Radio stars pass on their expertise to boost students' employability

Rising stars in the radio industry and an experienced BBC broadcaster are among those coming to pass on their expertise to students at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU).



Jon Jackson, presenter with Kerrang! Radio and The Hits Radio, plus Ryan Arnold, presenter for Capital FM East Midlands will be giving the first talk on Monday, November 30. The following week is Perminder Khatkar, BBC Radio 4 producer, sharing his experience about 25 years working for the BBC.

It is part of the university’s Creative Media Lab free lecture series which invites industry professionals from the worlds of television, film, music, radio, and multimedia to speak to students about how to succeed in their careers.

Providing the opportunities to make key contacts is just one of the ways in which DMU boosts student employability. The university was named one of the top 25 universities for graduate employability earlier this year.

Jon and Ryan graduated from DMU’s Radio Production BSc in 2012 and have since gone on to establish themselves as “ones to watch” in radio.

Perminder said: “The BBC is going through the most challenging time in all the years I have worked in it and I really do believe that the organisation you will be working for is going be very different from the one I joined almost 25 years ago.

 I think I’m probably the last generation to work continuously for one media organisation, in continuous employment.


“However, despite this mighty upheaval, there are some basic and fundamental things you need to able to do if you want work for the world’s most creative organisation.”

Simon Walsh, Programme Leader, Media Production BSc, said: “Meeting, hearing from and networking with professionals in industry – especially ones who recently graduated from DMU – is a key strand to Leicester Media School’s value-added approach. 

“Guest lecturers become contacts, contacts become door-openers: we focus as much on the employment outcomes for our students as we do on their teaching, learning and assessment during the three short years that each student spends here with us. 


“These events provide context, they help support our activities as academics – it’s great when people you’ve taught come back and trot out the same information – because it qualifies what we do here in a teaching context. It’s important to demonstrate to our students that the things they are taught, that they experience are real-world concepts.”
 
Hear Jon and Ryan on Monday 30 November at 6pm to 7pm, Gateway House, GH 3.13 and Perminder Khatkar on December 7 from 6pm to 7pm in the same venue.