BBC Production Co-Ordinator Apprentice Scheme - PLACEMENT #1

It may seem like I’ve completely abandoned my blog recently, and whilst this is slightly true, I’ve had a complete whirlwind six months that have distracted me, and fairly so!

Having spent night-after-night writing and tweaking my answers, I eventually clicked ‘Submit’, sending an application to the BBC for a place on the BBC Production Apprenticeship scheme.

After a long summer of waiting, an email shocked through my inbox inviting me to an interview at BBC Elstree. Having met so many talented and passionate people, I was beginning to doubt my chances but was grateful for the interview experience I attained.

Just a few weeks later, I was contacted inviting me to attend a second interview, but this time for a different scheme. My love of organisation and planning must have come through to the assessors, who recommended I apply for the BBC Production Co-Ordinator Apprenticeship instead.

“Would you be able to come to Broadcasting House on Thursday 15th August?”

“Sure, of course, thank you!” I immediately responded. Just seconds later, I began to question why this date seemed so familiar in my mind; of course, it was my A Level Results day. If one day wasn’t already stressful enough, I now had the added pressure of the most important meeting in my life so far.

BBC Broadcasting House

Less than a week after my second interview, I received a call offering me a place on the Production Co-Ordinator scheme. Shock, nerves and excitement thundered through me as I looked forward to the 30th September and the all-important first day.

Having already met some of my fellow apprentices at our interview, I felt at ease as soon as I saw a handful of familiar faces in the room. Quickly I began to mingle and meet all of my fellow apprentices. It wasn’t long before we were all smiling, laughing and on our way to the pub after work! Many friendships begun on that day and I know that I’ll hold them dear for a very long time.

Upon entering the BBC Academy at Elstree, I have always felt hugely welcome and supported by the amazing team that run the apprenticeships and training schemes. My scheme manager, Maddy, and scheme co-ordinator, Darren, have been incredibly supportive from Day 1, firstly for giving me this opportunity having read my application and interviewed me, as well as their ongoing help and support 24/7 during our training and whilst out on our industry placements. Having started this scheme fresh out of secondary school, I really do have Gilly and Martina, our scheme assessors, a lot to thank for due to the incredibly useful and insightful training they gave us to prepare for our placements in the TV and radio industries; I’m not quite sure what I would have done without it. The organisation that the whole team have put into planning every finite detail of our apprenticeship, from co-ordinating our training, finding our placements and assessing our evidence and coursework, has been fantastic and one of the countless reasons why I would recommend this opportunity to anybody with an interest in working in the media.

I’m now coming to the end of my first placement and the 3 months have completely shot by; but time flies when you’re having fun. BBC Music Television was an ideal first placement for me and I’ve had the opportunity to work on some incredible shows that I’ve grown up watching. Top of the Pops and Jools Holland’s Hootenanny are iconic British TV shows that I feel very fortunate to have worked as a runner on. The experiences I had in December at these two programmes were made by the very intelligent, organised and talented colleagues around me, as well as by the guests and presenters I was responsible for looking after. They say that you should never meet your idols but I’ve certainly met some of mine in the past three months and will cherish the memories of meeting such genuinely lovely and interesting people.

Jools Holland Hootenanny

Another highlight from my time at my first placement was achieving my first broadcast credit as a Production Team Assistant on Sir John Tavener Remembered, a documentary shown on BBC4 on New Year’s Eve. There’s no greater buzz than seeing in the New Year celebrating the hard work you put into a programme.

One of the reasons I have loved BBC Music Television is the variety of roles I’ve been able to take on. As a Departmental Production Management Assistant, I’ve been very fortunate to have a role that oversees the whole department with the opportunity to work on all sorts of productions and projects. From BBC Learning, to Classical Music documentaries, Entertainment Music documentaries and larger Popular Music shows, my experience here has always been diverse, interesting and full of different challenges and opportunities to learn.

The iconic Top of the Pops sign

My colleagues here have always been supportive, helpful and willing to teach me and give me opportunities to learn and develop myself and I can’t thank them enough. I’ll be keeping in touch with many people here and will miss them when I’m gone.

But the adventure must continue – but where will I go next? My second placement is nearly here but still TBC. Watch this space!