My school teachers, with the best intentions, tried to persuade me not to do a creative subject. They said I was "academic" so should do a more "traditional" degree that would get me a great job. I dismissed these siren voices, but was I reckless?
Maybe, but doing a drama degree has led me to very enjoyable graduate work I never knew existed, to mix disciplines that I thought could never be mixed and to take risks.
What do I mean? Well, graduate work such as mixing corporate business with theatre skills to inject creativity into employees' thinking; sophisticated simulations for engineers where they work with actors to prevent future accidents in the oil industry; collaborating with doctors to improve bedside manner and cope with weeping patients; one-to-one coaching sessions with children to build their confidence. Not jobs that I was told about at school when I did the "what are you going to be when you grow up?" computer test.
The creative graduates that I know vary from the rich, working in areas such as CGI film, to the not at all wealthy who are running their own businesses in areas such as bespoke wedding attire or industrial art. What lots of these graduates do have in common is tenacity and an enjoyment of their work.
But all this is anecdotal and only my experience. However, I believe, experience is so important. And graduates of any discipline want to use their degree experience to improve their chances of gaining graduate employment.
Yet, it is always employer views about graduate employability that are sought. This is clearly important, but, in these tough times, why are we not asking graduates whether employability can be acquired in their degrees?
So, to find out more about graduate views on their employability, I'm asking creative graduates who recently completed their undergraduate degree in a UK university how their degrees prepare, or do not prepare, them for potential graduate work. Employers and universities could learn a lot from you. Your views will be used to investigate what has worked and what emphasis employability should have in a degree, which does not have an obvious vocational path, such as accountancy or speech therapy.
(I am particularly interested in hearing from graduates who studied advertising, architecture, art, computer and video games, crafts, dance, design, fashion, film and video, journalism, music, performing arts, publishing, software and computer services, television and radio related subjects — so, if this sounds like you, follow the link below and share your experiences.)
As well as helping me out with my research, reflecting on the content of your degree and time at university can be useful when job hunting too. Unless you seek work directly related to your degree, employers probably will not have a clue what you gained in your undergraduate experience. Employers will only have the title of your degree to make a judgement (and assumptions) about its worth. So, you need the tenacity to help employers understand why you will be useful to them and give them evidence, so you must really reflect on your undergraduate experience and unpack it in great detail to help employers see what you gained.
You will probably have research skills, the ability to solve problems with originality, to think creatively, to communicate, to work independently and within a team, to critically evaluate your own and others' practice. Graduates, I have spoken to, state work experience, modules that combine theory and practice, cutting edge insight from their lecturers and practitioners who get them involved in work projects and simulations as useful to their employability.
A good way of unpacking your experience is to list everything that you can remember doing in those college years from modular work, assessments, extra-curricular activities to your overall development and arrange them into themes, such as part-time work, working in a team, creative projects, working with clients, clubs and activities and so on. This will take time but you should produce both content and detailed evidence about what you can do to meet all the criteria of your job applications.
You may be able to apply to what appears to be a traditional job but offer your creative expertise and create a new job. For example, one film graduate from an administrative job at a local gallery produced films of the gallery's work for the Internet.
Creative graduates are useful
Yes, really. Creative graduates are in demand even at a time when the economy seems unstable. In fact, the Department of Culture Media and Sport has found employment in the creative sector has grown at double the rate of the economy as a whole. And, in the Coalition Strategy for Economic Growth in May 2010, David Cameron highlights the creative industries as a growth area in rebalancing the economy — graduates are going to be important for this growth to happen.
Not all graduates intend to do work related to their subject but use their experience to work in other graduate roles where employers value their creativity. Some sectors like education, leisure and tourism, advertising and events management advertise for innovative graduates. For example, a journalism graduate I interviewed for the survey wowed graduate recruiters with her presentation skills and won an executive search traineeship where her creativity was encouraged. Some graduates couple their creative first degrees with further post-graduate qualifications such as management, law or finance so that employers get both commercial and creative flair.
Talking to older graduates reveals that studying a subject that they felt passionate about has led to long-term job satisfaction and portfolio-style working lives where they work in different ways for many different clients. There is no fixed career route for creative graduates and finding work opportunities takes time and experimentation.
More recent graduates I have surveyed wish they had thought about possible links to graduate work early on in their degrees. They regret not exploiting all the opportunities and support available to them in their undergraduate courses, external events and careers services. Yes, there is hope with a creative degree but early research and networking into work opportunities, entrepreneurial spirit and long-term tenacity are imperative. If you are a creative graduate, initially it will not be an easy ride, but in time, you should have a lot to look forward to and yes, fun too.
Rachel Higdon is an education consultant and a university lecturer in academic development
You can find Rachel's survey here.
