When it comes to finishing your studies, we understand the relief, excitement, achievement, and celebrating.
Real-life hits you harder than Deontay Wilder, almost instantly. You realise it’s time to plan your career path and find yourself a creative job that pays off those expensive student bills. As the creative sector continues to flourish, you’re in a great industry, so now it’s time to stand out.
In this blog, we are offering some advice to all those graduating this summer. If just a slice of our experience can help you find a creative job, brilliant.
Your CV 📝
When writing a CV, it can make most people cringe. In general, people don’t like to brag about themselves, so don’t worry if you’re feeling this way; it’s totally normal.
Make sure you tweak your CV before every application you make. It sounds like a lot of work, and you may prefer to take the easy route, but it will help you, in the long run, to address what each company is looking for.
This may sound obvious, but avoid lying on your CV. Most candidates would never consider it, but everyone has come across a few bizarre claims in the past. You don’t know how one business is connected to another and how a lie will make you look. So that goes for all lies; whether you pretend to have worked somewhere to highlight extra experience, or you say you climbed Everest on your hands.
Your portfolio 🖼️
You must remember each creative job you’ve applied for and what it is they want from you as a candidate. There needs to be a method behind the madness when it comes to applications.
You may be asked to provide a portfolio. Even if you aren’t asked to provide it, send one anyway. It should be a collection of your five best pieces of work; having too much will take too long to look through and they may miss your favourite. Too little could fail to highlight how great a candidate you are.
The interview 🤝
The truth about interviews is that they are only as scary as you allow them to be. A confident candidate who enjoys the experience is much more memorable, so try to bear that in mind.
If your CV is good, the interviewer already knows your experience and skillset; therefore, the interview itself is all about your personality and how you can communicate your knowledge verbally. The ability to talk about what you do shows confidence in your skills and natural talent to sell, which is highly desirable in most businesses. Regardless of whether your interview is via video or in person, be prepared! You need to know your CV inside out and the details of the job you’ve applied for.
Don’t be scared to talk about your hobbies and what makes you happy. Employer branding is on the mind of all businesses nowadays. Knowing what you like to do away from work allows a company to understand you and your personality. This is important to them to figure out if you’re a fit with the team, so speak out; you’re more interesting than you think.
Oh, and ask questions; interviews are for you too, not just the business. Most companies love talking about what they do, so ask questions that will make you memorable.
Unsuccessful? ✍️
It’s essential to remember that most businesses meet a lot of brilliant candidates, which doesn’t make you any less qualified. Don’t be too hard on yourself; if it wasn’t meant to be, it wasn’t meant to be. Move on and in the meantime, continue to build your skillset.
Picking up more relevant knowledge will show more value to a potential employer. Continue to grow, and more opportunities will come your way.
If you are using a website like Indeed, set up job alert notifications. The alerts make you aware of any new opportunities that have appeared within your sector and allow you to quickly get your foot in the door.
Never overlook the power of networking. LinkedIn is an integral tool for any creative and should be used as frequently as possible. Make connections, share work and show your desire, it’s infectious.
As we continue to grow our team, maybe you have something spectacular that you could bring to us. Feel free to send us your CV and portfolio. We hope this blog was of use to you and good luck with your studies and, of course, your creative job search.
Take a look at some more of our blogs for helpful tips, tricks and advice:
