Everyone wants to work for Auntie. Not least because the Beeb has been the home of some of the most iconic and respected characters of this century; David Attenborough, Stephen Fry, John Simpson and Katie Adie to name but a few. Sadly however, having good A-Level results or even a first class degree from Oxbridge will certainly not guarantee you journalistic carte blanche to the exulted halls of the Television Centre or Broadcasting House.
Despite this, the BBC still attracts rafts of young and not so young hopefuls, willing to trade in low cash for high caché. The Beeb’s reputation alone means that highly employable people are prepared to work for tuppence for a chance to be part of the most prestigious media outlet in the world. Take Gareth Brookes for example. Here is a twenty five year old man with a first class degree in English from Oxford and a Masters in Journalism. And even with this glowing CV, Gareth started as a runner.
So what is the cause of this devilishly tricky employment crisis? A mixture of money and competition says Marie Grosvenor, a former BBC recruitment agent. “Traditionally, the BBC has been renowned for its training,” she explains. “Over the past fifteen years, this has changed dramatically. Focus on career development rather than career access is making it increasing difficult for new starters. In 1995 the BBC offered scores of training courses and opportunities for new starters, both graduates and non-graduates. Now, if you don’t have a degree, you may as well not bother applying and if you do and it’s not vocational, then your only way in is through an administrative job.”
According to the BBC’s annual report 2008-2009, BBC staff numbers have decreased by 9% since 2004, a reduction of over two thousand staff, and most of the cuts have been directed at the journalists. Carl Broadmead, a senior broadcast journalist in the Multimedia newsroom says that the cuts have meant far less openings for beginner roles, such as broadcast assistants.
“Since the BBC started cutting back, most departments simply can’t afford to keep employing and training new journalists,” he says. “BA positions used to be the way that most graduates broke into broadcast journalism, but now the number of openings has been radically reduced. If BA jobs are advertised, 99% of the time they are internal and on fixed term contract, meaning there is zero job security. And because of the vast numbers of people willing to work for nothing, the salaries are utterly criminal. Even in London, a BA will be lucky to get £20,000 a year. And yet, every time a BA job is advertised externally, we get on average, over a thousand applicants.”
So what does the man on the ground, Gareth Brookes, think about this? “I don’t mind it too much,” he says. “I’ve always wanted to work for the BBC; no other media company has that sort of the reputation. In some war torn countries, the only media allowed in is the Beeb because they’re respected for their impartiality; they tell the story, that’s all.”
But doesn’t it bother him that despite having graduated from one of the best universities in the country and spending thousands on his education, he has to make coffees for people all day? “I do more than that!” he laughs. “But seriously, no it doesn’t bother me. I could have applied for a different position somewhere else, even a different job within the BBC. I could have been an accounts manager or something, but to be honest, I’d rather accept the low pay and know that, if I work hard enough, I’ll be making my own documentaries one day.”
So there you have it. It seems that the BBC’s reputation still has the power to attract people in their thousands, despite the meagre salaries and unfulfilling jobs. But on a positive note, even the great David Attenborough’s CV was initially turned down, so that should make all of you failures perk up a bit.
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