Daniel
Digital Sales Apprentice
Before I joined Channel4, I was a professional cyclist. But I decided the world of professional sport wasn’t for me; I wanted to do something more creative. So I went along to the 4Talent Belfast Pop Up event, met lots of people from the channel and really liked them. The fact I didn’t have a background in media or television was not an issue at all. What Channel 4 is interested in is you as a person; your passion and energy.
I won a competition to come to our London headquarters which was great. I used that opportunity to make as many contacts as possible and these stood me in good stead when I came to apply for the apprenticeship. My network was able to advise and support me; I came through the assessment centre and I got the job.
In a nutshell, what I do involves managing the lifecycle of a campaign. We respond to briefs from advertisers by creating bespoke All 4 solutions that meet a particular need. It’s fascinating to learn about the process from the initial idea phase right through to the finished product. I also get involved in tracking and reporting on response. That way we can demonstrate that we’re engage the audience and delivering value for money. If we do this, we nurture the relationship and this means advertisers will trust us more when it comes to pushing the boundaries.
Stefan
Apprentice
I’d only really had admin-based work placements before I came here. These didn’t really lead anywhere. So when I learned about the apprenticeship opportunities, I went for it. Channel 4 is really good at matching people to the right roles. They don’t put you in a box. To begin with, I was an IS apprentice. I enjoyed it and managing the processes suited me as I’m a very organised person but they thought I’d do better in Production Finance and that’s where I am now.
All apprentices get a full induction. There’s a tour and a presentation about the channel. It gives you an overview of how things fit together and this is a good base to build on. As you get to meet the other apprentices, you’ll learn about what they do too. This is really useful as there’s a lot of work that’s done across departments.
My day-to-day role is very varied replying to invoices; answering queries from production companies; talking them through our processes; meeting minutes; lots of numbers and spreadsheets. So you have to have good attention to detail and know when to flag issues to line managers. I’m also doing a course in business administration which is really useful and, because of what I do, I get to see the whole programme-making lifecycle.
I love Channel 4 because we’re a risk-taking channel. We’re a different kind of public service broadcaster. We’re not corporate like the BBC. We do things our way. We push boundaries.