Digital Journalist Review

My Job Title is Digital Journalism Apprentice. My day to day tasks generally involve curating and producing content for online and social media. I find stories by phoning contacts and film their achievements/stories, then edit and upload these to BBC Radio Northampton's social pages.

I will have gained an NCTJ Award by the time I have finished my apprenticeship. I have partaken in plenty of training courses, including radio training, online training, digital video training. I have learnt to edit videos and radio packages on systems such as Final Cut Pro X and Dira Highlander.

I thoroughly enjoy the programme. I have been given a lot of responsibility, freedom and respect within the workplace and throughout the whole apprenticeship. The team I work in are very motivational and give me many opportunities to develop my skills.

I feel valued - I am often given a ring by my two managers just to check how I am getting on. This is really reassuring because I feel we have a proper relationship and I could speak up if I had any problems. I have been accepted and valued by everyone.

There is a structure to the scheme meaning that I always know where I will be and what I will be doing. However, the college work and revision is dotted throughout the apprenticeship which I find quite difficult - I prefer to study in long chunks. Despite this, the structure of the programme works really well for some of my colleagues.

My training providers gave all been incredibly useful and informative. They have all shed light on how they became so successful in the industry and were able to give good advice and show me essential skills needed for my day to day work. I have never been to a training session without learning something new.

I feel I am definitely in a position to speak to my manager if I had any problems, whether they be personal or professional problems. I haven't been in much contact with my work mentor, however, I have loads of people in the work place who I am comfortable speaking to and who check up on my progress.

I pay for rents and travel, and with my salary I am just about comfortable with this. My only travel is if I want to go back to my family home over the weekend. I have enough money for food, the gym and some spare. I am satisfied.

There are plenty of Leisure centres, I have a gym membership and there are lots on nice places to eat in the evenings. I also attend a knitting group which is really enjoyable.

Yes

The company is inclusive, respectful, and you feel listened to. You get a lot of freedom and can chose your path, and dictate what opportunities you are given. The quality of training and equipment provided is excellent and the support with college work etc is great.

BE YOURSELF. You need to have a niche and know what type of thing you're in to. Try to have a rough aim of what you want to gain out of the apprenticeship. Come to your interview with a positive, enthusiastic attitude and make sure you have done something impressive to show you're genuinely keen - for example, record your own radio show or start a podcast or YouTube channel. These all show passion and enthusiasm.