If you are in school or further education and looking for an opportunity to gain practical experience at the heart of Gaelic media, MG ALBA offers work experience opportunities throughout the academic year. Although the work experience placements are unpaid, you should find them rewarding in the skills and experience you will gain while with us.

FAQs

What types of work experience placements do we offer?

We offer:

• one-week Work Experience placements for school pupils in the 4th year of secondary school (unpaid);
• bespoke Work Experience placements for college or university students according to their needs (unpaid); and
• Summer jobs (paid) to carry out specific projects. Previous projects have included digitising media archives, cataloguing and organising document archives, presentation on BBC ALBA, studio assignments.

Who are we looking for?

We are looking for motivated, conscientious, confident individuals who show an interest in MG ALBA and what we do. You will be a fluent speaker of Gaelic or a learner willing and able to practice and improve your conversational Gaelic skills.

What will happen during my placement?

• Work-experience placements for school pupils

Work-experience placements for school pupils will give you an excellent overview of the range of activities carried out by MG ALBA. This will include editing, camerawork, audio engineering, presentation, scheduling, marketing and social media, and can also include accounting and finance, IT and corporate governance if you are interested in those activities. A typical 5-day programme will be something like:

Day 1: Induction then shadowing the BBC ALBA scheduling team
Day 2: Presentation – a day scripting and recording BBC ALBA links
Day 3: Marketing – plan programme promo and social media
Day 4: Studio – shadowing camera, sound and editing professionals
Day 5: Shadowing Finance, IT or administrative staff; or reception duties

• Work-experience placements for students in further or higher education

We will be happy to look at your application and see if we can offer something tailor made for you.

• Summer jobs

All jobs will be advertised on our website. In general we will be looking for motivated and conscientious individuals who want to develop their skills, have a commitment to Gaelic and to Gaelic media and demonstrate the potential to carry out the specific project.

What skills will I develop?

As well as getting an insight into the day-to-day technical, professional and channel management tasks of the organisation you will also develop core soft skills: communication, time-management, self-confidence, team-working, problem-solving are just a few of the areas you can develop during your time at MG ALBA.

Where are the opportunities?

The opportunities are mainly at our Stornoway head office. It may be possible to work from Glasgow on placements focused on gaining experience in events, PR, web and social media.

When are the Work Experience placements? And how many are there?

February, March, September and October. A maximum of 2 placements each month.

How do I apply for a Work Experience placement?

Please submit an application to this email address in Gaelic if possible: hr@mgalba.com and mark it “Greis-Gnìomhachais”. Ensure your application includes the necessary approvals from your school, college or university.

When are the Summer Jobs? And how many are there?

June to September. Generally between 2 to 4 jobs paying £200 per week. These opportunities will be advertised on our website as and when they arise.

Important Information

You should be within reasonable travelling distance to the Stornoway and Glasgow sites or be able to organise your own travel and accommodation.

Please note that submission of an application for Work Experience does not automatically guarantee a placement. This will depend on a suitable placement being available. It is imperative for insurance purposes that the school/college/university gives their approval and provides a point of contact during your placement week. Without this detail MG ALBA will not be able to consider your application.