With a few months to go until places fully re-open, you may still be finding it hard to get work experience - but don't worry, we've got your covered.
It may seem daunting trying to find work experience during this time, with many people still working from home. However, this should not stop you from looking into future opportunities and certainly doesn't prevent you from looking at remote placements.
Career development professional Richard Allnutt is back for this top tips round-up with more great advice on how you can find a perfect placement, despite the circumstances.
1) Network with employers
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The first piece of advice from Richard was to consider reaching out to any existing networks that you have which are based in sectors you might want to work in.
"It's the easiest way to find any work experience." He added: "Actually, it's the same approach when you are looking for work anyway."
Be careful not to leave it until last minute - the earlier you start to connect with employers, the better.
"On a general level, you tend to find that people who are well connected can find those placements more readily." He added: "That's the general advice, it's better to use your networks."
Richard also advised that you should then work to expand you networks as far as possible.
"It's about contacting as many places as you can."
2) Be persistent
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Another key piece of advice that Richard offered was to be resilient when it comes to reaching out to places - don't just give up after a few failed tries!
"A lot of the time I will say to the young people, nobody wants to get knocked back 99 times, but if you get knocked back 99 times out of 100, you've found one place and that's all you need.
"It's a case of persistence, so use yell.com or whatever you use to identify sectors that you want to work in, and be persistent, it's the only way."
3) Think Laterally
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'Thinking laterally' may not be something you are familiar with, but it simply means to broaden you horizons in terms of finding work placements, as Richard explains.
He said: "You're not necessarily going to find your ideal placement because a lot of the creative sector is very small micro-businesses and start-ups, who might not have the resources in terms of people or time to be able to devote to a work experience student."
"When I talk about thinking laterally, I will give examples to students. For example, a local authority, who are a massive organisation, and used to taking work experience students.
"They will have marketing departments, there will be elements of social media being used to share information about services, or even provide services to people."
In other words, if you're interested in marketing, for example, have a look at what big companies near you have to offer, rather than going for your ideal company straight away.
That engineering company 10 minutes away from your house, or that kitchen manufacturer 5 minutes down the road - they could also have departments in Marketing, HR etc.
4) Focus more on social media and online opportunities
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When everything in the world stopped moving in March last year, we relied on TikTok to keep us entertained, emails to connect with our tutors and potential employers, and Zoom to call our friends.
The internet and social media is thriving, which is why Richard believes that now is a better time than ever to use it to your advantage when looking for a work placement.
"People are going to have to rely on their knowledge of how social media works, how you can connect with people online, how you can connect with companies through their social media, whether that be on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
"The new thing might be connecting with people on LinkedIn, be part of known groups."
"That is what people are going to have to rely on at the moment because physically, you can’t really go anywhere, but you may well be able to make contact with people through online conversations over video call or through social media."
5) Use the resources out there!
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You may have noticed we have two great websites on our homepage - which we believe, and Richard says, are the ultimate resources for finding work in the creative industries.
CC Skills
Richard said: "I would recommend first and foremost using a website that’s relatively new. It came online within the last year and a half maybe.
"It’s a website that’s been developed by a number of different skills agencies linked to the creative sector, including the creative and cultural skills council, which have a website called CC skills."
Richard says this website is great for anyone looking to find some fantastic careers advice, as well as looking for placements or work, with a large database full of amazing opportunities.
Discover Creative Careers
"On Discover Creative Careers, they have used all the different specialist skills councils or organisations that oversee that type of work, and have almost trolled the internet and pulled everything through.
"They've got the British Design Association, they've got the IPA, which is linked to advertising and marketing, all sorts.
"The BBC have got a number of different things on there as well like how to write radio comedy etc. so that’s your one-stop-shop for the creative sector, and at CareerWave we try not to over-complicate resources."
So, in summary - they are both excellent and easy to use resources that could help develop your career and are well worth looking at!
Great!
We hope you have found this round-up beneficial. Don't forget to check out more advice from Richard in our print issue!
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