recognised by the RTS is a credit to the immensely talented and dedicated team of people involved in the project.”

Nick Bamford, Programme Leader of the BA (Hons) Television Production degree course at BU, said that the team were proud of all the graduates who have been shortlisted for this year’s awards.

“The staff who teach on BA TV Production are thrilled to see such a good representation of our graduates’ work in the RTS awards.

“It’s a fitting testament to the creativity and hard work of our students, and a shining example to those who follow them of what they can aspire to.”

“We offer all nominees our very best wishes and very much hope we will also be seeing some winners.”

Students invested in their future

Last week, the Graduate and Placements Fair welcomed over 2,600 BU students and 90 employers to Talbot Campus.careers-fair-400

The event, sponsored by Philips and Enterprise Rent-a-car, gave students an opportunity to network with a host of companies including L’Oreal, BSKYB, Intel, Kondor and Hilton.

Every year, a large number of students find information that helps shape their career and placement applications, this year being no different.

This was the first time the Careers Fair has spanned over 3 days, and organiser Rachel Clarke believes students have engaged well with the concept: ‘It was great to see so many students attend the Graduate and Placements Fair.  We attracted many employers who hadn’t been on campus for a few years but who were really keen to engage with and recruit our students’