http://vimeo.com/33959834 Attending a university lecture on a cold November afternoon in 2008 was the last thing I wanted to do as the term was starting to come to an end and assignments were due. But trying to be the model student, I wrapped up warm and faced the cold winds in Perry Barr to attend my PR technqiues lecture. And boy am I glad I did as this was how I came to learn of BHive http://bhive-creative.com/.
Our lecturer finished the lesson by announcing an initiative launching in Birmingham to help students wanting to break into the creative industries win placements at top West Midlands agencies. I was immediately inspired and couldn't wait to find out more. After rushing home to find out more online, I found out that BHive was run by Pitch Consultants with the aim of retaining graduate talent from West Midlands universities within the region.
It worked like this: - Brief issued for you to answer (at this time it was just PR, Marketing and Graphic Design but the categories have grown to include Web Design and Advertising) - Answer brief in short document (with no experience then, heaven knows what my first attempt looked like!) - If they like your ideas, you're invited to pitch to a panel of judges (starting to get nervous...) - Pitch in front of a panel of judges (now I'm really nervous...) - Win one of six four week PAID placements (WAHOO!) So I got stuck in and won a four week placement at Seal on my second year of entering.
This then resulted in a full time position and I haven't looked back since. I really do owe it to BHive for creating the opportunity for me to secure my first job. And for this reason, I am very passionate about spreading the message about BHive to students and encouraging them to enter. So much so, I was convinced to sit in front of camera and share my experience. Hopefully this will help to inspire the next generation of creative talent and show that the hard work and effort really does pay off. Sarah Stevenson
