Work Experience at NBC Universal

Hear from one our Year 12 Media Studies students about their 3-day Work Experience placement at NBC Universal, November 2023.

Tuesday 31^st October 2023: 

On the very first day of our experience, we were welcomed and greeted by the lovely HR and Talent team and we were presented by a wonderful cooperate breakfast! We were also given a bag of goodies, which we all loved.

Shortly afterwards, we were given a brief rundown on what NBC is and who they own as well as the aims for NBC. We also learnt about Comcast which we all found rather interesting to know about. We then got an office tour by where we spotted a life size figure of both Kung-Fu-Panda and Shrek and took a couple of pictures.

We then proceeded to distract (Not intentionally I promise!) the employees on their desk who I’m sure were extremely busy. Not only that but we appeared to have interrupt a very ‘important’ Halloween party going on the 10^th floor. There were several decorations around which I though gave the office that extra touch to make it look rather aesthetically pleasing. Next to the ‘important’ Halloween party was a balcony with a spectacular view of London. We took a picture and proceeded to make our way down to the third floor for lunch (Yay more food).

After lunch, the Kids & Family Entertainment team and employees from DreamWorks gave us a presentation on advertisement and the different methods used to put a product out in the market. And finally, we had Emmanuel from strategy who told us about his background and different types of networking as well as what is available for us after Sixth Form. We then played a strategy related game called ‘The XY Game’ where the objective was to accumulate as much money as possible. The game was all about trust and building strong relationships with people. After playing the game I have learnt that it is important to keep good relationships with people and I have also learnt not to trust my peers again! 

Wednesday 1^st November 2023 

The beginning on the second day began with the Sales team. They spoke about the different routes they took to get to where they are today. We were also shown how companies pitch their movie and TV show ideas to their clients such as the BBC so that they get licence, and well make money! After that, was the part I think most of us were looking forward to. THE SCREEING!!!

We then made our way to one of the screening rooms to watch The Super Mario Bros. Movie. We thought it was cool to have our own private screening of a film. We were also thrown off guard by the post credit scene where Bowser was seen dancing is his cage whilst he was his miniature self (SORRY FOR THE SPOILERS). When we were done with the screening, we had lunch which was followed by Business Insights. They also told us what experience they had as well as what opportunities there are if you do not wish to pursue a degree.

Then, the fun part began. We were split into two different groups and were given the task to create a YouTube thumbnail for a collaboration with the Minions and Mario Bros. We also had to create a title for our thumbnail and walked the group through our work. The thumbnail included wacky and goofy images of both the Minions and the Mario Bros, which was shockingly a brilliant idea as this is exactly the kind of thumbnail you would see on YouTube.

And lastly, we met with the Sales Administration team. They gave us an insight on what they do. For example, Alessandra was in charge of localisation on content, she is in charge of a movie being subbed and dubbed in multiple languages, which I think was the perfect job for her as she was able to speak so many languages! She also showed us a video of how a movie clip is in different languages, both the audio and the subtitles. And that wrapped up day 2. 

Thursday 02^nd November 2023 

The final day 🙁 . It started with a CV and interview skills session with Brinda. She gave us advice, tips and tricks for the future and the dos and don’ts of what to include in a CV. She also gave us a rundown on how to create a LinkedIn profile as well as what to add on it. The session was rather helpful to my peers.

After that, was the pitch. The pitch. The pitch where we had to show of all the work we had done as well as what we had learned throughout our experience. All five of us worked together on a PowerPoint on pitching The Super Mario Bros. Movie to the BBC. We then pitched our idea to most people we had met so far. And it went really well. In my opinion it did anyway. They then asked us questions about the pitch as well as how our experience went including our favourite part of the experience. I answered every question without breaking down in tears, and just like that it was over. We were given another goodie bag which included a Mario hat and sunglasses which I wore out of the office (which I thought looked cool. No, people weren’t laughing at me).

And then we left and here I am writing this. Thank you for taking the time to read this 🙂 .

Could you offer work experience for a young person in Tower Hamlets and make your career their future? Invest in your future workforce and host a Work Experience student for free in 2024.

📨 Work.experience@theswitch.org
📞 020 8142 3585