Team Assistant Apprentice Review

My placement is working alongside Production as well as Technology within the Group Procurement department, the tasks I undertake include but are not limited to: - Conducting research into suppliers, sending out tender information to suppliers, follow up on questions & helping to evaluate supplier responses - Arranging and logging production supplier visits and open days, producing comms to for Production Executives for such visits - Help with the planning, content, running and management of ITV's annual Production and Technology supplier award events - Booking meetings- Juggling busy Production Manager and Head of Production diaries. - Coordinating and managing Request for Quotations on behalf of Production Managers.

I can utilise my already strong communication skills, both verbally and written within this role and apprenticeship as a whole - it can be used when communicating with Production and Tech suppliers or the business stakeholders. At ITV, using your initiative is really important, to pre empt situations, or learn from any mistakes you make. I have learnt in training courses how to communicate effectively to different types of personalities and levels of authority during my time here, which is a valuable skill. The training courses are so varied and can be well applied, particularly courses for CV writing, interview skills and managing your career.

I really enjoy my role here as it is so varied. I get to meet every level of authority from virtually every area of the business. The team is so accepting and willing to help, and trusting of my ability to complete various tasks. The company culture is really encouraging, ITV really embraces and respects Apprentices- there hasn't been a single person who wasn't willing to help me, answer questions or allow me to gain valuable experiences. I feel that this programme is the perfect stepping stone for a long term career.

Despite not being an "official" employee but an apprentice, you honestly wouldn't know the difference from an outsiders perspective. Every effort is made to ensure that we are well respected, utilised, trusted and are valued members of our teams and the business as a whole. I feel valued by not only my team, but due to the nature of our role within the business, we often work on behalf of productions, who are equally as welcoming to me and who I believe value my input.

We had a week long induction period, where we learnt about each other, the scheme, who is involved in the scheme at ITV and the company itself whilst gently integrating into our individual teams. There is a good support system from the team which leads the programme and they are always available to help. The programme is well organised and there is a good relationship between the team who run the scheme, our managers, and us.

I have been assigned one individual tutor, which is so beneficial as you can build a rapport with your tutor, who understands how you work and what you need. Workshop days are a good opportunity for the apprentices to get together and learn together, which is a good insight for our tutors as to how we best learn. Because our training provider isn't solely working for ITV apprentices, it can be difficult to get quick answers to assignment questions- when you have some downtime to complete your assignment, you want to get it done as soon as possible before your workload increases.

The support from ITV is really well organised and structured. My managers are really approachable which is great. The team in charge of the scheme are also really friendly and approachable, it is easy to stop and have a chat if you bump into them, but equally there always seems to be time in their diary if you want to meet for longer which is so useful. I also off my own back have connected with a mentor in Resourcing, whereby we run through the next steps after my apprenticeship, going over roles, questions, my CV and expectations which I found really useful- though this isn't something ITV had organised.

London costs are so high, for transport especially. I am aware that the London based apprentices are paid slightly more to account for this, which is a real saviour! Whilst my ASOS account is practically dead, and my Topshop habit has been broken, the salary covers pretty much everything else! The train fare, my car, car parking and insurance is covered which is what mattered the most. I am lucky to live rent free for the 12 months of my apprenticeship. I do have a second job (as do many of us on the scheme), at evenings and weekends to sustain a social life, but the job and my hours allows for this and it is my choice to do so, it isn't out of necessity.

I have been lucky enough to have shadowing placements and stand in roles most recently with Saturday Night Takeaway, standing in for rehearsals and dress runs, shadowing runners and junior floor managers, as well as completing my own runner tasks for cast, crew and talent. I have also done work experience at events such as the BRIT Awards Nominations show and after parties. There are also team "away days" which are hugely beneficial for integration within our teams. Being part of an apprenticeship scheme with other like minded apprentices means that we ourselves have created our own social life as a group outside of work, which allows us some downtime in the evenings and the occasional Saturday night!

Yes

The opportunity to learn, earn and build amazing experiences for a long term career is what matters most, ITV makes this happen.

The most important thing is personality, a company can teach knowledge and experiences, but they won't be able to teach personality- especially within TV. Add personality to your application, make it stand out as the team is going to see thousands of the same thing- make it memorable. The assessment day is a but of a blur, but don't try to hard when working with the team, don't be overbearing but do input your ideas. Be genuinely interested in the role and ask questions. I didn't even know my job role ever existed before this, but by asking questions and educating myself, it showed willingness and an open mind.