How to get a creative job in London - Updated 2016

How to get a creative job in London – Updated 2016

19/08/2016 · by · in Free & Cheap London, talks

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Welcome to London, where the streets are paved with gold! However, finding that gold can be extremely hard!

The To Do List team wants to help, so we wrote How to Get a Creative Job in London to give you practical advice in this throbbing metropolis of opportunity, including creative approaches, new apps, CV tips & networking…

So go get a job & then get out and do something new in London! And if you have any tips please leave a comment below the post…

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creative1. Be Creative in Your Approach

  1. Visual Approach: Make a visual CV. There are loads of free tools online to do this including Re.Vu & VisualizeMe – and if you’re feeling in a design mood, try super sexy online design tool Canva.
  2. Show Your Skills: If you’re a designer, marketer or creative, show your skills in your CV, portfolio & video work.
  3. Use Examples of Results & Great Creative Ideas: Use images & video of you talking about your work and case studies (which prove results) to bring your work to life.
  4. Tick the Boxes & WOW Your Prospective Employer: Go the extra mile & make something that shows your creativity to an employer. Don’t forget to reassure them that you can do the job first, with some concrete examples.

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skills2. Develop Your Current Skills and Learn New Ones

  1. Free Online Courses: Find a free online course through FutureLearn, OpenCulture or EdX.
  2. Creative Training: Get amazing basic online digital creative training for free through GeneralAssembly‘s online free trial. Or get professional skills training through our favourite Lynda.com (from just under £15 a month) – free  7 day trial here.
  3. Free Training Sessions: Have a search through Eventbrite with the keywords for the industry you’d like to get into for loads of free training sessions in London.
  4. Professional Qualifications/Training/Apprenticeships: If you’re on the dole, don’t despair, take advantage of the training available to you. Search around to find quality training and don’t just accept the first thing the job centre offers you. This is the same for any vocational training, qualifications or work-based learning you can do. Avoid internships if you can, unless you have no experience.

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networking3. Network Like Crazy

  1. LinkedIn is king! Follow, ask for recommendations & view jobs on the site. Remember you can add media such as Slideshare presentations, videos & pictures to your profile to jazz it up a bit.
  2. Tweet Tweet: Use Twitter to access people you can’t email.
  3. Meet Real People: Search for & go to free relevant industry events listed on sites like Eventbrite, Meetup & Twitter.
  4. Stay in Contact with Friends & Colleagues: Keep a database, or a free MailChimp account, to remember who you know with emails/phone numbers – and get in touch every now & again to let them know where you’re at.

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differentwaysofworking4. Try a Different Way of Working

  1. Start Your Own Business: Why not start a business? Our guide here has some great starting points! Remember to invoice & get paid on time with the amazing free one-user version of Wave (creates invoices + reminders, accounting & online payments) .
  2. Online Freelancer services can be a great way to find work: Odesk, Elance & Freelancer.co.uk
  3. Tasks Apps: Are you handy? Promote your cleaning, DIY & admin services via apps Task Rabbit, BIZZBY & Sooqini. Or drive with Uber or even make your home a hotel with Airbnb.
  4. Work Creatively Part-Time: Do your creative job part time & get another part-time job to pay the rent.

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donormaldifferent5. Do the Normal Stuff Better

  1. Application Forms: assess whether the job is worth completing a 30 page online form for. If it is, remember it’s a box ticking exercise, but also add a bit of pizazz to make you stand out.
  2. Interviews: practice, practice, practice. Get used to speaking to new people and appearing quietly confident. If you’re looking for a new approach to interviews try Foosle, a smart jobs site which does online interviews.
  3. Online Search & Listings Sites: Sites like CV Library & Monster can be great, but remember the huge swaths of competition. Keep updating your CV, and try new keywords & prospective job titles.
  4. Creative Specialist Listings: For creative jobs try Hiive, The Dots, ArtsJobs.org.uk, BrandRepublic & University of Arts London.
  5. New APProaches: Try new apps with a new approach such as HireMyFriend or JobToday, the agency-less way that companies come to you. We’re also loving Glassdoor, which is one of the first recruitment apps which gets ratings for companies from actual employees, so you’re sure to know what you’re up for.
  6. Employment Agencies: These can be unavoidable when looking for a job. If you do want to use an agency, try a smaller, more specialist agency like Neil’s Recruitment Agency for a more human experience.
  7. Make Google & Twitter Work for You: Set up a Google Alert with your prospective job title & use a service like TweetAlarm to alert you of any interesting job tweets.

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Hopefully this article has got some ideas whirring.

If not we suggest going to the Job Centre (a new pub coming soon to Deptford) to mull over what you can do to get a job you love!

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