“Something to do with media” – this career choice is still very popular among students and university graduates. But what makes the media so popular? And in which areas do career starters have the best opportunities?
A current survey from the “Fachkraft 2020” study series shows that 17.1 percent of the 25,000 respondents would like to pursue this career path. Media is therefore the number 1 desired industry. Due to the constant change in the industry and the associated digitalization, many university graduates hope for a successful career in this area. According to the analysis that the company Studitemps carried out to place students in temporary work in cooperation with the University of Maastricht, many of those surveyed hoped for a high level of flexibility in their jobs. The media industry performs above average when it comes to the job selection criteria of equal opportunities, work-life models and family friendliness: university graduates therefore expect flexible structures that adapt to life and not the other way around. According to Studitemps, women are also pushing for a career and expect that companies today make it possible to combine family and work.
PUBLISHERS ARE UPGRADING
Konstanze Reith, consultant for young talent development at Axel Springer Verlag, also confirms that the media industry is particularly popular with academic job starters: “Many young people are fascinated by digitalization, but also by the increasing internationalization of the industry - they want to help with newspapers and media." According to Reith, as digital natives, young adults already have a better understanding of digital offerings because they have already grown up with computers and cell phones. Media companies are faced with the great challenge of keeping up with digital change and generating sales in other ways in the face of falling sales revenues. The times when everyone read the subscribed newspaper at the breakfast table in the morning and watched the daily news at 8 p.m. sharp in the evening are over - in the future, content will increasingly be consumed regardless of time and location.
Publishers are therefore trying to prepare themselves accordingly for digitalization. The New York Times, for example, plans to double its revenue from digital subscriptions to $800 million by 2020 by gaining readers worldwide. German media companies such as Axel Springer, which owns newspapers such as “Die Welt” and “Bild”, are also carrying out extensive restructuring. In order to convert the publisher into a digital group, investments were made in online payment models for the daily newspapers, but also in advertising portals such as Immonet and Stepstone, as well as in online marketing services. Springer also bought the news channel N24 and thus entered the television business. “Classified offers like Stepstone are running very successfully, and we’re still trying out different models for online payment models for newspapers – that’s a process that will continue for the next few years,” says Konstanze Reith. Print is still a very important component.
GET TO KNOW DIGITAL TOOLS
Regardless of the sales figures, cultural change also represents a challenge in digitalization, says Reith. "New, young employees want to let off steam in the digital world, on the other hand, there are older colleagues who first have to find access to the digital world - in order to take away their inhibitions about technical tools, we offer them appropriate training." To be successful Before starting the job, digitalization should be second nature to students and graduates, adds Reith. Experience with software development, online marketing, data journalism or cross-media knowledge would also be an advantage. "In general, specialized knowledge is becoming more and more relevant." Equally important are a certain understanding of numbers and a good feel for the international market: "Media producers should observe what is happening in the world's publishing houses and what successful models their own company can potentially adopt," explains Reith.
Pamela Taylor, HR Marketing & Employer Branding Associate at Bertelsmann, also regularly works with young adults looking to enter the media industry. She advises job starters to keep trying out different media: »You should get to know new digital offerings, listen to podcasts, read e-books and test platforms. That doesn't mean that you have to be constantly present on Facebook and Twitter, for example, but you should at least be familiar with them. She also encourages aspiring media makers to gain plenty of practical experience during their studies - for example through internships or in a gap year . “It’s important to establish a network early on,” emphasizes Taylor. She also recommends acquiring a certain level of business know-how in order to cope in the business world of the media - this also applies to humanities scholars.
DIFFERENT ENTRY OPPORTUNITIES
To make it easier for young talent to get started, most media companies offer a whole range of training opportunities. The Bertelsmann Group, which includes the television group RTL Group, the book publishing group Penguin Random House, and the magazine publisher Gruner + Jahr, invites graduates to apply for the “G + J Trainee Program,” for example. “Participants go through various stations and gain an insight into the areas of editorial, advertising, sales, controlling and publishing management,” says Taylor. “These are the best prerequisites for taking on a management position later.” Anyone who wants to pursue a management career in television can also apply for the RTL Management Trainee Program. Graduates from different study programs then have the opportunity to get to know all areas of RTL Deutschland in a rotation program for 18 months.
The American is a good example of the fact that there is no “one” classic way into the media. “Like many people who work in the media, my career is rather atypical,” says the 29-year-old. After studying English literature in California and Massachusetts, she actually wanted to work as an editor at Penguin Publishing. “Unfortunately I was rejected, but I still wanted to start working in the publishing industry,” says Taylor. “I later moved to Germany and completed my Master’s in Business Administration in Leipzig from 2013 to 2015.” She finally found her way into the company through an internship at Bertelsmann. "I realized that I didn't want to work as an editor because I actually like being in contact with a lot of people." Today she is responsible for employer branding and recruiting students and is very happy with her job: "I like the exchange with interesting, talented young people, and I also go on a lot of business trips to the USA, England, France and Spain and always experience the internationality and diversity of Bertelsmann first hand.«
NEW CAREER PROFILES
The digitalization of the media offers students and graduates from almost all degree programs exciting opportunities. While creative professions such as journalists and graphic designers are constantly changing, completely new job profiles are also emerging: "The area of branding content, for example, is aimed at both people with journalistic expertise and marketing experts," reports Konstanze Reith. »We are looking for dynamic young talents with technical know-how for every area.«
“New functions are emerging that are as unique as the new business models that develop over time,” adds Taylor. “We are noticing that people who can quickly adapt to new challenges are becoming more and more in demand.” A mixture of strong analytical skills and excellent communication skills is therefore advantageous, but also the confident use of digital products and platforms, says Taylor. “We want business people who think more creatively than others, as well as creative people who have an entrepreneurial spirit.” For example, new jobs are being created in digital media production, online marketing and in the area of big data.
GET INTO THE MEDIA
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“Something to do with media” – in which areas do young professionals have the best opportunities?
