Looking for work in the creative industry? Here are 10 tips to help...

Photo: Domenico Loia

Unlike many other industries, there is no set path to breaking into the creative industry. Some opt for creative courses at university or college; others work their way up through a variety of roles; and others still carve their own path working independently. Success looks very different for different people, so it’s important to understand what you want to get out of a creative role or career. But what steps do you need to take to find one? Who do you contact? Where do you start? Well, here are a ten brief tips if you’re interested in a career in the creative industry.

1. What’s in your portfolio?

In reality very few creative jobs will ask you whether you got a 2:1 in Graphic Design or an A in GSSE Art. In reality, they are far less interested in your qualifications than they are your ideas, skills and experience. I’m guessing, if you’re reading a post on how to get a creative job, that your experience is pretty limited. That’s where your portfolio comes in. What you present is your opportunity to sell yourself, and what you present should match your goals. For example, if you want to get a job in a design agency, then you will need to have a portfolio that shows diverse skills, such as typesetting, layout design, typography, conceptual thinking and so on. If, however, you want to get illustration work, you may have greater success showing a specialist portfolio, reflecting a constant style. There are exceptions to this rule of course, a design agency may require specialist skills and there are illustrators who make a living out of very diverse work – but these routes are often more challenging. Think about your ideal role and how your work will fit in with this – make sure your work is applicable. On a practical level, you need to demonstrate you can carry out tasks well from start to finish – for this reason it’s often helpful to show full projects, from initial sketched to final output of the work. This helps potential employers or clients to understand your process and see work in context so they can see how it’s transferable to their projects too. Don’t be afraid to put personal work in your folio – in fact I encourage you to do this. Employers or clients want to see personality and originality. This also helps if you haven’t had any real work experience yet – try to re-brand an existing company or illustrate an existing article. Try to do work that you would actually be employed to do.

2. HOW IS YOUR CV PRESENTED?

This may not be relevant for you if you are looking for freelance work, but when looking for employment think about how your CV is presented. I am continually surprised by the amount of CVs I am sent that have no thought put into the design. This doesn’t mean you have to have a complicated CV – in fact, the opposite is better – it needs to back up your work and your skills. If you’re saying you have design skills but can’t align paragraphs or use constant fonts, this triggers alarm bells that you do not have the skills you profess. Your CV should always be regarded as secondary to your portfolio and should refer to your portfolio where you can – shout about the skills you demonstrate, the commissions you’ve undertook, the clients you’ve worked for (if you’ve done so). Don’t bore prospective employers with lengthy information about old jobs or course modules if this is not relevant to the position you want to get. This doesn’t mean you can’t write about other interests, but make it interesting! Aside from your skills, your personality will be a big factor – nobody wants to work with boring people so don’t be afraid to be yourself.

3. DO YOUR RESEARCH!

Think about who you are approaching. It’s not always a case of sending the same CV out to everyone – You may need to tailor it to specific agencies or businesses. You want to stand out as someone who has done their research. Try to make a company or organisation feel like they’re the only one you’ve approached – reference work they’ve done, how they’ve inspired you or aspects about their processes that you connect with. Take a look at their company website and note how you feel your work fits in. The same thing goes if you’re looking for freelance work – just write a few lines in an introductory email, referencing the company’s current work. You don’t have to go overboard (in fact, please don’t!), but just a few reference points is helpful to show you are not just in it for the money (even if you are). The truth is, you need to show how you are also going to make money for someone else too so it’s a win win outcome – people want to work with people who are invested in them.

4. Work for free

I do not condone unpaid internships or companies who advertise opportunities for ‘exposure’. This is not the type of free work I am suggesting here. Those sorts of opportunities are unethical and also make the creative industry a very elitist profession – cutting out opportunities for those who do not have parents to fund them or who cannot afford to work months unpaid. In fact, from the start I would recommend that you take your work very seriously and have the expectation that you should get paid a fair wage or fee. However, many of you may not have the experience you would like to have and this is frustrating when many companies require it just to give you a foot in the door. All is not lost though, there are ways you can build experience if you put the work in. Set yourself self initiated briefs and log your progress and outcomes. Treat these as live projects and show them in your folio. You can also develop skills relatively low cost by learning skills such as animation or web development through YouTube tutorials or joining online learning platforms such as Skillshare which are relatively low cost. Remember, the only real reason agencies and clients want you to have experience is to prove you can do what you say you can do - they want a track record. Don’t be afraid to get work in industries that aren’t creative either – dealing with people in any environment is essential experience. If you have good references and a brilliant portfolio, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be employable if you’re proved you’re dedicated to learning and development. If you do decide to get work experience, make sure you are mutually benefiting and not being exploited – if internships are unpaid, are they dedicating time to teach and train you? If they’re simply expecting you to share their workload for no fee, then this is unacceptable.  

5. BE CURIOUS

If you’re just starting out, then use these early years as an opportunity to experiment. Having a niche or specialism can take years to develop – you should never try to force this. The benefit of being young and talented is that you are more likely to take risks with your work than someone who has been in the industry for years. Use this to your advantage – push ideas and boundaries, try new concepts and materials. Mix skills, learn, play. Let your curiosity take your work places and don’t be afraid to have fun with it. This is exactly why a company would hire you over someone with way more experience than you. Demonstrate your ability to be agile in your work and transfer skills to different mediums. Push concepts and draw on issues that matter to you in your work. This doesn’t mean that you won’t also have to demonstrate that you can work to processes and tight briefs, but it does mean you will stand out for having fresh ideas.

6. BE OPEN

Opportunities may not always be what you expected. Many of mine have come from working seemingly mundane jobs, or meeting people I never expected to get opportunities from. Don’t hold too tightly to set ideals at this early stage – that doesn’t mean you have to let go of your dreams, it just means the journey there may be unexpected. Sometimes it involves saying yes to things that aren’t ‘perfect’ but those things can teach you a skill that pushes you in the right direction. Sometimes it’s putting work in front of people you don’t think you have a chance in hell of getting work from, but if you never try you never know. Keep your eyes and ears to the ground for anything that leads you in the right direction and don’t count yourself out if you feel you lack experience – you could just be what someone is looking for.

7. BE REALISTIC

You’re not going to be the next big thing overnight, these things take time. Are you in it for the long haul and prepared to put the work in? Are you prepared that people are not always going to answer your emails or tell you your work is great?. A career in the creative industries isn’t plain sailing, there are many challenges involved (even if you do end up getting the job you want!). There is rarely a point when you will feel you have ‘made it’ because there is always work to do – the industry is always evolving, meaning that you have to continually adapt and push new things. The creative industry is highly competitive – this doesn’t mean it’s impossible to get work but it does mean that jobs may be harder to get than other industries so try not to compare yourself to your peers pursuing different things. If you’re working a part time job to pursue your passion, this is a perfectly valid route to give you the financial support while you develop your work. Don’t let anyone tell you you have not achieved anything if this is still the case years after you leave college or university – if you’re still pushing towards your goals this is all that matters.

8. BE CAREFUL WHOSE ADVICE YOU LISTEN TO

There is a LOT of advice out there and it can often be hard to know where to start or who to listen to. It’s easy to just assume that anyone who has more experience than you will have valid information to share, but don’t be too blinkered. Some ‘experts’ love to shout how knowledgeable they are, particularly when it comes to social media. Though these people may have had years of experience, they may not always have the best angle for your particular direction. You may also find that much of this advice is contradictory. Instead, seek after advice that will be valuable to you – look to people you admire in the industry, particularly people who have achieved things you would like to do. Be aware that each bit of advice should be taken with an open mind – no one person will have the exact same experiences or personality as you and this may affect how you learn best or push for different things. As well as being open to what advice you pursue, be open too to the fact that some of the advice may not always be what you want to hear. This can be particularly crushing when you may have invested hours into something – but sometimes being too defensive could be a sign you aren't really willing to listen. That said, be wary of anyone who is critical of your work without constructive reasoning. Good feedback should always leave you with something you can do about a problem, not leave you feeling you should just.give up (if you’re particularly sensitive to criticism, you may need to ask for a second opinion of advice you’re given).

9. BE HONEST

No one likes a bullshitter, and believe me it’s pretty obvious when you’re just starting out. If you’re twenty three and list blue chip clients in your credentials, you can expect this to be questioned (it may well be true, but it’s rare). It’s one thing to shout about what you do, but an entirely different thing to blatantly lie. List your previous titles and roles exactly as they were (people can check this information) and for god’s sake, if you’ve started a side business selling t-shirts, don’t call yourself a creative director. People are not impressed by a facade, they are impressed by what you do. Being humble at this early stage in your career will help you to grow and learn – that doesn’t mean you can’t stick up for your ideas and push for what you want at the same time.

10. BE PERSISTENT

Getting where you want to be in the creative industry takes time, so be patient with yourself. Be dedicated to your goals by slowly chipping away at them each day and taking small steps. The most important steps are not always things you can shout about – they may be small things like sending out one email a day to a prospective client, practicing drawing or researching information. Often companies may not respond to you, but this should not mean giving up. Be persistent with people you want to work with – this does not mean being rude or irritating, but there’s nothing wrong in dropping people a line every few months if they’ve not specifically told you not to. If there are things you really want, keep trying. You’d be surprised how many people give up far too early. Stick with your dreams and keep going, you’ll thank yourself for it one day.

If you have any other gems of advice I’d love to hear them below.