How to get a trainee job at Telegraph Media Group

Telegraph Media Group takes on around six editorial trainees (from up to 2,500 applicants) per year.

The application process opens in the autumn and trainees are expected to start the following September (the closing date is 30 November).

Here, editorial executive director Richard Ellis gives his tips on how to give yourself the best possible chance.

What does the Telegraph look for in trainee recruits?

People we take on need to be smart individuals.

They need in particular to have a dedicated commitment to journalism through student journalism or work experience.

A number who have gone onto the scheme in recent years have gone on gap years and worked on English language newspapers abroad, gaining first-hand experience of being a journalist.

That commitment and passion for journalism is something we are always looking for.

Probably around half the people we take on come straight from university, having done just one degree, and the other half have done some form of post-graduate degree related to journalism.

They will mostly be from City University or Cardiff but also from others.

What skills do they need to have?

They need to be inquisitive and have all sorts of traits that we’d want in any sort of journalist – the ability to get on with people, the ability to find stories, to have an eye for a story and have basic grammatical and English skills.

Obviously these days, any skills that they have in the digital world are important as well.

What tips would you give to aspiring journalists?

Look at the people you admire in journalism – if it’s sport, Henry Winter or Paul Hayward and any other great sport writers of the time.

Look at their stories, read their journalism, look at how they cover stories and learn from them. Some people have an innate gift for writing and others learn it.