By Community Correspondent Sophie Swithinbank.

On 24th March 2010, Channel 4 opened its doors to 14-19 year olds interested in Media careers, from all over England. The Open Day was inspirational .It helped many of the teenagers to decide their futures . They left saying, “I’d like to be a script writer” or “I’d like to work in the Production Management team”. This fantastic opportunity certainly helped these teenagers get an inside look at what a job in these departments would entail. A section of the day was devoted to meeting all the different departments that work at Channel 4 from Commissioning to New Media.

Part of the day was focused on Nurturing Talent. Within this session was an explanation about what type of person you need to be (or become) to work in the fast-paced and competitive Media industry. Media employers look for people with reliable and well-practiced transferrable skills, such as decent verbal and written communication, and logical problem solving using initiative. Due to the stressful nature of careers in the media, involving artistic differences, deadlines and long hours, only those who are organised, calm, resilient and resourceful are employed.

The teens were given the chance to exercise their creativity at the various masterclasses on offer. I thoroughly enjoyed attending the Scriptwriting and Production Management masterclasses. They were stimulating opportunities to work with professionals in these departments and they challenged us in our areas of interest.

All those who attended the Open Day were given the opportunity of work experience at Channel 4, which will certainly be popular as the Open Day was productive and insightful for all.