One of our creatives delivers "Creative Industries Workshop"

A few months back Tom, our very own multimedia guru, delivered an informative workshop to a group of young creatives, looking for their break in trying get a foot on the career ladder.

Tom does some part-time coaching at a social enterprise based in the Leeds City Centre called Future Arts, a non-profit organisation that seek to provide meaningful 6 month work placements to emerging creative talent that have struggled to find work in an extremely tough job market as unemployment in the UK soars to 2.51million*. The placements are taken up by young people who are not in employment, education or training and some of whom are from disadvantaged backgrounds. Their roles range from designers to multimedia technicians to admin and outreach staff.

He delivered the workshop to around 30 people during a staff crossover period, where half that participated were new employees and the rest accounting for employees that had just come to the end of their placements and were going on to find new full-time jobs.

The workshop was constructed in such a way that provided a personal insight into aspects of the industry that aren't necessarily taught in schools or universities. By harnessing 10 years commercial experience, Tom applied an open and engaging approach to the 'real world' of job hunting, first-time jobs and the pursuit of a career in the Creative Industries. Touching on subjects such as effective CV writing, freelance positioning, the importance of portfolios (both online and physical) and a guide to online job sites.

The workshop proved successful; what's more, it was the first time Tom had presented to such a large group and with that is keen to plan more workshops in the future.

*Source: BBC news, 14 September 2011.

Added 14/09/2011.