Relevant work experience, tv

https://youtu.be/3L4YrGaR8E4



1996-1997 Volunteer, TeleCuatroCaminos Local Tv channel Madrid Spain. Approximately eight months. Once a week on Thursday evenings, occasional production meetings and outings.

As an aside to my first year journalism studies at the Complutense University in Madrid Spain, I worked as the floor manager for a small magazine-style TV show featuring a number of experienced and semi experienced journalists and tv/radio production workers. The studio was quite cramped so we only had one vision mixer in a small space immediately behind me with possibly one apprentice or assistant beside him or her. Around two cameras and two stages. Our show, 'Road to nowhere', featured current affairs, talk on motorbikes, gossip, etc. I especially remember it for the telephone that never rang once despite requesting calls. Everyone seemed to have a blast and students could develop skills there and unemployed journalists could feel like they were in the loop. Nobody spoke English. The studio also featured a radio room for on air talking.

1998, Foxtel TV Studio Darling Harbor (Fox affiliate), Sydney Australia. Two week unpaid winter internship with the John Laws TV show (something like an Australian version of Bill O'Reilly). The executive producer (formerly of 60 Minutes Australia) complemented me on my high standard of writing for research I produced on popular American Jesse Jackson. My primary role was as a researcher and to assist the production team with their research needs. This involved internet searches and microfishe newspaper searches at the NSW State Library as past newspapers were not commonly digitized in those days. While not liasing with anyone in the vision mixing area, I did talk with the vision mixer on one occasion and got a feel for the planning weeks in advance (often just two) that production relies on for guest booking and research. I undertook this internship in conjunction with my continued studies in journalism and media at the University of Technology, Sydney.

Language Tutor, TOTAL FINA ELF multinational oil company HQ at La Defense, Paris, France. Nestle Food Company HQ, Paris, France. November 2001-May 2002.

In between Spain and England we have France. After finally discovering America in ninety days, I promptly proceeded to Paris, France to learn the French language and engage myself in honest work, contributing taxes to the Republic of France. Over 80% of my full-time work was spent at Total Fina Elf HQ at La Defense tutoring one on one a cross section of a typical oil company.  This included the head of security, the CEO's personal assistant, one lady in charge of moving entire oil tankers across the world, another employee in charge of in store products at gas stations across France, geologists with detailed subterranean maps (before fracking), human resources department workers and senior executives responsible for relations with affiliates in Texas (one of whom was fond of playing battleships). I also spent one day a week tutoring Nestle employees, most memorable there was a small footbridge about two yards long between the cafeteria and adjoining courtyard that crossed the famous Marne river, immortalized in World War 1.


Language Tutor, People's Republic of China, December 2003-February 2006. Intermittent to residing in the United States of America and elsewhere during this period, I spent approximately a year and a half teaching sixteen years olds and under ten year old children the English language at Tonghua near North Korea in Jilin. Dongying in Shandong province, Guangzhou and Shenzhen in Guangdong. My position in Guangzhou lasted seven months and was overseen by a very high level Communist Party member. I also travelled to Yunnan and Xinjiang, the latter very famous now for its critical human rights circumstance.

Language Tutor, Republic of South Korea, Seoul, February-May 2006. Rounding out my hitherto year and a half stint in what I, as an Australian, would refer to as Northern Asia, I spent a further three months in Seoul working diligently and contributing usefully to the local economy, somewhat.

Sales Rep, Internet Trading, World Business Exchange Network, Los Angeles, California, September 2006-February 2007. https://wbe.net/
After a stint at Rite Aid, Sedona, Arizona, acclimatizing myself to the West, I proceeded to work for a small business opportunity in Los Angeles, catering primarily to Black Americans for CEO Roosevelt Robey. This role involved selling a U.S. Government endorsed package of Trade Leads with the end of encouraging folks to organize trade deals (as go-betweens) for merchants around the world. This role mostly entailed telephone sales.

March 2007-March 2009, Sofia, Bulgaria. During this two year period in Bulgaria, I worked almost constantly on a number of different roles, at IBM I conducted customer service for customers in Spain (speaking Spanish) as an IT consultant. At A-Plus I sold internet search optimization and website design and the like to clients in the U.S.A. I taught English and Spanish online and continued teaching English language on site at various locales to various professionals like police, IT specialists, human resources specialists, psychologists, teenagers, kids. Bulgaria has a unique economic history, and this period, more or less concurrent with the GFC, did not see any hampering of Bulgaria's then very robust labor market by the GFC. Interestingly a lot of pension funds around the world were affected by the GFC but that never affected Bulgarians much either.

Language Tutor, Madrid, Spain. September 2000-July 2001. I worked at the Caixa of Galicia HQ (a big bank) on Serrano Street. And elsewhere in Madrid along these lines, including at VIMESA SA, a company dedicated to large commercial radio antenna production and implementation.

IT consultant; Database specialist; Sydney, Australia. 1995. Working at Microsoft HQ in Sydney as an IT consultant around the time of the Windows 95 operating system rollout
I helped my personal team migrate to the new system, I have a strong grasp of IT, internet and electrical engineering concepts. Prior to Microsoft my first full-time job after graduating high school in December 1994, after a quick stint as a door to door salesman in Melbourne, was at Permail, St Leonard's Sydney, as a database manager. Our database compiled all Australasian doctors for a mailing company representing pharmaceutical interests.


I have other business interests, often incorporated in my Australian business listed as BENJAMIN ALVAREZ  with registered Australian Business Number (ABN) 33022855435 and trading under various names along lines including, but not restricted to: dance choreography consultancy, IT consultancy, transportation industry, cleaning services, landscaping and gardening services, online appraisal and consultancy services, computer programming services, carpentry and home renovation services.

Large parts of my curriculum pertains to aforementioned business activities pursued in Australia, New York, Bulgaria and elsewhere and I do not care to list them as I do not feel they are relevant to a career in television necessarily. I have never engaged in any sustained, serious civil or criminal conduct as a matter of general lifestyle or business practices, therefore I have never declared bankruptcy, never been sued and never had any ongoing criminal issues with any law enforcement jurisdiction in Europe, Asia or North America. I essay to respect all men (humankind), endeavor to treat people respectfully regardless of race, creed, color and personal lifestyle choices or self-identifaction positions, I find this especially easy in the case of (all) Americans due to shared linguistic and cultural values.