How did Michael find his Traineeship with ITV News?

In 2017 why not join the most commercially successful news operation in the UK with a News Traineeship? ITV News is offering you the opportunity to join our national and regional news teams as a trainee journalist learning all the skills you need to work in one of our multi-media newsrooms. The challenge is big and will demand the very best of you. You will need to demonstrate a commitment to journalism, have story ideas and be ambitious.

This is a nine-month programme starting on Monday 2nd October 2017 and we are looking for 12 talented recruits, seven of whom will work in one of our English Regional newsrooms in ITV Anglia (Norwich); ITV Central (Birmingham); ITV Granada (Media City, Salford); ITV Meridian (Whiteley, near Southampton); ITV Tyne Tees & Border (Gateshead); ITV West Country (Bristol); or ITV Yorkshire (Leeds). Two trainees will be based in our national newsrooms one for ITV Cymru Wales in Cardiff and the other for UTV in Belfast. Two trainees will be working in our Network newsroom based in London, and in addition, we have an opportunity for one trainee at ITV Channel (St Helier).

You’ll receive a salary of £22,394 for all roles outside of London (£24,000 in London) and five weeks annual leave pro-rata’d during the scheme. A very high percentage of those who graduate from the programme have gone on to secure permanent jobs with both ITV News and ITV more widely, although there are no guarantees of continued employment beyond the 9 months.

Here is one trainee journalist’s experience of the programme:

Michael Sibert: On-Screen Journalist, ITV News Central

I joined the ITV Trainee Scheme in March 2010 as the trainee at ITV Anglia. If someone had told me then that little more than 6 years later I'd be stood in Rio de Janeiro reporting on the Olympic Games, I quite simply wouldn't have believed them.

The 'on the job' training, coupled with periods where you and the other trainees learn technical and editorial skills away from the newsroom, puts you in a perfect position to thrive under the pressure of a live news environment. You are immersed in the newsroom and, as soon as you're ready, you'll be producing bulletins and be a vital cog in the day-to-day production of our programmes. You will visit other newsrooms around the country for training, giving you an almost unique insight into the way ITV News operates.

After working in Norwich for 18 months, I was offered the job of Nottingham reporter for ITV Central. Since then I've been lucky enough to cover a whole range of big stories from the Philpot murders to police station firebombings to Leicester City's Premier League title success.

In August 2016 I was chosen to go to Rio for the Olympic Games as the ITV Nations and Regions Olympics Correspondent. I was covering the games for 18 different programmes across 12 nations and regions. We carried out more than 70 live broadcasts and interviewed all the Team GB medalists just hours after their triumph.

It was an incredible experience, and proof of the opportunities available to those who come through the ITV News Trainee Scheme.

The application deadline is 26th February, 2017.

If you would like more information on the programme and how to apply, please click here.

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