Modern Art Oxford Placement: Walking into the working world💻🌍

Each year, Modern Art Oxford is able to offer two students at Oxford Brookes University a paid placement to learn skills for the workplace and gain experience. Situated in the Development and Communications team, or in the Exhibitions, Communities, Practice and Participation teams, these are an opportunity to work alongside the teams to deliver Modern Art Oxford’s programme. In this blog, Bellablue Shorten describes her experience as a Placement student, as well as what she gained from her time at the gallery.

Taking the First Step 👣

When the opportunity for this student placement appeared on what our lecturers at Oxford Brookes University call the ‘big ugly jobs table,’ I initially ignored it. I assumed it was targeted at third-year students looking to kickstart their careers. However, after several people reminded me that it’s never too early to gain experience, I decided to give it a go. I’m glad I did!

From Doubt 🧐 to Determination💪🏻

Naturally, I did my research. I learned more about Modern Art Oxford and the placement itself. Instantly, I was intrigued. The organisation’s social media and website convinced me that this would be a perfect fit for a young creator’s journey into the working world.

I wrote my cover letter, sent off my CV, and told myself, “The worst that can happen is they say no.” Despite my self-doubt, I was thrilled to receive an interview invitation. Although I worried I had ruined my chances by using the word ‘vibes’ during the interview, it turned out they appreciated my authenticity—I got the job!

Initially, I was thrilled, but that emotion quickly evaporated and slowly confusion began to surface. I didn’t think I would be of any use, I thought that I knew nothing. I’ve always been a very creative and artistic person; not designed for a classroom but for an adaptable and imaginative space instead. These characteristics often overpowered more traditional, academic traits like arithmetic and long-term concentration…😬

As a young person newly navigating the corporate landscape, I assumed my natural inclination towards creativity and unorthodox thinking wouldn’t be appreciated as much as traditional academic traits.

However, I discovered that this isn’t the case. Working with the team at Modern Art Oxford has taught me how to use my creative and imaginative skills alongside my love for words and communication; teaching me to effectively combine my artistic eye with crucial business skills to thrive in media and communications.

 Finding my path👀

Thinking about future plans can be overwhelming, but recently I’ve discovered that understanding your potential brings excitement.

I didn’t always aspire to work in media and communications. In fact, inside my head, I’ve done plenty of career hopping: performing on the West End, teaching GCSE English, working in A&E, and dressing celebrities for red carpets. Some may call it indecisive; I call it open-minded🤓. Although I’ve always been interested in social media and content creation, I never realised it could become a career. 

Eventually, I realised that someone had to create those business Instagrams, send the newsletters, and make promotional videos. I also learned how crucial these activities are for a company’s success, and I want to be the one creating that successful content. At the moment, I am only 20 years-old and still admittedly very uncertain about what sort of content I want to create or for whom. That being said, I’m confident that with more time and experience, I will find my way in the world of communications or at least, the world.

Occasionally, I sometimes consider the idea of becoming or attempting to become an ‘influencer’. Essentially this means that I am my own ‘business’, that the content is about me and my life and if you get enough reach, companies may want to work with you. 

Currently, I create my own online content on TikTok. I am trying to grow my name and put as much content out as possible. I make ‘Get ready with me’ videos, commonly known as “GRWM”, ‘Day in the life’ videos and generally videos based around fashion and lifestyle.💄👗

It’s quite daunting when you post your first video, understandably you worry about the judgement you might receive or that it will only get 100 or so views. But you have to push through and you have to start somewhere and you will get some judgement and you won’t always get good views. Sometimes my videos will get 200 views and sometimes my videos will get 7,000 views and maybe one day I’ll get 50,000 views. It all continually fluctuates, but if you keep posting and try to work with the ‘TikTok algorithm’ eventually you will get there… 

I’m not there yet, but I have some hope🙏🏻.

So, I’m not entirely sure what the future holds for me. I might end working entirely on TikTok or I might end up working on the Digital and Communication team for a company creating and assisting on their content and marketing. Maybe I’ll become a writer; start a blog, or perhaps I’ll move abroad and start a completely new life. But what I am sure about is that no matter which one of those career paths I end up taking, I’ll be grateful that I have experience working at Modern Art Oxford and that it has already put me several steps ahead.

The Awkwardness of Adjusting🫣

There’s only so much preparation you can do before stepping into a new environment. I’ve had jobs before, but never in an office. For someone as energetic and fidgety as myself, walking into a quiet office and discovering that my chair was obnoxiously loud and squeaky added to the anxiety. Sitting awkwardly still until I got more comfortable with my surroundings definitely heightened my first-day nerves.

It also appears that some cardio training may have been necessary for this work placement as there are far too many stairs. So not only on my first day was I nervous, I was out of breath and sweaty. However, it feels necessary for a student intern to be humbled by the universe on their first day in an office.

For my first few days, I sat uncomfortably in my noisy chair, gave myself five-minute pep talks before speaking out loud, and agonised over how to close emails. As my confidence grew, these anxieties began to dissolve. These aren’t the milestones I typically expected to celebrate, but they are important. Among all the incredible skills I’ve learned at Modern Art Oxford, self-confidence is vital.

I have never been a natural at navigating a spreadsheet, but it surprised my how much I picked up just from persevering through the tasks.

My favourite tasks that I have completed have been creating and editing social media content for the digital and communications department. I have learnt so much about producing effective and appropriate content for the company. I have used software and skills I haven’t used before.

I was very pleased when I was given the opportunity to edit an interview for the MAO Facebook page. As not only did I get to show my capabilities creating the video I also learnt more about the wider community involved at Modern Art Oxford.

Equally, to be given an opportunity to write piece for the blog is so valuable. Originally, I thought maybe I should write a thought-provoking piece on one of the past exhibitions or shed some controversy on some of the themes artists have displayed in their work. But, I thought, as this is my first ever chance to post something professionally, I want to start my career as I mean to go on, being truly and authentically myself.