Archive notice: This article was originally published on March 14, 2011. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
What does media.net offer the industry?
media.net berlinbrandenburg e.V. is the cross-sector alliance for companies in the media and creative industries in the capital region – from music and film through TV and multimedia to advertising and design. Its more than 280 members include renowned and globally known companies such as Universal Music Entertainment, Ufa Film & TV Produktion and the Scholz & Friends Group, as well as young start-ups such as Aka-Aki and hiogi.
We place particular value on concrete support and advice for our members. We build bridges to potential business partners and open doors to suitable financing partners. Each year, we organise around 100 events, from major events such as the media summit held twice a year jointly with Medienboard to fun events such as the media.net golf day.
Extensive services such as a job exchange, internship exchange, financing information, discounts and the Friday media.news are used actively by members. With media.net:catapult, our practice-oriented one-year mentoring programme, we quickly guide innovative and growth-oriented start-ups and young creative-industry companies into safe waters.
What is the state of the creative industries in the capital region, and which sectors are currently growing and which are undergoing change?
The majority of media companies in the capital region look confidently to the future. This is the result of the current media.barometer from the end of 2010, the annual business-climate index from Medienboard and media.net berlinbrandenburg. According to it, 58 percent of respondents expect rising revenues. Compared with expectations after the crisis year of 2009, this is an increase of 21 percentage points and thus a clear and welcome improvement in sentiment.
Companies in the interactive sectors, including Web 2.0, games and mobile, IT/telecommunications, are in particularly good spirits. Here, 66 percent expect revenue growth and 77 percent plan new hires. The change in sentiment is also clear in communications sectors such as PR, advertising and design. After only 24 percent of companies issued positive growth forecasts for the coming year in 2009, painting a predominantly gloomy picture, at the end of 2010 55 percent expect rising revenue and no less than 36 percent plan new hires.
What trends do you see in the individual jobs?
The internet already offers great job potential, and the number of jobs in the field will continue to increase significantly. The creative industries in particular also benefit from this. There is strong demand, for example, in online marketing, for authors and in web design.
Which trade fairs and meetings are particularly interesting for graduates and newcomers?
There are around 300 job fairs and recruitment events in Germany each year, often directly at universities. Such events have the advantage that, in a personal conversation, applicants can present not only their application documents but also their personality to companies. Applicants can also ask company representatives their own questions about the job and the company.
To prevent students and graduates from losing track amid the large number of fairs, ABSOLVENTA launched its own portal with Job Fair Radar (www.jobmesse-radar.de), where all important career fairs are listed in a fair calendar. Everyone can find the right fair in their region there.
How do you assess the opportunities for career changers in the industry?
Career changers have good opportunities inasmuch as many jobs in the creative industries and internet business are still relatively new. There are therefore more jobs in the field than trained graduates. Career changers have the opportunity to close this gap. A change should ideally be made from conviction, however, and not from a lack of alternatives.
To perform well, it is important to enjoy your job and approach it with passion. Once you have found your hobbyhorse, it makes sense to specialise in these strengths, but not without neglecting the view beyond the end of your nose.
In your opinion, what is the best way into the dream job?
In principle, a completed degree provides excellent opportunities in the labour market. With an unemployment rate currently around 2.5 percent, academics effectively enjoy full employment. But not every university graduate immediately lands their dream job.
Companies attach great value to practical experience among career starters. This should ideally be gained during studies through internships, projects or part-time jobs. In the creative industries, however, internships are quite common for graduates and often the only opportunity, particularly if one studied something else.
But entry into the creative industries can also succeed without a completed degree, because formal qualifications often matter less there than in most other sectors; commitment and creative talent are what count most.
What demands may graduates make, and which opportunities should they not miss?
As a graduate, one certainly should not work 60 hours per week in an unpaid internship, because then one is quite clearly selling oneself short. But if, for example, I have the opportunity to work on a project abroad where living costs are covered, that can be an important and correct step into permanent employment.
In general, however, salary is only one part of the compensation, especially for newcomers, and everything else should not be subordinated to it. Before starting a job, one should consider what learning curve the job offers and what the advancement opportunities are. The content, tasks and area of responsibility are central. The overall package has to be right.
