Everything you need to know before starting a graduate scheme
It’s that time of year again where many students make the move to big cities like London, Manchester or Bristol for their graduate schemes. It can feel a little daunting at first, moving to a potentially new city, signing yourself up for a 2-year programme filled with training and rotations. But it also feels fresh and exciting; a new chapter in your life.
I’ve been a part of my graduate scheme at The Times & The Sunday Times for 18 months now and have around 6 months to go until I am no longer a ‘trainee’. Throughout the past year and a half I have learnt a lot about myself, seen two other graduate cohorts arrive and another leave. Along the way I have picked up a few tips and tricks to get the most out of your scheme, whether that’s in TV, film, digital, journalism, production or something else entirely!
Visiting the News UK Archives with other graduates
So here are five things I’d recommend you do to get the most out of your graduate scheme:
Introduce yourself
It may sound rather obvious but often it will be managers or coordinators introducing you to members of the team. Instead, make sure you actively introduce yourself to everyone you interact with. Not only is this polite, but it helps you to start that initial rapport with the colleagues you’ll be working with.
You should also spend some time finding out more about them, both inside and outside of the workplace. Professionally, prepare a list of questions of things you want to know, skills you want to learn; but then also have conversation starters ready to go. They can be as simple as: “How was your weekend?”
These little interactions can go a long way!
Network with intention
One great thing about a graduate scheme is that you’re not the only newbie at the company. You’ll be joining with anywhere from five to even 20 other people depending on where you’re working. When I joined The Times, there were three of us: two on video, one on sport. Six months later a much bigger group started. Nevertheless, all of these graduates have become great friends of mine.
However, it’s also important to meet people off the scheme. You may find that people of a similar age are at your company who have got their job through different means whether that’s the result of an apprenticeship, higher education or experience. If your company offers events or networks that you can join I highly recommend doing so. It’s a great way to interact with and meet new people and learn from others.
Me with colleagues from the video team at the NewsUK Pride Party
This is really important if you’ve joined a journalism grad scheme - finding and telling stories is all part of the job and you never know when you may need to call someone up for help with a story.
Become a ‘member’ of STAN
On the first day of my scheme I discovered that myself and Tom, the other video grad, had both done student TV. What's even crazier is that we had both attended the same NaSTA weekend and yet we hadn’t met until our first day in the office!
Stories like this are often very common, with many former student media students entering the creative industries after they’ve graduated. For this reason, I’d highly recommend keeping up to date with everything that STAN is doing - whether that’s attending social events, drinks after work or mini-conferences. It’s a brilliant way to keep in touch with student TV members and meet new ones too!
A snapshot from NaSTA 2026 in Loughborough
Get a mentor
Sometimes companies will offer you a mentor, whether that’s another individual on the graduate scheme, or someone who’s an experienced member of staff. In my case, this was both! I began with a ‘student mentor’ - someone who was around six months ahead - and could answer questions about the scheme, balancing work whilst studying for an NCTJ and understanding the opportunities that were available to me.
Further down the line, I was partnered with a mentor who had been working in the industry for around ten years. They’ve helped me to set goals, navigate difficult situations, advocate for myself and also just listen to the occasional rant!
If your workplace doesn’t run a mentoring scheme then it’s a good thing STAN does! A mentor is there to listen first and foremost but also to provide advice, navigation and support. In the early stages of your career this can be vital. They’re a great person to talk to and more often than not they’ve been in similar situations and can lend their expertise on anything ranging from taking the next career steps to writing a pitch.
Find a work-life balance
The nature of your graduate scheme might make it seem like you need to be doing something 24-7. Whether that’s working overtime, attending several events or being the loudest voice in the room every time. But in reality, this isn’t sustainable.
You deserve to have time off to do the things you like. Join a football team, have a drink at the pub, read your book in the park or go home and visit your family. Days off and annual leave are there for a reason - so use it!
Recently I started making my own content again, something which I’ve neglected for a while. It ranges from showing my life on a graduate scheme to spending a day in London for free. You may be wondering: why does a video producer want to spend their evenings editing more videos? And the answer is: because it’s fun! The content I make for me is different to what I make at work and it allows me to be creative in my own way.
My point is, don’t give up the things you love. It may take some time getting used to a new routine but it will happen eventually.
Remember, you worked hard to get a place on your graduate scheme so the most important thing is, enjoy yourself! This post was written by Sophia Crothall
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