Opportunities to further your career within the Creative industry

Good news: more than 20 per cent of creative specialists, who were recently interviewed, say that their teams want to employ more people, which increases the job opportunities in the creative field. Recruiters, on the other hand, report that despite the growing job opportunities, there is a huge skill shortage in the United Kingdom, which is why the unemployment role for certain creative roles is extremely high.

The most popular industries for creative specialists are marketing, public relations, sales and administration. The majority of jobs needed in these industries are permanent positions and only a small amount is on contract base. The job level which is most requested by these sectors is “experienced” but not manager level.

Recent Changes for Creative Jobs

The creative working landscape is constantly influenced by innovations and new ways of thinking. One result of this influence is that self-employment is on the forefront in the creative market. More precisely, there are not many other industries in which the self-employment rate is as high as in the creative industry. Particularly, a lot of young people prefer being portfolio workers and self-employed. Another trend, which especially affects the UK, is that creative professionals are most often needed for tourist events. Since they are usually one-off events, creatives need to be available at short notice and have relevant experience.

Future Prospects

Currently, it is prime time for creative professionals with the right experience and skills as creative agencies have been growing and companies have been investing more and more money in their creative departments. Industry experts expect this trend to continue and predict that the demand for art directors, creative directors, copywriters, user experience and user interface experts will particularly increase over the next couple of years.

• Salt’s advice for getting a job in the Creative industry

  Employers’ Requirements

  Since the creative industries become more and more digitalised, it goes without saying that employers expect creative experts to be natives in everything that is digital. This might range from online distribution, website development and the streaming of live events to the creation of online banners. One other requirement from the employer side is that creatives need to become all-rounders, meaning that they should not only be specialists in the field that they work in but also have a basic understanding of other creative sectors, including UX, UI, copywriting and creative technology.

  CV Requirements

  There is one particular keyword which is a must-have on every creative professional’s CV: mobile. Having mobile design experience is a huge benefit for every creative as responsive design for iOS, Android and co. is considered as a key prerequisite by all mobile users but it is sometimes not that easy to implement as mobile platforms are constantly updated and change. Two other crucial skills are website design and development. Nowadays websites are more often visited than actual store, which is why the experience of the online shopping experience must be perfect. Unless you are a mobile or website developer or designer, you are not expected to master these skills but to have a basic understanding of them.

  Creative Job Interview Preparation

  1. During an interview for a creative role, interviewers tend to have a close look at the applicants’ portfolio and ask relevant questions about their work. Besides portfolio questions, they might also ask you the following in order to get to know you better:
  2. What was your favourite project and why?
  3. What technology tools do you use regularly?
  4. Could you please describe your design style.
  5. What is your opinion about our creative materials?

  Educational Requirements

  A bachelor’s degree in a creative-related field, such as graphic design, television production, advertising and publishing, might be seen as advantageous by some employers. However, what really matters in the creative industry is the professionals’ portfolio. An excellent portfolio is usually worth more than every degree which is why in the UK, creatives start working on their portfolio as soon as possible and rarely do a postgraduate degree.