Is an arts degree or experience more valuable when applying for a job within the arts industry?

For Unit 1 Part D, I have decided to look at a problem faced by many 17 to 18 year olds.

Is an arts degree or experience more valuable when applying for a job within the arts industry?

For Unit 1 Part D, I have decided to look at a problem faced by many 17 to 18 year olds, when deciding whether to apply for a university degree within the arts, therefore improving their skills and techniques or to gain experience working alongside other artists before pursuing a career within the arts industry. I have gathered research from various sources from the internet about the benefits of both options at hand and used them to come to my own personal view whether experience or a degree will be more beneficial.

"You need experience to get a job, but you can't get experience without a job. Almost all jobs require some experience at least at the professional level". This quote from www.cheatsheet. shows that experience is important when applying for jobs, however you will still need to be educated on how to do the required skills needed in order to succeed.

"In some cases, potential employees who have years of experience will outshine those with education". This is a result of the employee being able to get on with the task they are faced with as they have maybe completed a similar task before and know how to go about completing it successfully.

"39% of working artists didn't graduate from university". This provides evidence that if you are skilled or experienced then you don't always need a degree to become an artist just skill and a passion?

"A degree within the arts only very rarely leads to a career in the arts". Gaining a degree in the arts doesn't mean that you are guaranteed a job in the arts but can still lead to a career in another area. An example of this would be Bob Martin (studied in 1c) who is a professional photographer who did not achieve a degree, however still achieved his dream of becoming a professional photographer by gaining experience by working alongside other photographers. Never the less the market is competitive when looking for a job within the arts after gaining a degree, with only "10% of the 2 million graduates earning their living as artists". So would experience in the arts give you a competitive advantage when applying for any job? Feedback I have seen suggests that the arts support careers in providing transferable skills.

Overall I believe a combination of experience and education, (to enrich the experience), will benefit creative people when pursuing a career in any area.

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Dan Hinks

Dan Hinks

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1 Comments

  • Luke Taylor

    On 18 May 2017, 11:41 Luke Taylor Contributor commented:

    It's so difficult to get into the arts nowadays! Everything just seems like a competition...

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