Case studies: Broadcast assistant: Charlotte

Charlotte graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in media with communication and cultural studies. After doing work experience at a cable TV channel and regional newsroom, Charlotte decided she wanted a career in broadcasting. Charlotte now works as a broadcast assistant for the BBC.

With the exception of an introduction to production and reporting, my degree subject really wasn’t very relevant to my current job. I got my job when a friend I went to university with contacted me when she heard I was looking for work. She was working as a broadcast assistant and they needed holiday cover so I started off as a casual broadcast assistant, working in children’s radio. In this case, it really was a question of knowing the right people. I had to officially apply for my job to be put on a fixed-term contract and then apply again to be made permanent.

If you are looking to get into this area of work I would suggest you network as much as possible. Work for free if necessary, as the people you meet on work experience will be good contacts for the future. Make sure you have lots of ideas and don’t be afraid to voice them.

I did no formal training so learned everything I know on the job but if you want to have more qualifications to boost you CV, some people do postgraduate courses in broadcast journalism, although this is usually a quicker route to becoming a journalist or producer.

My current role involves a variety of tasks including:

• assisting the producer with timings;
• completing PASB (Programme as Broadcast) and music reporting;
• creating online material for the web;
• assisting with research by finding original stories and contributors;
• writing briefs and cues for presenters;
• producing interviews/discussions for live programmes;
• archiving past programmes.

I love the diversity of my role, meeting lots of different people, being able to learn how to make programmes and develop my journalistic skills. I also enjoy being creative with editing material. There is such a huge network of people to help and inspire you, once you get your foot in the door. The least enjoyable part of my job is the paperwork involved, e.g. PASB and music reporting, which can be dull but is important.

In the future I would like to become a producer but I will have to apply for assistant producer roles first.