Creative and Digital Media Apprentice Review

Currently I am a researcher/runner/logger across many different productions. I create posters in Photoshop, edit showreels, transport tapes/equipment to various buildings, research facts and figures, log footage, burn DVD's and many, many other things on a daily basis. I am nearly always busy with something. I am constantly being approached by various people who need my help, which I like as it makes me feel important. Usually, once I help them out with a few favours they reward me by letting my go on shoots or sit in on edits. There is a mixture of office roles and more creative roles. However, I find it very hard to get any on-set work which is something I have asking for since the very beginning of this apprenticeship, and it is what I am truly passionate about.

The training we receive is the biggest problem with this apprenticeship- it is incredibly basic and boring and involves sitting in a classroom for hours on end. It feels like being back at school and just comes across as pointless. I felt like the training hasn't really taught me anything of value- only things that are simply common sense to anyone such health and safety, keeping environmentally friendly ect. A free two week course I did before this apprenticeship was 100x better. There's also a ridiculous amount of coursework to complete that can distract you from the important work you should be focusing on while on placements. The only worthwhile skills I have learnt are ones that i took time to learn myself on my placements. Editing videos, Editing websites, using software ect. are all things I went out of my way to learn so that i would be more useful while at work. I have also met various talented people on my placements who have been kind enough to show me how to use equipment.

At the beginning I found it really hard- I was even thinking about leaving at one point. On my first placement my team treated me like a tea-maker and not much more- I wasn't allowed to join them when they recorded programmes or do anything other than very basic jobs even though they knew that I was skilled and experienced and longed to work on set or use a camera. [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyApprenticeship Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] An intern from New York joined the team at the same time I did- and even though we had the same experience and the same job he was showered with praise and constantly allowed to go and do the "fun" jobs (like filming interviews with celebrities), while I sat around and twiddled my thumbs. My boss told me to wait until he left, as he was only there for one month, and they promised me that I would get to do all of his jobs as soon as he was gone. However, once the intern left I was actually left with less to do. Most days I had nothing to do for hours on end, no matter how many times I asked for work. I felt consistently left out, and when I came back after the christmas holiday I was alone in the office for a whole week because no-one bothered to tell me that we had moved to a new office in Oxford Circus. On Wednesdays we recorded our live shows, and instead of perhaps being on set or shadowing the director as I hoped, I was made to go out and buy food and drink for the green room. This usually involved 4 bottles of wine, 4 crates of beers, 4 crates of water and then lots and lots and lots of food on top of this. I am a very weak person physically and struggle to carry anything heavy, and I knew that there was no way I would be able to get all of the items by myself. I told my team about this and they completely ignored me and told me to go and get the shopping anyway. I would spend anywhere between two and four hours walking back and forward from the shop to the green room, carrying as many groceries as I could in one go. I felt so frustrated- I joined this apprenticeship to get production experience, and yet here I was carrying groceries every single week with nothing in return! [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyApprenticeship Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] Even when I had finished buying the groceries they would leave me to move them from room to room- one time they actually let the elevator doors shut in my face and I had to carry the bags all the way down the stairs by myself. Once I had finished all the shopping I hoped to finally get on set and get some experience- but every night it was the same. I would be told to stay in the green room for the entire night and "watch over the food." I would sit by myself and watch the show being aired on the TV, feeling frustrated that I couldn't be there with them and help out. I felt completely useless. When I told my apprenticeship manager about how I was being treated, and about how I wasn't enjoying my placement, they told me that I was acting "over-priveledged" and that I should be grateful for any type of work I get, no matter how poor it is, because i'm at the BBC. [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyApprenticeship Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyApprenticeship Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyApprenticeship Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] Upon joining the BBC I was always told to be myself and never change for anyone, and yet some of my apprenticeship managers would keep telling me that I was too shy and too introverted and that I needed to be more confident in order to succeed- I found this incredibly hypocritical and felt saddened at the fact that I couldn't simply be who I wanted to be without being judged. Put of all this together with the low wage and lack-luster training and it wasn't very surprising that I wanted to leave my apprenticeship after about 4 months. I just don't get the sense that anyone really cares how well the apprentices do or what they achieve. Sometimes I feel like we are just being used as cheap labour and we hardly get anything out of it because the training is poor, and sometimes the actual work experience we get is poor also. However, despite all this, I managed to stay at the BBC and things are much better now. I am really enjoying my second placement, I feel valued and appreciated by my team and I feel like I am achieving great things. The issues I had with some of my apprenticeship managers thankfully does not apply to all of them- some do really work hard to make sure we get good support and placements. Sadly I cannot forget how I was treated at the beginning as it really made me lose my passion for television and programme-making as a whole for many many months, which is such a sad statement to make when apprenticeships are meant to inspire people and help them achieve their aspirations.

With some teams I work with I feel really valued. I get a lot of recognition and appreciation and I really enjoy working with them. I am grateful to be currently working with such a lovely team. With others I do not feel appreciated at all. Sadly I think this is the case in any working environment, and doesn't reflect directly on the BBC. [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyApprenticeship Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions]

In some ways it is well organised- I think doing a big bulk of training at the beginning was a good idea. However I find that there is a real lack of communication between the apprentices and our managers. I often only find out things through word of mouth, or will receive an email way too late which forces me to make decisions short notice. I don't think it is well structured in the way that I had to take a week off work to do extra training right in the middle of my second placement- it annoyed my employers and I had to sacrifice some great and valuable experiences to sit in a classroom all day. I asked if I could do the training another time or do it while at home, but my apprenticeship managers were not flexible. Then I turned up to the training to discover that it wasn't important at all and more like a catch up week where we worked on our qualification- this greatly annoyed me as I really did not need to be there and we could have worked out a good alternative.

I receive as much as I put into it- I feel that I can contact them at any time and they will be there to help me. I feel as though I could approach my apprenticeship managers about anything. However, I do not like how rarely they get into contact with any of us- most of the time it really feels as though they are not there at all.

From my first employer I did not receive any support at all. However, my current employer is beyond amazing- they constantly email me to check up on me, push opportunities my way and I feel like they are genuinely on my side and are trying to make sure I have a great experience. It really is down to luck whether or not you end up with a good employer who supports you.

My salary is way too small for working in london- I spend hundreds a month just on travel alone. Even the most junior roles at the BBC pay double than what we earn, and even that is seen as a low wage! I am lucky that I am living with my parents so I don't have to pay rent- but if I was living away from them I think I would really, really struggle. We are constantly told that we are being valued by the BBC and that they are so lucky to have us- but it feels like empty words when we get paid so little.

The BBC has a wide range of activities and clubs, although i haven't joined any myself I know they are there if I am ever interested.

Yes

Despite everything it's a respected name to have on your CV, and you get to meet many important and talented contacts. I would warn them about my experiences and leave it up to them to decide whether the positives outweigh the negatives.

Be yourself- always. Be honest and speak up if you don't feel you are getting anything valuable from your placement. Always ask for more jobs / opportunities. Make yourself seen/heard- don't hide away quietly in the corner. Make sure everyone remembers you.