FINGERS IN ALL THE PIES
Starter Tips for Graduates
There is something quite delicious about being an Arts
Graduate: EVERYTHING LOOKS TASTY.
Scanning your way through job sites is like looking at a
menu with all your favourite dishes... but the ingredients are kept a secret.
Tip Number 1: Make sure you’ve got the right menu.
Being an artist, you’ll come to find that TIME = MONEY.
Spending time on unhelpful websites will leave you unsatisfied and creatively
hungry.
Here are some websites that ARE incredibly nutritious:
If you’re looking for food for thought…
& when you find yourself pottering around the Midlands
and you want your slice of cake…..
Enough of the pie jokes already…
Tip Number 2: Place vast importance
on creating connections.
Connect with your past classmates, your lecturers, with arts
companies you enjoy… then expand. Open your arms wide and reach out.
But how?
There are tonnes of local arts meet-up groups, co-workspaces
and my personal favourite, coffee shops. Take a look around when you’re sipping
on your coffee whilst browsing through the websites mentioned above. There may
be someone in the room who works in your field, look out for them. Spark
conversation with them. Talking with other creative people and sharing
background knowledge and experience is like planting a seed that will lead to
blooming flowers, especially if you take time to nurture them.
My favourite sites for meet-up leads are:
www.meetup.com
(obviously!)
Facebook: Have a good hunt around in your local area.
Community groups pop up all over the place. If you’re in Birmingham, I’ve heard
that TheatreCuppa is a great one!
https://community.instagram.com
- Instagram events for photographers i.e anyone with a smartphone!
For Birmingham based creatives, find fellow folk at:
Ort Café in Moseley – Check their events out, too!
Birmingham Library (the loudest public library you’ll ever
find, in a good way!)
6/8 Kafé – Independent coffee shop in the City Centre that
even has space you can hire, for FREE!
The Custard Factory – Yumm/Alfie Birds
Tip Number 3: Don’t let your flowers wilt (or your pie go cold)
Drop your contacts a check-in email or tweet once a month to
ensure they won’t forget about you. Furthermore, you’ll remain at the forefront
of their mind when projects and positions crop up within their networks. A
recommendation will get your foot firmly through the flowery door (and a pie in
the oven).
Tip Number 4: Be in the know
Know people. Know practice. Know movements. Know traditions. Know trends
Know organisations. And know their calendars.
It’s as easy as typing in your sought out centres into
Google and checking out what they have on this month. Often, centres and
galleries hold workshop days to get a feel for who’s out there. Share some of
your practice and push your personality forward. All artists love what they do, therefore
common ground is a not-so-hidden treasure. Contacts, friendships, colleagues
and collaboration develop from days like this. Dive in and get sticky!
Before your fingers get too sticky, get on your phone, and
Tweet.
Tip Number 5: Be present on
Social Media
Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Wordpress, Tumblr. YouTube. Pinterest. LinkedIn.
Some of them, all of them. Whatever works for you.
Having an online presence will expand your network across
the country, and more desirably, the world. You’ll be in everyone’s pockets and
everyone will take residence in yours. Write concise bios, post about your
interests, share your work and comment on your industry. Make it something you would want to see, and
hashtag, wisely.
Attracting people to your online profile will attract people
to your practice.
Tip Number 6: Be limitless
Now that you are juggling all your creative contacts whilst tweeting to the hills with your updated feed of what’s on, can you tell me what jobs are out there?
Actor, Dancer, Director, Musician, Visual Artist… most often
this will be your practice. As you have your fingers in many pies, you may find
one of the creative jobs below maybe your delicious fruit filling?
Arts Administration
Artistic Director
Communication Officer
Community Practitioner
Facilitator
Funding Co-ordinator
Human Resources
Participation & Learning Officer
Producer
Programme Co-ordinator
Projects Manager
Participation & Learning Officer
Stage Manager
Theatre Technician
Volunteers Co-ordinator
Remember the skills you gained in training are transferrable
to many job roles in the arts. An Actor
can publically speak and a Dancer is a generator of ideas and so on… Be
limitless.
Finally, to get that icing on
the cake…
Tip Number 7: Pounce on opportunities that are in line with your passions, and be flexible.
Paid & unpaid. Small voluntary projects can lead to large paid projects. If you can get money coming in straight away, take pride in that. And stretch a little extra to broaden your experience and give a little bit of your time away for free: Good Karma will work its way round.
Sonia Sabri Company
Our recent intern at Sonia Sabri Company grabbed her
opportunity through taking part in the Graduate Champions Scheme with
DeMontford University. Hannah MacGregor came to us directly from university, offering
her fresh enthusiasm and a willingness to put her mind and hands to the very
many tasks of an arts organisation.
And her flexibility was brilliant.
While education often grounds you in your individual
practice (the pie), experience will open your mind to the making (…baking).
Hannah came to us with the wonderful readiness to learn; a trait that is
impeccably admirable in any human being.
Working in the arts industry requires a thirst to learn,
to develop and to grow.
That’s the beauty of it.
Go take a bite of it and make sure it’s a big one.
To read about Hannah’s personal journey with us at Sonia
Sabri Company, click here.
With the correct menus at hand and the right ingredients,
it’s now time to get baking your way to the career of your dreams and above
all, get your fingers stuck in all the pies!
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