Welcome back to Series 2 of The Career Interview podcast! This week, Rachael speaks to Carly who works as an Adult social worker. We discuss what the key things to consider when choosing a role within social care such as the individual you want to work with as well as the different kinds of environment, what a typical week looks like for Carly including how she goes about effectively assessing the needs of an individual and what career progression opportunities there are. We also touch on how this role has changed Carly as a person, why she finds it so rewarding and the different ways you can find a role in social care. 

Disclaimer: We touch on some difficult topics including domestic violence and child abuse so I’ll understand if this isn’t the episode for you. 

Useful Links:

Legislation:

Protection of Children act 1999: Focussed on safeguarding children and supporting families: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1999/14/notes/division/2 

Mental health act 1983: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1983/20/contents 

Mental Capacity Act 2005: Focus on the ability for people to make decision themselves https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/921428/Mental-capacity-act-code-of-practice.pdf 

 Routes into social work:

Thinkahead: https://thinkahead.org/ 

Step up program: https://www5.i-grasp.com/fe/tpl_capita78.asp?newms=info1 

Social work England: https://www.socialworkengland.org.uk/

Useful resources:

Siobhan Maclean: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErZbztI7SWtBYWqG6Bptmw/featured 

Understanding Social Work by Neil Thompson: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Understanding-Social-Work-Preparing-Practice/dp/0230221807 

The Social Work Tutor Podcast: https://www.globalplayer.com/podcasts/42KqDP/ 

This week, Rachael talks to Laura who runs her own branding photography business ‘SocialLaura’ in Perth, Australia aimed at helping female oriented businesses express themselves authentically online and bring their vision to life. Laura shares the highs and lows of what it’s really like running your own business - some you’ll know and some you definitely won’t. Laura demonstrates that running your own business means you can make it work for you and enable it to give you the lifestyle you want and just because others are 100% productive all the time and are up at 5am everyday, it doesn’t mean that’s what you have to do. Laura is such an inspirational woman who is proof that if you are willing to make that jump and just give things a go, then magical things do happen. We also touch on how to deal with imposter syndrome and how she knew when it was time to leave the corporate world. If you’re into photography or have a passion that you want to turn into a full time job, then this is the episode for you.

Useful Links:
Check out Laura's business: https://www.instagram.com/sociallaura_/
Laura's Camera: https://www.canon.co.uk/cameras/eos-5d-mark-iv/
Laura's Lense: https://www.canon.co.uk/lenses/ef-24-70mm-f-2-8l-ii-usm-lens/

This week, we’re talking to Michael who has spent the last 12 years working in product management roles. Once upon a time you’d only hear about product manager roles at big tech companies like Google but in today’s world where businesses are having to be super customer focussed, and release new products and services quickly, the role of product managers has become even more important. And it’s fair to say that Michael has rode that wave of growth over his career where he’s been involved in designing life saving beacons, wearable tech and smart several smart home products. It’s fair to say product management is a massive growth area and we were only able to scratch the surface in this episode where Michael talks about what’s involved in product management, the key skills that are important and some of the challenges product managers typically face. Michael also shares his incredible story of how he ended up entering the world of product management which involved working in a disused cheese factory with one of his best friends. 

Useful Links:
Find out more about Product Management:

• Mind the product: https://www.mindtheproduct.com/
• Canvas Product conferences: https://canvasconference.co.uk/about/ 

Tools that Michael mentioned:

• Miro planning tool: https://miro.com/online-strategic-planning-tool/

Companies mentioned:

• Focal Agent: https://www.focalagent.com/
• Homeserve: https://www.homeserve.com/uk
• Hive: https://www.hivehome.com/
• Imperial College: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/

This week, Rachael talks to another Rachael who is a Senior Account manager at Ogilvy, a global creative agency that is part of WPP, which is considered to be the world’s largest advertising company. Rachael works with Boots to produce their health and beauty magazine but has previously worked on brands including Chanel, River Island and Pizza Express with some of the most well-known and respected agencies. Rachael talks through how each issue of the magazine goes from concept to delivery, what the role of Ogilvy is in helping Boots to create unique content and to what extent it’s like Devil Wears Prada at work! She also touches on the most important skills as an account manager, what she loves about her role (think an all expenses paid trip to Dubai) and what the difference is between media, creative and production agencies. We also discuss how competitive the agency world can be so she shares her top tips on how to get into the industry when you’re still early on in your career and have less experience.

Useful Links:
Check out some of the agencies that Rachael has worked at:

• Ogilvy: https://www.ogilvy.com/#work 
• Walgreens Boots: https://www.walgreensbootsalliance.com/media/3756 
• Intermarketing: https://intermarketing.com/ 
• Mindshare: https://www.mindshareworld.com/ 
• AMV BBDO: http://www.amvbbdo.com/ 
• Havas: https://www.havas.com/ 
• Saatchi: https://mcsaatchi.com/ 
• VCCP: https://www.vccp.com/ 

Check out some useful websites:

• Campaign Live: https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/ 
• Marketing Week: https://www.marketingweek.com/ 
• The Drum: https://www.thedrum.com/

This week, Rachael delves into the world of 2D animation with Diana who is a freelance animator. Despite Diana considering to become a nun or an architect as a young child, it was when she became fascinated by how her most loved cartoons such as Scooby Doo and Ed, Edd n Eddy were made and watching a documentary about how the original Snow White was made that she realised she wanted to pursue animation. Diana talks through the end to end process of creating a short film working with a client as well as all the different types of roles involved in creating a short film if you don’t want to be the one producing the drawings! We also discuss the pros and cons of working as a freelancer as well sharing tips on how to negotiate with clients and how to attract clients. Diana also shares a lot of important advice of how to move into and progress within the animation industry. 

Useful Links:

Check out Diana's work

1. 'What is consciousness?': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XN6GClCOZs&fbclid=IwAR2QKMEeP4xoOqYmqE1URE7lD-HtwSeW-QWwQxOLIg7ElximziDq79QTSEU 
2. 'The Viral Origins of the Placenta': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDA1ISk0rlI&fbclid=IwAR2WmsoqjfrHGmo4XyqrcRd6heTs-eNXKUITt9Uki8YMhVB_TCSry5M-koc 
3. The Royal Society of Arts 'Most People are Pretty Nice': https://blinkink.co.uk/projects/most-people-are-pretty-nice-by-rutger-bregman
4. Check out the rest at: https://vimeo.com/dianagradinaru 
5. Follow Diana on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/diana_gradinaru/ 

Learn about animation:

1. Documentary about making Snow White: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7X8u-EjADw
2. Joanna Quinn: How I animate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWfVEdbvdoE
3.  Read The Animator's Survival Kit by Richard Williams: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-animators-survival-kit/richard-e-williams/9780571238347 
4. Watch tutorials on how to use Maya: https://www.youtube.com/c/MayaHowTos/featured 
5. Join panimation, a directory of women animators anyone can join: http://www.panimation.tv/# 
6.  Join this private Facebook group called 'She Drew That' where you can share/ask questions about animation, seek help regarding anything from technique to finance to production issues: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2377228439006355 

In this week’s episode, Rachael talks to Katherine who is a Business Development manager for Seedrs, a leading equity crowdfunding platform that allows anybody to invest from as little as £10. Katherine finds start up companies who want to raise investment on the Seedrs platform and supports them through the whole process from creating their investment strategy to running their crowdfunding campaign.

Katherine shares her experiences and her advice on what it was like starting a career in law and making a career change at the age of 28 into the relatively new crowdfunding industry. And we also touch on how she moulds her role to focus on the industries she’s personally passionate about such as fem tech start ups and sustainable consumer brands as well as encouraging other females to invest.   

Useful Links:

Check out Seedrs: https://www.seedrs.com/

Check out Big Night, the restaurant delivery service: https://bignight.app/

Check out Gively, where you can give and get items for free: https://www.gively.co/

Check out And Sisters who make sustainable period care products: https://andsisters.co.uk/

Check out This who offer plant based meat alternatives: https://this.co/

General resources to keep up to date with start ups:

1.   https://sifted.eu/
2. http://www.startups.co.uk/
3. http://www.technation.io/
4. http://www.wired.co.uk/

Female Focussed:

1. http://www.allbrightcollective.com/
2. http://www.foundflourish.co.uk/
3. http://www.angelacadame.com/ (sign up to their newsletter)

Fem tech/health tech focussed:

1. http://www.womenofwearables.com/
2. http://www.femtechinsider.com/

This week, Rachael speaks to Rajat who is a GP in a local surgery. The NHS is one of the biggest employers in the world with 1.4 million staff in England and deals with more than one million patients every 36 hours. We discuss the different places a GP can work, what a GP does outside of just seeing patients and the key factors to consider when choosing the right surgery for you. Rajat also explains how a surgery is run as a business, what the most important skills to be a good GP are and what it takes to become qualified as a GP. Rajat was extremely humble and anyone listening to this episode will no doubt appreciate the hard work that GP’s undertake. 

Useful Links:

Read ‘a day in the life of a GP’: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/articles/gp-day-in-the-life 

Read ‘a day in the life of a GP’ from the British Medical Journal https://www.bmj.com/content/366/bmj.l4388 

The Royal College of General Practitioners: https://www.rcgp.org.uk/ 

Follow Dr Ranj who is a well known doctor: https://www.instagram.com/drranj/?hl=en 

Follow Dr Hazel Wallace as The Food Medic: thefoodmedic.co.uk 

New England Journal of Medicine Podcast: https://www.nejm.org/multimedia/audio-summary

British Medical Journal Podcast: https://journals.bmj.com/sites/default/files/podcasts/index.html

In this week's episode, we're talking all about architecture but not about the typical type of projects you may first think of such as designing office buildings or schools. Rachael talks to Kara, who has recently become a shareholder and director at Metaphor; a design company predominantly working in the cultural sector who focus on bringing stories to life through design. Kara has worked on a wide range of projects from the national mining museum to the incredible Winchester Cathedral and shares her experiences of what it’s like working in a small company, how Metaphor find the best way to tell the stories of a museum’s collection and how the role of an architect changes as you progress up the career ladder. We also touch on what it’s like working in a predominantly male industry, what’s involved in the 7 years of training to become an architect and the most important skills to be successful.

Useful Links:

Check out the Metaphor website: https://www.metaphor-design.co.uk/

Royal Institute of British Architecture (RIBA):  https://www.architecture.com/ 

Architect's journals: https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/ 

This week, Rachael talks to Joanna who is a primary school teacher. Practically every child says they want to become a teacher at some point in their lifetime - this was also true for Joanna. We discuss what’s really involved in being a primary school teacher. Here’s a clue, it’s not just about teaching kids to read and write and to do sums and you don’t necessarily get to finish at 3:30pm everyday. We talk about the really important skills to be a great teacher, her tips and techniques on how to maximise her classroom’s learning and how you can find out for yourself if teaching is really for you. If you think you know everything there is to know about being a teacher then think again! 

Useful Links:

Smart Classroom Management Blog: https://www.smartclassroommanagement.com/

Smart Teachers Agency: https://www.smartteachers.co.uk/

Teach Primary Articles: https://www.teachprimary.com/

Keep up to date with the National Education Union: https://neu.org.uk/latest

This week, Rachael finds out all about the movie animation business with Jasmine who is a CGI animator at Framestore; who have helped produce just a few films you may have heard of… Harry Potter, the Marvel movies and Paddington 2 just to name a few. 

It’s been Jasmine’s dream to transport her audience to a different world ever since she was a little girl and she truly embodies that ‘if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life’ mantra. We talk about everything from the different kinds of animation you can get involved in, the end to end process of creating a 90 minute film, why nine gag is an important work tool and the many reasons why working in animation means you can be a big kid your entire adult life! 

Useful Links for more information:

Connect with Jasmine on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ghoreishijasmine/  

Check out Jasmine's own work on Instagram: https://instagram.com/jazzy__doodles?igshid=43p7npcwivks

That Waitrose Christmas Ad with the Robin: https://youtu.be/wCSgf9q71xw

The Making of That Waitrose Christmas Ad with the Rob: https://youtu.be/UgYWkj9ATwQ

Maya Software: https://www.autodesk.com/products/maya/overview

Ecole Superieure des metiers artistique School: https://www.esma-artistique.com/diplomes-taux-de-reussite/cinema-danimation-3d/

Framestore: https://www.framestore.com/

The Mill: https://www.themill.com/