Getting creative!

Getting creative! For many, the creative industry is seen as cool and exciting. It’s an industry that pays for you to dream and create. What more could you want? It is for this reason that the industry is so competitive. Getting your foot in the door can be difficult and a qualification is no longer the shoe in it once was. In this post we are going to explore some of the key strategies to ensure that you can get ahead of the creative tide! Get experience Experience, experience, experience! Did I write experience enough times there? Experience is so important for any of the creative roles. Experience sings from the roof top that you have the skills to do the job. Often completing a course can give you the opportunity to network and gain some experience. Use this time to approach local employers. Let them know about your study and offer yourself up for any work experience that they can put your way. If you are a budding fashion designer, try and get some one-off commissions with local fashion houses or team up with a dressmaker in your college and create a range of clothes. Ensure that you produce a flourishing portfolio bursting to the seams with exciting designs. If you are a fledgling web designer, then you should be designing some websites. Offer to work on a low-cost or no-fee basis and produce some work to show off your skills. Any website you make can add to your online portfolio! Make sure your work speaks for itself and develop some sites that you are proud of. Show off your experience Once you have gained your experience it’s now time to show it off. Develop an online portfolio that looks crisp. I’ve seen many an online portfolio that looks like it had been knocked up in 5 minutes. Spend the time to present your work in a clear and aesthetically pleasing manner. Develop a nice landing page to welcome anyone coming to your online portfolio, explaining what it is, and who you are. Once you have done all this, you are now ready to shout about it from the roof tops. Add your portfolio’s link to your CV, so an employer can instantly click on and have a look at your work. When approaching employers on a speculative basis, you will now have a great way to show them your talents. Network Building relationships with people in your chosen industry is really important. Social media can be a great way to get the ball rolling. Follow or like people from the industry that you are interested in. Contact fashion designers, design agencies, music studios, photographers etc. that you would like to work for and get connecting. Remember though, social media connections are perishable, and are in no way a replacement for a face-to-face meeting. Use social media to get your foot in and then arrange a phone call or a meeting to allow you to connect with people in the real world. A tweet may be forgotten in minutes, an email in hours, a phone call in days but a face-to-face meeting may be remembered a year down the line. Make some real connections and start developing some opportunities. Get involved and let us know your best tips for getting creative? Are you struggling to get your foot in the door or have you just landed your dream opportunity? 35