What are you going to do once your apprenticeship finishes? You might not have thought about it – or perhaps have deliberately avoided the subject – but it is something that you are going to have to consider sooner than later.
Your first instinct might be to go into a blind panic about hunting for jobs, relocating and travelling all over the place for interviews, but none of that necessarily has to be the case.
As part of their Curious Futures work, Curious Minds have created a video to help allay your concerns about moving on from your apprenticeship, with advice collated from a range of professionals.
Curious Minds themselves recommend signing up to “good quality arts mailing lists”. Arts Professional do a great mailer, and it is also great for keeping up to date with the latest news in the creative sector. Other good websites to get on-board with include Arts Council England, Creative & Cultural Skills and Creative Skillset. And of course we at Voice produce a great amount of career related content - helpfully brought together in our career section.
Donna Taberer, the former TV exec Producer and Commissioner said that “networking is key”, and you should try and talk to as many people as possible. That old adage of ‘it’s not what you know, it’s who you know’ definitely has some truth to it. Personally, a lot of my work comes directly from people I’ve met previously and have kept in contact with.
This ties nicely into Digi-enable’s advice about having a positive online presence. While your night out might have been ‘banging’ (I feel old even saying that), do you think potential employers are going to be as impressed by your 12th shot as your friends are? Take the time to learn and master the privacy controls of your various social media accounts, or actually take a moment to decide whether or not you need to post that comment or image at all.
Another aspect of your digital image you might want to consider is your email address. That hotmail account you created back when you were going through ‘that’ phase in your life might have sentimental value, but [email protected] will not inspire confidence. A clean, safe for work email should definitely be one of the first things you look to sort.
Events Northern asked “have you thought about starting your own business?” A perfectly valid question given that 15% of all people who work in the UK are self-employed. If you have a passion and talent for graphic design, or are a whizz at editing and creative writing, maybe you could start up your own business. Emrys Green wrote an absolutely incredible and in-depth guide that covers every consideration you will need to make about being self-employed.
Anyway, check out the video below!
How about we start networking now? What advice would you give to someone who is about to finish their apprenticeship? What did you do in the final weeks of your own apprentice? Let us know in the comments!
I'M APPLYING FOR UNIVERSITY!