Children's TV Trainee Finder
Trainee Finder is an entry-level placement scheme which places trainees on children’s TV and high-end tv productions to offer new industry professionals proper on-the-job experience and to ensure a continued supply of talent. It is open to both scripted and unscripted productions.
To be eligible to receive trainees from Trainee Finder, productions must have agreed to contribute to the Children’s TV Skills Fund. Taking trainees through Trainee Finder enables productions to claim back £250 per week for up to 36 weeks in total (ScreenSkills suggest that this support is spread across multiple trainees, i.e. three x 12 weeks or two x 18 weeks). To find out more please visit the support a trainee page to find details and FAQs.
Productions are sent CVs and the details of trainees for interview. Once trainees have been selected productions inform the ScreenSkills Trainee Finder team, who issue a contract.
The appointed supervisor and trainee will agree to a training plan which benchmarks the trainee's skills and learning objectives throughout their time on the production which at the end will show how far the trainee has progressed. Subsequent opportunities for the trainee on their next production will build on these achievements and address skills gaps and further required learning to help them develop in their chose trainee role.
"In children’s TV, we cover the whole spectrum of content – we jump from factual to scripted to entertainment and throw in animation as well so it is a great area to work in. And they’re all lovely people who are there because they’re passionate about what they do," said Valerie Ames, production consultant and Children's TV Skills Fund co-chair.
"I would recommend anybody wanting to work in television to consider children’s for the variety and satisfaction if offers - and a great place to start is the Children’s TV Skills Fund training."
For more information about the Children's TV Skills Fund and development or training opportunities it supports, please email Sarah Joyce, Head of Unscripted and Children’s TV.