Digital Journalist Apprentice Review

As a digital journalist apprentice, my role is to help contribute to my team by pitching any story ideas that I have or have found. Typically, I will search for news stories via twitter and other social media platforms such as Facebook. Occasionally, I may get a story commissioned and can work on that. However, I do not get given set tasks to do, so often I have no work to do and am just searching for my own stories to pitch.

I have learnt a great range of skills as well as developed my pre-existing skills. Although this was never a skill I have lacked, working in a news environment where I talk to people on a daily basis and occasionally make phone calls has built upon my communication skills immensely. I have also learn many editing skills, such as how to edit for radio, online videos and TV.

I am extremely grateful for my programme and the opportunities that I have been able to receive through it. I do enjoy it, and have been able to make great friends from it and meet great people, however, sometimes I can feel lost when I do not have anything to do. Likewise, the transition from sixth form to a 10-6 job whilst also trying to attain good grades and receiving lots of homework from college is stressful. Travelling home from work is long due to rush hour, and often I find myself with little energy or time to complete college work.

The programme is very well structured. We have a great co-ordinater who takes care of all of our issues, and organises everything for us which is very helpful. They do a great job at keeping us informed when we have an up and coming events or training weeks, and is a great support.

I am aware that there are people available to go to if I need support. Within my team my mentor or manager may ask if I'm okay, however, I think that there could be more support provided for those who have never worked a full time job before, as the transition is very intense. Our co-coordinator however, is great at providing support if we have an queries or concerns, and if you ask them for any help they will try to help as best as they can. Our line manager is also very sweet and I do feel supported by them as I feel as though they actually care about us by the way they write their emails to us.

At our college, we get college weeks before our exams so that we can get some last minute revision from our teachers which is helpful. However, we do get given homework every week which can be intense and sometimes the way that we are taught can be limited to one learning style and is quite old fashioned. It would be much more beneficial if our lessons were more engaging so that we could retain the information easier, and that there is an understanding among the teachers that everyone has a different learning method, and that this needs to be catered for.

I think that the essential journalism element of the qualification has helped me as before I never knew how to write articles. Also, Media Law has helped me to become aware of how certain wordings of sentences can cause the company to be sued, so this is beneficial for me in the future.

There are language courses available to offer, however, they are only very causal, and also finish very late, which is an issue given I already get home from work quite late as it is, and I am left with not much time. I am not too familiar and aware of any other social networking events though.

Yes

I would recommend the apprenticeship scheme, as it is a great way to get your career started, and there are great opportunities to be sought. I have been able to learn a lot and I am very grateful. However, if a young person is already established in their career then the may want to be in a more diverse and youthful environment.

Make sure to be yourself throughout the whole application process, as the BBC aren't looking for generic interview answers, they are looking for personality, and any exciting person who can brighten up the company and help put forward a diverse range of ideas. They should also be sure that they are aware of the type of working environment the BBC is.