OF ALL the career destinations for university-leavers, there is one sector that is consistently popular with new graduates. Despite its reputation for low starting salaries and few degree-level positions, almost a fifth of final-year student jobhunters from the Class of 2005 applied to work in the media.

Much of the sector’s lasting appeal — it has not been outside the top three career choices for university graduates in the past decade — is due to the perception of a pacy, high-profile and glamorous life in television, radio, newspapers, publishing, advertising or PR.

With eight TV channels, more than a dozen national or international radio stations and countless local radio and internet services, it’s no wonder that final-year students find the BBC an attractive proposition. It is ranked among the top five most desirable employers in The Times Top 100Graduate Employers.

The BBC, however, doesn’t run any formal graduate recruitment programmes, so finding a way into the organisation can seem much harder than conventional recruiters. Apart from the occasional training scheme, the vast majority of graduates enter the BBC through individual vacancies that are promoted on a job-by-job basis during the year.

There is a very wide range of roles available and up to 1,000 degree-holders are estimated to join the BBC each year to work as journalists, presenters, researchers, production staff, engineers and administrators. Irrespective of the role, the BBC emphasises that what it is looking for is enthusiasm, motivation and relevant experience and it hardly ever specifies that applicants need to have a degree.

This inevitably means that new graduates face particularly stiff competition for jobs at the BBC unless they have already been actively involved with the media during their time at university. For those who haven’t, it may be better to try to get work experience — paid or otherwise — with other media employers before applying for a BBC job.



Martin Birchall is editor of The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers


What does it do? The BBC is Britain’s national broadcaster and more than 92 per cent of the population tunes in each week to its TV or radio output. The BBC’s annual running costs, almost £3 billion, are paid for by the annual television licence. The BBC employs more than 27,000 people.





What does it employ graduates for? Although hundreds of graduates join the organisation each year, the BBC does not run a graduate recruitment scheme. It usually hires new employees through one-off vacancies that are advertised; it is rare for these to specify that applicants must be graduates.





Where are the jobs? The BBC has operations across much of the UK but BBC Television is in West London; BBC Radio and the World Service are at Broadcasting House and Bush House, in Central London.





What are salaries like? They vary considerably.







What’s the competition like? Vacancies at the BBC often attract hundreds of applications per job.



The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers is based on research with more than 16,000 final-year university students. Order the 2005-06 edition from Times Books First for only £13.99 (rrp £14.99). Call 0870 1608080 or visit www.timesonline.co.uk/booksfirstbuy

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