How to become a studio director

“This is BBC Radio 4, it’s 5 o’clock and time for PM with Evan Davis”

[Greenwich Time Signal]

Sam – Studio director

“Okay, here we go then…”

Matt – Studio director

The studio director is the operational role behind everything you hear on the radio.

Cassie – Studio director

You’re really that link to making sure what the producers and editors want their programme to be, actually happens.

Evans Davis – Presenter

Studio directors are incredibly important to presenters. We really don’t know a lot of what is going on – who is on the line, who isn’t turning up. So, we rely on that key relationship with the studio director to keep us informed.

Sam – Studio director

In the cubicle, we’ve got two operational staff. One of them is the studio director which sits here and one of them would sit behind me at the mixing desk and that’s a job that we also take on as part of the studio directing role.

Cassie – Studio director

And this is a great chance to really bring some creative flair to the programme.

Matt – Studio director

You’re actually pressing the buttons. So, you’ll be fading guests up, you’ll be EQing them, adding compression where necessary.

Wayne – Senior studio director

When you go from once piece of audio to another, you don’t get something that sounds really loud and something that seems quite quiet. It just all seems… level.

Cassie – Studio director

A studio director begins with some prep time to go through the running order, chat with the producers…

Matt – Studio director

You might look after some pre-records, testing lines…

Weidong – Studio director

If somebody sent in an audio that’s heavily distorted or it’s really noisy in the background, they will rely on you to do a bit of sound engineering to sort of solve those problems before they go on air.

Matt – Studio director

When you’re on air, if you think of it as a liner going across the ocean, it’s making sure the ocean liner stays in one direction and it doesn’t start swaying off.

Weidong – Studio director

…so, the studio director know what’s going on next, the presenters know what’s going on next…

Evans Davis – Presenter

Presenters don’t want to know too much, but they do want to know enough.

Weidong – Studio director

Even though they’ve got ten million questions in their head, it’s our job to tell them “time’s up”.

Sam – Studio director

There’s lots of audio coming out of different speakers and the presenter might be trying to speak to you, the editor might be trying to speak to you. Fundamentally, you need to make sure you communicate in a clear and concise way.

Weidong – Studio director

…and you need to be quite unphased when things happen.

Wayne – Senior studio director

How well do you listen to stuff? Can you detect when things are too loud, too quiet?

Matt – Studio director

Our job is a real team player type of job.

Emma – Studio director

You have to be able to be a problem solver.

Wayne – Senior studio director

You’ve got to be able to organise, and you’ve got to be able to stay calm.

Emma – Studio director

I didn’t do my A-levels, I went to college and did a BTEC in Radio Production instead.

Sam – Studio director

I did a Politics degree, which isn’t particularly relevant to this role, but I think it shows that you don’t necessarily need formal qualifications to do this. I think a bit of work experience is helpful, so I did quite a bit of student radio whilst I was at uni.

Rob – Studio director

I think that the best SDs (studio directors) are the ones who understand the stories that you’re covering because it means that you can spot things.

Emma – Studio director

One of the most interesting parts of the job is when you’re working on those big breaking news stories.

Rob – Studio director

I did PM on the day of the Bridge attacks. That attack started unfolding at 3 in the afternoon, somewhere around then. PM is on air at 5, the entire programme just went out of the window.

Emma – Studio director

I worked on the World Service the day after the Capitol insurrection, and, you know, it was a really intense programme, and then at the end of the two hours you kind of sit back and just… take a bit of a breath, and you’re like “okay, that is one of the good ones!”

Matt – Studio director

“Wow! That was incredible! and there you are broadcasting to millions of people.

Sam – Studio director

We work across a whole variety of output…

Cassie – Studio director

…so, you might start by directing a flagship Radio 4 programme…

Matt – Studio director

…and then running the desk for a 5 Live programme or…

Wayne – Senior studio director

…Newsbeat, which goes out to Radio 1, 1Xtra and Asian Network. Loads of fun, very very lively programmes.

Sam – Studio director

I work on the Global News Podcast, which has a really big reach.

Wayne – Senior studio director

I do sound on TV as well, for the News Channel and World TV.

Matt – Studio director

Some of the World Service programmes we do are really high level and listened to by millions of people…

Sam – Studio director

…so, they might be going out on air at 1 o’clock in the morning, that’s because perhaps the Asian audience or the American audience is listening to them.

Emma – Studio director

So, you get very used to, you know, being in the building at 3 o’clock in the morning.

Evans Davis – Presenter

Studio directors are incredibly important to presenters. That direct channel of communication with someone who knows what is going on and able to let us know where we’re going – incredibly, incredibly important. Because you really need someone to hold your hand.

Emma-Louise Have you ever had an idea for an invention, something you thought would make your life easier? If so, you've taken your first steps into engineering something.

Frankie As an engineer, you apply scientific principles to design and help create all sorts of things like buildings, aircrafts, or bras.

Emma-Louise Traditionally, engineering falls in four main categories: chemical, civil, electrical, and mechanical engineering. And, within each of these, there are more specific types of engineering disciplines.

Frankie There were nearly 870,000 engineers in the UK [in 2020], with an estimated 4% growth of just under 40,000 more jobs by 2025.

Emma-Louise You could consider roles such as electrical engineer, chemical engineer, mechanical engineer, nuclear engineer, or software engineer. For electrical engineers,

Frankie people who design, build and maintain electrical systems and equipment,

Emma-Louise there is an expected job growth of just under 1,600 jobs by 2025. As of 2020, the median salary was just over £50,000 per year.

Frankie For civil engineers,

Emma-Louise people who design and manage construction projects, anything from bridges to sports stadiums,

Frankie there's an expected growth of approximately 2,800 jobs by 2025, with a median salary of around £44,500.

Emma-Louise And for mechanical engineers,

Frankie people who develop and design machines that are used in various industries from construction to farming,

Emma-Louise there's an expected growth of just under 2,600 jobs by 2025, with a salary of around £42,000. If you've got a curious mind and love problem solving, engineering could be a good career path for you.

Frankie There are many ways into engineering. The first thing to figure out might be what kind of engineering you're interested in.

Emma-Louise You could consider apprenticeships that are relevant to that role, like a Level 6 Manufacturing Engineer or a Level 6 Electro-mechanical Engineer apprenticeship. These typically take between four and six years to complete.

Frankie Of course, there are also many university courses you could look into. Courses such as Electro-mechanical Engineering, Applied Physics, or Aeronautical Engineering. You would usually need two or three A-levels or equivalent for these, and some of these courses will specify if you need particular A-levels, or the equivalent. Maths and Science subjects are sometimes required.

Emma-Louise There's now more choice as the new T-level qualification is available in England. These two-year courses are equivalent to three A-levels and involve 80% classroom learning and 20% industry placement.

Frankie You can also find out about courses accredited by professional engineering institutions from the Engineering Council.

Emma-Louise Engineers have valuable transferable skills that are handy for other job roles and everyday life, such as problem solving, critical thinking, and working through potential solutions.

Frankie If you've heard things in the past that have made you think engineering is not for you, it might be worth taking a deeper look. Engineers are working on some of the most exciting challenges we face, be it enhancing virtual reality or engineering better medicines. Let's hear from some professionals. Ben is an aerospace engineer. "I love interacting and working with people to find solutions to problems. I enjoy knowing that millions of people fly around the world every year on products that I have helped develop. There's a big push at the moment for more environmentally friendly solutions. Air travel is a massive contributor to global warming and so anything that the industry can do to reduce harmful gases being emitted will make a big impact."

Emma-LouiseDavid, an expert at the Institution of Engineering and Technology, says: "The most exciting thing about engineering and technology is that there will be roles in the next five to 10 years that don't exist yet. Artificial intelligence (AI), coding and ‘green jobs’ – those that work to combat climate change – will continue to evolve and be some of the most important roles within the sector in years to come. It's also really important that the engineering industry is inclusive and representative as engineers, design products and services for everyone."

Emma-Louise Engineering is creative, exciting and not to mention that it pays pretty well once you've worked your way up beyond junior roles. The median wage within the sector is over £41,000, compared to the median full-time salary in the UK which is around £28,500.

Frankie There's also particularly strong growth in software publishing and wireless communications.

Emma-Louise Engineering is also an industry where the gender mix isn't well balanced, although the research is unclear as to why.

Frankie The main shortfall here is engineers who identify as female. As of 2020, 88% of engineers identified as male. However, lots of employers are keen to change this, so there should be more and more opportunities coming up for engineers who identify as female.

Emma-Louise One thing that's for sure is that there are going to be lots of opportunities available in the engineering sector, with just under 40,000 new jobs expected by 2025. So, if this has piqued your interest, then it'll be worth doing some more research to see if this is right for you.