The daily duties of a media trainee can vary significantly according to what he or she has been hired to do. A trainee is generally an entry-level worker who is learning more advanced skills to become a full-time, independent employee within the media field. He or she is likely to focus on one specific area of media rather than the entire industry in general, but regardless of his or her area of expertise, the media trainee will work under the guidance and supervision of a more experienced employee.
A media trainee may focus on advertising, marketing, or production jobs such as sound, film, graphic design, and much more. As a trainee, this employee generally won't do too many complex tasks at first, but as his or her training progresses, the media trainee will be entrusted to work on more and more complex tasks, always under the guidance of a more experienced employee. The trainee will rarely, if ever, perform any duties without an immediate supervisor present to monitor the work. The duration of the traineeship can vary depending on the complexity of the job and the trainee's background and education.
In some cases, the terms "trainee" and "apprentice" are interchangeable, though in other cases, a media trainee will be a lower-level position in which he or she will have the opportunity to prepare for an apprenticeship. Apprenticeships can last several years, and at the end of such an apprenticeship, the candidate will usually need to pass some sort of licensing or certification exam in order to become a full time media professional. Traineeships and apprenticeships can be formal or informal; informal traineeships do not culminate in any licensing or certification, so the duration and intensity of the traineeship can change according to the supervisor's assessment of the media trainee's progress.
All media trainee positions will focus on some aspect of media, but some traineeships may not be directly related to media at all. An accounting trainee, for example, will focus on accounting techniques that can be applicable to other industries; a law trainee will focus on learning about the various laws concerning media in a particular country or even in the world. Most trainee positions, however, will be more directly related to the creation and management of various types of media, from production jobs such as sound and visual engineering, to marketing and advertising trainee positions.