This week I made the decision to restart my hunt for a job. The internship season has blossomed and now is the perfect time to share my skills to the media industry.
I did do some job searching in late 2016 and early 2017, securing some interviews on the way, but no success in securing a job. Then I took a step back from the job search while moving into my first home and getting the house adapted.
Now the house is complete, I can now focus on finding work. I did apply for one internship programme back in January and attended an assessment day in London 2 weeks ago. The scheme is called Change 100 and is run by the charity Leonard Cheshire, who support people with disabilities. This programme is purely for people with a physical disability, sensory impairment, learning difficulty, long term health condition or mental health illness. If successful on the programme, candidates are given a placement based on their academic choices, skills, experiences and preferences.
Companies involved in the scheme include BBC, BMW, National Lottery Fund, County Councils plus many more. This year 800 people applied to the scheme, 400 of us were invited to assessments and only 200 will be selected on the programme. I am due to find out if I’m successful at the beginning of April.
In the meantime, I’ve been searching for other traineeships within the media industry. This week I submitted an application for a journalism traineeship at ITV News. It will be a 9 month placement starting 1st October 2018, where 12 successful candidates will be working at their regional newsroom. I hope to work at ITV Meridian or ITV London if I secure a place.
ITV also run work experience placements. Insight Pool is a membership group which allows people to view upcoming work experience opportunities across ITV. Being a member doesn’t guarantee you a placement. Placements will pop up as and when work experience is available.
I have also begun applying for the BBC journalism traineeship which will be based in London. This will be an 11 month programme where BBC Academy will train successful applicants the skills needed in online, digital, radio and TV news. BBC also have traineeships in engineering, business and legal.
In addition, I hope to apply to Channel 4’s training schemes when applications open soon. They include a production training scheme, graduate data scientist programme and investigative journalism.
Another job I hope to apply for include a two week placement at The Guardian’s programme; Positive Action Scheme – Disability. This scheme brings people from diverse backgrounds into the media industry. ‘This year they are looking for people with disabilities to take part in their summer work experience placement at their offices in London.
Here is a list of links to the jobs I’ve mentioned:
- ITV News Traineeship 2018 – Deadline: 11/03/18
- ITV Insight Pool – Opens: 02/04/18
- BBC Journalism Traineeship – Deadline: 04/04/18
- Channel 4 Training Schemes – Open: TBC
- The Guardian – Deadline: 26/03/1
If anyone can suggest any more internships, apprenticeships or work experience placements in the media industry, please share them below or on social media.
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