The Pros and Cons of Progression Routes
University
Heading into university can have many pros and cons in your skill development and your experience in the workplace. University allows you to specialise in your area and become an expert with great understanding in your area. An example for my course, TV and Film, would be an editor or a director which you could specialise under and further move on to become. Although you are becoming an expert in your field, you are not gaining the experience of the workplace like if you go straight into employment. Employment and university both play hand in hand with each others cons and pros, making the decision much more difficult. University will help cover this con as it allows a better understanding of your area and much more training, allowing you many more years of development and understanding to be conducted when under a university degree. With this degree, it will give you a higher percentage of being hired into the industry, especially in media industries. 'Almost 2m people are now employed in the UK's creative organisations, with a wider number making up the creative economy which also includes creative roles in non-creative organisations.' says the Creative Industries, meaning a degree will allow you to get higher in the employment list and possibilities. University also gives you a positive identity when going into interviews, showing you have a lot more experience and understanding in your specialised area. You get to meet more people in your industry, growing strong connections between colleagues and people in your industry, strengthening future connections, University can also allow you to have much more independence in your work but could become stressful in the amount of assignments you have to complete in a short amount of time. Although there is all of these pros to go to university, the one that stops people attending university is the large debt you have to pay back over so many years. You have to gain so much money before you can start paying back but many don't like the feeling of being in debt or don't understand the logistics behind being in debt and how much they would have to pay back each month. This depends on the individual but definitely is the con that splits the difference in those who attend and who don't, similar to the course prices. Some cannot afford university prices and so do not attend, missing out on all of the positives of university.
In my opinion, I believe university would be a great experience but am torn myself due to how much the course prices can be. This is the thing stopping me from going and making me think twice about attending university as I won't gain enough money to attend university with my own money, meaning I would be in deeper debt or will have to pay my parents the money back which will be very similar to the debt. I am still torn on this decision and will decide when the time is right.
Apprenticeship
Apprenticeships allow you to gain the practical experience whilst gaining money alongside your learning in your area of industry. The negative is you gain none of the university experience, as wrote above, and may not be able to or be flexible enough to specialise in an area of work when under hire. You gain a place of responsibility which can be seen as a pro and a con of apprenticeships, the positive being you gain trust in the work place and become more confident in your area with the more experience you gain. The negative is that it can be stressful or can be a responsibility you didn't want to have and to control, meaning there is a negative weight on your shoulders that you have to complete although you didn't want the weight in the first place. Although you gain no debt throughout an apprenticeship, university allows you more time to specialise in an area and to consider options where as in an apprenticeship you have to decide much sooner or may not even get the decision in the area that you learn to specialise in, You get to learn on the job but it can lack in socialisation unlike attending university, university allowing more time to get to know others and to consider your options, an apprenticeship more throws you into the mix of the work place alongside learning.
In my opinion, apprenticeships sound like a good choice but make the decision difficult between this and university as you would miss out on many of the experiences of university. This is a great option for those that want to earn whilst they learn and to gain more experience in the field. This is definitely an option I will keep in mind when making my decision in my progression in the media industry.
Employment
Another possible progression route is going heads on into the world of employment, allowing you to gain a set salary pay straight out of study. Employment also allows you to be paid on sick days and when you go on holiday, meaning you lose no money from having time off. Although this sounds like one of the best options it is a daily commute that you have to go to and follow instructions from the higher authority of your industry. You have little flexibility in your area, it becoming a rare occasion to do anything different or to experiment in a new field in your chosen industry. You do gain a lack of freedom and have some restraints on your abilities, making it harder for you to develop your skills, but will allow you access to benefits, social interaction with colleagues and experience in the work place. Having experience in the work place and the social interaction with your colleagues allows you to become more confident in the work that you do and become more confident in speaking with others. This is good examples of how your skills can be broadened through communication and working under employment. You will have to put in more effort with your work to be more successful, as quoted by Zig Ziglar who is an American writer, salesman and motivational speaker, "A productive employee who is kept busy working at his or her job is far more likely to be happy at that job and less likely to look for employment elsewhere." Although you have to put in effort to get far in university and apprenticeships, there is a strong sense of responsibility in the workplace as you all have a part to play, meaning you have to be skilled in your area to keep the team going. Employment is also great for learning team work because of these facts, meaning you have to work to each others skills and compliment each other.
In my opinion, I think employment is a great way to get into the business if possible but still think that higher education will allow you to be able to become more skilled before entering the work place. Doing work in other areas when studying is also a strong possibility to gain money and to learn what it is like in the work place meanwhile gaining all of the positives of university. This is a good option for those who don't want to go to University but is still one of my least favourite options in my progression routes.
Self-Employment
Self-employment is very different to employment in many ways. Although you still will get paid for your job, you can lack in employment and stability of jobs which can lack in money as you are paid separately for each job you do. The positive side of this information is you can do the jobs that you want and can make your work range much more wider than in employment, allowing yourself to do a multitude of projects that you are interested in and will pay the most attention to. You have the freedom of your own schedule, allowing you to base your life around your family and to be much more flexible in your availability for jobs, giving you much more responsibility than in employment under a company. You will lose earnings if you take holiday as you are managing the money you gain and there is a lack of division in your work and your home life, making it difficult to relax when you're at home. When you're self-employed, you are responsible for paying tax and National Insurance on your income, meaning you have to manage your earning correctly. Most self-employers work by their selves, meaning you are most likely to be isolated in your work and will lack the social skills and team work that you gain in employment, university and an apprenticeship. You also have to be able to provide the equipment for your own work, meaning most of your money would go into your companies equipment to get better work in the future.
In my opinion, self-employment is a good choice if you are self motivated in your work and are willing to work more constantly to gain a good income to pay tax. It lacks on the advantages on some of the other choices in advancement but works the best for independency and responsibility in your own work. This is an option that stands out most to me to go with in the future as I like the idea of my own independency in my work.
Overall, I believe that the most likely choices for me are either university or self employment as they fit my needs and wants the most. The other choices are both to keep in mind but are definitely more fitted for those suited and knowing what they want to do in their line of business for their life whereas university and self employment allow you to carry on discovering your skills before settling down.
References
Thecreativeindustries.co.uk. (2017). UK Creative Employment. [online] Available at: http://www.thecreativeindustries.co.uk/uk-creative-overview/facts-and-figures/employment-figures [Accessed 17 Aug. 2017].
BrainyQuote. (2017). Zig Ziglar Quotes. [online] Available at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/z/zigziglar617828.html?src=t_employment [Accessed 17 Aug. 2017].
Gov.uk. (2017). Working for yourself - GOV.UK. [online] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/working-for-yourself [Accessed 7 Sep. 2017].
