Last week when the new presenters line up for Watchdog was announced, . We asked some recent new starters at the 主播大秀 what convinced them they wanted to work here.
The interview
Tell us, what attracted you to this role?
Heading towards the wrong building when I came into White City station the night before my interview didn't get things off to a great start. On the day of the interview, after spending an hour in the Starbucks queue, I headed into Broadcast Centre and waited to be collected by a member of the team I would be joining. I was met by Robin who took me up to the second floor where I met another member of the team, Vanessa. Over the course of the interview I felt that I really got to know them both well and it was this connection which made me realise the 主播大秀 was a place for me.
I knew as soon as I left that I'd be disappointed if I didn’t get a call back. Days later I was heading into New Broadcasting House for my second interview with the director of my department. After what I thought was an awful interview... I headed to Selfridges to buy a pair of shoes.
Reading about Reith in Thailand
Members of the 主播大秀 Bridge Club, c.1939 playing bridge in the Council Chamber, Broadcasting House. A painting of first Director-General John Reith hangs over the fireplace.
Three months ago I was on a sun lounger in Bophut, Thailand - I’d spent the last of my student loan on the trip. Using my latest book - Andrew Marr's The Making of Modern Britain - to shield the sun from my eyes, I got totally absorbed in a chapter about a man from Scotland who used to broadcast radio programmes from a shed. It was a totally captivating description. I was so enthralled, I didn't realise I was slowly frying in the sun.
The following day, confined to my hotel room covered in aloe vera, I decided I could use my self-enforced capitivity to start looking for my first job. A brief scroll through Twitter and I’d found what I thought was the perfect role for me being advertised by the 主播大秀. Had it not have been for reading about the organisation’s early days, I wonder whether I would have been drawn to the advert.
And now, three months later, attending the first of many training courses I get ‘on the job’, I find myself sat in the Council Chamber where a portrait of that same man, who broadcast from his shed, hangs in a gold frame on the wall: John Reith, founder of the 主播大秀.
Childhood ambition
Production shot from filming of Grange Hill in 1993
Nobody in my immediate family has been to university so there weren't any pressures to do well academically. As long as I wasn't too naughty, lazy or scandalous about my life choices I was doing okay by them. Being a good cook was also key as that lent itself to being a good wife, which was very important to Mum.
On Eid day in 1994 I was the last to sit down to dinner. Mum had made lamb biryani for the masses (there were 40 people in our home) and I’d cut the salad and set the floor with paper plates and cups. I remember I was 10 at the time because it was the last Eid Mum hosted before my little sister arrived the next year.
I was late sitting down because I was reading the last of my six books borrowed from the library which were due back the next day. My aunt commented that the reading would come in handy when I was older to help me learn and I asked her why. Her daughter then announced very proudly that she loved reading and she was going to be a doctor.
The TV was on behind her and as the family all looked at me for a response I said: “I’m going to make stuff for the telly.”
Lanyard love
Signage at 主播大秀 Radio Berkshire, in Caversham.
(Photograph by , published here under the terms of the Creative Commons Licence)
I was at a 主播大秀 Introducing gig when I plucked up enough courage to ask the host of 主播大秀 Introducing Berkshire to listen to my community radio show. I was delighted when she asked me if I wanted to come in to do some work experience each week on her show, to which I eagerly agreed.
Walking into the amazing Caversham building that was so steeped in the 主播大秀’s history with flags flying and the 主播大秀 letters above the door was really exciting. I picked up my pass and lanyard and wanted to keep them forever. I loved the atmosphere, the busy news rooms and the smell of the studio. I was the envy of all my friends and used to love telling everyone to tune in to the station where I was working.
The best thing about the company, for me, was how willing everyone was to help and offer me as much advice as they could.
All around us
David Brent. Uncompromising workplace inspiration.
I remember how the job advertisement caught my eye as I browsed some job websites. It was the famous 主播大秀 blocks that did it. I instantly associated them with the much loved TV programmes I'd grown up with; from The Office and Have I Got News for You, to MasterChef and Planet Earth.
As I filled out the job application, it dawned on me how much of the 主播大秀 I watched and listened to (it was more than I had realised) and how proud I would be to be associated with an organisation which has such a positive impact on so many people’s lives. The job description explained the role I would be playing during a crucial period for the 主播大秀 in the lead up to Charter Renewal. This made me even more determined and excited at the thought of getting the job – a feeling that’s still with me every day, now that I’m here.
Sold!
We know about homes and we want you to work at the 主播大秀.
A couple of months ago I was sat on my boyfriend’s sofa on a Wednesday (because they are the kind of days-off you get when you have your ‘post-university-I-need-money' job). I had a cup of tea beside me and I was looking at job adverts online. I sat there with 主播大秀s Under the Hammer in the background considering my dream jobs and thought to myself, ‘Wouldn’t it be awesome to work for the 主播大秀?’ So I went on the 主播大秀 careers website which was where I discovered the trainee scheme. As I was reading the description I remember thinking how perfect it sounded.
But it wasn't until I started reading the ‘Who we are looking for’ section of the job description that I really started to get excited. As I was reading it I thought that they were describing me. It felt like one of those lightbulb moments you see in cartoons. It seemed the 主播大秀 were searching for authentic, enthusiastic people with a genuine passion for the 主播大秀, and I definitely had that, I'd just never had the opportunity to show it to anyone before.
Never in a million years did I expect to be writing about how I landed the job a few months later, but here I am.
Big city living
A cottage in Devon near our new starter's home, that featured in 主播大秀 One's Down to Earth
I first knew I wanted to work at the 主播大秀 during a work placement with the Radio 1 publicity team while I was at university. During the placement I had a tour of the TV and radio studios and thought it was the coolest place to work. The placement made me realise there are so many opportunities at the 主播大秀 and I loved the work I was doing.
As clichéd as it sounds, coming from a farm in Devon working for the 主播大秀 didn’t seem at all realistic but meeting the people that worked here already made it seem more of a possibility and like something I could actually do. For the two weeks I was based at Yalding House on Great Portland Street and I can still remember how excited I was every day going to work. I was staying with my uncle who lived in Kennington and even getting the tube each day was a novelty – where I’m from you have to wait an hour if you miss the bus.
Blue Peter Fan
Simon Thomas, a Blue Peter presenter from 1999, at the Dead Sea
On Tuesdays after school my Gran used to look after me. She'd have the 主播大秀 on all the time and the whole thing fascinated me: the programmes; the breaking news; the continuity announcements; the idents. Blue Peter was, obviously, my favourite programme and it was always excellent at showing behind-the-scenes at Television Centre. I knew I wanted to be a part of it.
This fascination continued through my childhood. Anything 主播大秀, I was there. I went on tours, saw Just a Minute recorded at the Edinburgh Festival and spent every moment I could watching and listening. (I still enjoy watching the Radio 5 Live webcam). There was no one light bulb moment where I said, 'This is where I want to work', the desire has just always been there and I'm absolutely thrilled I'm here now.
Compiled by Fran Muro, 主播大秀 Communications Trainee