Unit 01 - Awareness of Employment in the Creative Media Sector

(01.1) Know about employment status in the creative media sector

1.1 Describe the main types of employment status within the Creative Media Sector

As in any job role there are many different types of employment status in this sector. For example, in my place of work, we have quite a good amount of staff but we all have different hours. The main staff members work full-time, but there are also ones who work part-time on certain sessions. I work full-time as an apprentice. Some of those who work part-time even have other jobs alongside. It’s also very flexible as we can choose when to work, just so long as we do our allocated hours and record them correctly.

In the Creative Media Sector, some jobs may not even be permanent. It may be a case that a company may hire someone for their area of expertise on a certain job, but not necessarily want to employ them. This could be really beneficial to that person as it gives them the freedom of not being dedicated to just one company and gives them the exciting chance to work on all sorts of different projects.

Full-Time:

This is when an employee works a full number of hours. This type of employment comes with its benefits such as annual leave which is paid time off work, usually between 20-30 days per year. There is also sick pay for time off work with temporary illness. 

Fixed-Term:

This means you have a contract with the company that you work for and that your employment ends on a certain date.

Part-Time:

This is when someone works fewer hours in a week than someone who works full-time. If someone works under 30 hours a week, they are considered part time. 

Freelance/ Self Employment:  This is something I have always considered personally, but as lovely as it sounds working from home and in your own hours, it wouldn’t be easy to live off. For example an artist may sell a brilliant painting, then as daft as anything half of those earnings are spent on resources to create the next brilliant painting. They need to be sure they are going to be really successful if they are to generate income. 

1.2 Describe the key legal and taxation differences between main types of employment status

People who work both full and part-time are required to pay income tax. The amount depends on how much the employee is earning. 

This is all very different for people who are self-employed. They have to pay their own tax and National Insurance, which is normally something that the employer would do. 

Another type of work is Voluntary work, which I have done a lot of in the past. As you are not getting paid for this, you wouldn’t have to pay tax or National Insurance. This type of work also gives you the opportunity to put valuable experience on your CV. Even though it’s not paid work, it gives employers the chance to see that you are willing to get up and work. 

1.3 Explain the implications of each employment status, in relation to job security, flexibility and working patterns

A lot of creative jobs fall under the Freelance/ Self-employed category. It may be the case that companies hire these self-employed workers but don’t necessarily want to employ them. This is beneficial in some ways for both sides, as the employer doesn’t have to worry about the cost of hiring another worker, and it gives the Freelancer/ self-employed a chance to work on varied exciting projects. They also have the freedom of flexibility, so long as they get their jobs done on time. However, the downfall to this is that jobs aren’t always available and there could be long periods of time where there is just simply no work out there, which puts a massive damper on the income. Also, Freelancers tend to charge at a higher rate, which could potentially put employers off. 

In full and part-time employment, you have set working hours. In this type of employment, you would have much higher job security. You have the reassurance that you are getting paid by the hour. All work places vary on flexibility, depending on the business and their opening times. Some places will be 9-5, whereas at our place we are open in the evenings. Flexibility is needed as we do a lot of events and filming tasks, so sometimes we have to switch our hours about. We are all trusted to manage our own hours, so even if we came in at a slightly different time, we would make sure we finished at the right time.  

(01.2) Understand the Creative Media employment market place

2.1 Describe a range of prospective employers and the profiles and products of these employers

There are many different industries in the Creative Media Sector. When searching for jobs, before I got my apprenticeship, I found it very difficult as it’s not the easiest sector to get into. In my town where I live, the most common ones I seemed to find were in graphic design and marketing. 

An example of one company’s services I used is a little shop in my town called: ‘The Copy and Print Centre’. I’m a really keen illustrator and needed to scan in my work so I had a digital copy. I have an A4 scanner at home, so most images were fine. But when it came to the A3 ones, I struggled. I tried folding them and scanning each side, but it always chopped out a tiny bit down the middle. So I went to this shop and they scanned them properly with an A3 scanner. It was a bit expensive, but the images were good quality and they are backed up safely. As a company they have a lot of services to offer. Leaflets, business cards, copying,  graphic design, branding, framing and lots more. 

I always used to find Indeed.co.uk a helpful website when I was looking for work.  The main problem I encountered was that most of the vacancies were based further afield, but I wouldn't have minded travelling to Sheffield. I went on Indeed.co.uk and typed in 'Illustrator'  Below are three vacancy examples that came up for Sheffield:

The first vacancy was for an Apprentice Graphic Designer for a company called 'Twinkl Ltd'. I had a look on their website to see what services they offered. I found out that they specialise in publishing creatively designed materials for school resources, which is nice as at makes learning more fun and interactive for young people. The name of the company sounded familiar and now I can remember applying for the job there about a year or so ago.

The second vacancy was also for an Apprentice Graphic Designer but in Worksop. The company was called 'Choose Purple Ltd'. I found that this company specialised in web design and a lot of other creative and digital services such as: Graphic Design, print, logos, videos and social media.

The third one was a freelance position for a Digital Designer for a company called 'Leo' in Sheffield. In the job description I found out that this was a big company in digital learning and had worked with lots of big brands. It has offices based all over the UK and even in other countries. They specialise in learning technologies. Their services include: multi-device learning, mobile apps, learning portals, learning games, authorising tools and consultancy.

2.2 Explain how to choose an employer in terms of own personal interests, knowledge, skills and job requirements

Even if you don’t fully know exactly what you want to do, it’s important to know what interests you. Research the company that has gained your interest. Can you get there easily? What exactly is it that they do, and is it something that you can do or are interested in learning to do? Who are the employers and what is their way of working? Creative and lively? Serious and stressful? 

You really need to take a good look at not only your skills, but also your qualities. For example if the job involved tight deadlines and heavy workloads, would you be able to cope well under pressure? If the place is like my place of work where events are put on occasionally, would you be willing to be flexible? 

Also in the Creative Media Sector, it’s vital when searching for employment to have a good, strong portfolio. Some people choose to have a traditional, book-like portfolio, but these days it’s generally best done online. It’s easier, less hassle and also proves that you are comfortable working digitally, which is what most creative jobs involve. It is through your portfolio that you need to express and sell yourself, for this is what will most likely get you your job. 

I use Behance.net for my Portfolio. I have lots of different creative interests, so I categorised the projects: Art and Craft, Photoshop, Illustration. It’s important that the images you upload are good quality. Also if you have artwork on paper, scan it in rather than taking photos as it looks more professional and it gives the employer a chance to see the finer details in your work. It’s important to annotate your work. What’s the story behind the piece? What inspired you to do it and what steps did you take to achieve the outcome? I like Behance.net because there is an ‘about me’ and CV section which allows people to really express themselves. Also it is run by Adobe and is easy to use. 

(01.3) Be able to promote self

3.1 Create and present a professional standard CV, with examples of own work, relevant to a specific job application

(See CV and link to Portfolio on separate post)
When putting together my Creative CV, I was encouraged to make it colourful and unique so that it would stand out to the employer. Even to use a completely differently layout to a regular CV. Below is a link on how to structure a Creative CV:

http://www.jobsandcareersmag.com/how-to-write-a-cv-for-the-creative-industries/

I looked at another blog and Googled Creative CVs, and as a keen illustrator this one stood out to me:

It caught my attention with the artwork and the way it is set out, almost like a movie poster. This has opened up a whole new view on CVs to me. It has inspired me to create something more poster-like and exciting after I finish my apprenticeship, rather than simply a dreary page full of words.

It inspired me to create my own. I flitted about between Photoshop and Illustrator, and also scanned in ink work by hand. My first focus was on the textures and colours, then I started to gradually bring in the images and text layers. I decided on a crazy crossover of my old-fashioned tastes meeting my creative and digital side. Straight away the employer can see the sort of things I do and am into. It proves a point that all the things we like don't have to relate to each other. For example, someone may like fast cars and hardcore gaming, yet read romantic history novels. Nobody should ever have to feel the need to lie on their CV. Honesty is the best policy, and in the Creative Industry an online portfolio and presence is essential. 

3.2 Discuss strengths and weaknesses in relation to own work and a specific job application

My creativity is definitely my strongest point as I’ve been artistic for as long as I can remember. My line manager is also creative and is the one who runs the art sessions, so we get along very well and come up with good ideas together. I get along well with the young people who come to the session as I feel I can relate to them and help them out with their work, which feels really rewarding. This has also triggered the improvement of my youth work. I feel that they want the staff here to be fun and on their level, rather than be talked to in a more teacherly tone. After school, they want to come somewhere where they can relax and enjoy creative activities. 

My weakness to begin with was the technological side. As a Windows user at the time, I was a bit worried in my interview when I saw the long line of iMacs! I also found out I’d be doing a lot of filming work. I had done filming before, but not professionally with professional equipment. I was reassured that I would be trained in what to do. I have already learned so much. I’ve done various filming jobs, which I am now confident in doing. I have now officially converted to Mac and have one at home. I have found myself a lot more immersed in technology and using things I’ve never used before. 

3.3 Describe and pitch a creative idea to an employer or commissioner

My line manager is often wanting me to come up with creative ideas for the art session. I often look back on activities I did at college or look on sites such as Pinterest for ideas. Once I have an idea I have to make an example of whatever the idea is, to see what works and what materials to use. Also to see if it is doable or if other things work better. I present the final outcome to her and if we agree on it, we start to plan things like where we are going to run the activity, things we need etc. 

Also every so often we have staff meetings, in which we all pitch an idea for what we can do to make DCAS better. Things often get suggested like new session ideas, for example myself and the other apprentices are warming to the idea of bringing back a gaming session that we used to run. Or even just funding and promotional suggestions.