We caught up with our former intern-turned Economics reporter at The Telegraph, Lizzy Burden, to learn about her journey into newspaper journalism and hear her top tips for getting started in the industry.

Filipina-English by birth, Lizzy has lived all over the world, having worked as a fashion model for eight years before becoming a journalist, including walking the fashion weeks of New York, London, Milan and Paris. She’s now economics reporter at The Telegraph, with a focus on international trade. She covers protectionism in the Covid-19 crisis, developments in the post-Brexit ‘Global Britain’ project and trade wars between the world’s biggest economies.

Head to our YouTube channel to listen to Lizzy’s top tips or read them below…

Hello, I’m Lizzy Burden, Economics reporter at The Telegraph. I started my career as a Creative Access intern at The Times, so I wanted to share with you a few things that I’ve learned along the way.

When I did The Times internship on the home and foreign news desks, I had no experience in journalism except on my student paper, so it was during those six weeks that I learned to write a news story. I started off turning copy from wires like Reuters into Times-style stories, and then graduated onto writing my own stories that editors would ask me to write, maybe following up on something another paper had written to find a new angle, or turning a press release into a story. Then I was sent out to cover stories like the Salisbury poisoning and Notting Hill carnival, and finally I started pitching my own news to editors. I loved feeling like I was at the helm of what was happening in the world and being around all the savagely witty characters of the newsroom, and I decided that I didn’t want to leave.

I applied for funding from the journalism diversity fund to complete a fast-track NCTJ which is where I learned short-hand media law and more about writing journalistically. Not spending a whole year on a masters meant I could get back to the newsroom faster, which I found much more beneficial than sitting in a classroom, and during the course I was constantly keeping an eye on the next step. As soon as I finished, I did another two internships at Reuters and Bloomberg, then worked as a producer at the BBC on the daily politics programme, and at the same time I would do night shifts as a reporter with The Times. I was knackered. Then I joined The Times as a grad trainee, where I rotated through the Glasgow office on the Scottish edition of the paper, the business desk and the sub editing team.

I then moved to The Telegraph, where I am an economics reporter specialising in trade, which I love, because my beat sits at the intersection of business, foreign and politics. When I arrived, the biggest issues of the day were Brexit and the US-China trade war, and now I’m covering the biggest economic crisis in centuries, so I really do feel hugely privileged to do what I do.

Applying my experiences to you, here are my six tips on starting your career as a newspaper journalist:

1. Read widely. Even the papers you don’t agree with, even the sections you find boring, and even the news in brief.
2. Be open minded – because you don’t know what could suit you until you try it. I didn’t realise how much I’d love financial journalism at first, but what I discovered at Bloomberg was that I really like how it has a quantifiable impact.
3. Constantly push to level up. If you’re doing work experience, try to turn it into an internship. And if you’re doing an internship, try to turn it into shifts or a grad scheme. Never sit twiddling your thumbs. Come armed with ideas for stories, ask how to improve them if they get rejected, volunteer to help other reporters, ask them where they get stories, look at the news to see if you can follow up on anything. Just always find ways to add value so that you’re remembered. Then at the end, ask what other opportunities are available and ask specifically what you need to do to get onto that next step. Then when you leave, keep in touch.
4. Break news. Getting scoops seems like luck, but you need to make your own luck to be in the right place at the right time for a tip off. For instance, ring a source quoted by a rival paper and go for a coffee. Find out what’s going on with them and check in regularly. You might wonder where to start if you don’t have a beat yet. When I was on the business desk at The Times as part of the grad scheme, I wasn’t assigned a specific patch to cover, so I made myself one. The retail editor had just left, so I targeted retail stories until they found a replacement for her. And when the new retail editor arrived, the market reporter job was empty, so I volunteered to do that. And if all the beats are taken, look at a rival newspaper and pick a beat your paper doesn’t have covered yet. Make yourself indispensable.
5. Breaking news is about being first, which means being organised. For example, make twitter lists and subscribe to other people’s lists so you can keep abreast of the current debates in different areas. Put your calls in early as soon as you set a story, so people have time to get back to you well before your deadline. If you’re waiting to cover a speech, write a template with as much other detail as you can beforehand, and keep a diary. And finally, perhaps the hardest lesson of all…
6. Be okay with conflict. Newsrooms are full of strong characters who will respect you more if you stand up for yourself when you need to. Pick your battles, but never let anyone walk all over you, because people will push you as far as you’ll let them. Work hard, but learn to say no.

You can follow Lizzie on Twitter at @LizzzBurden

We were thrilled to be joined by the team behind the new standalone BBC drama Sitting in Limbo for this week’s Thursday Thoughts session.

Written by novelist Stephen S. Thompson, the drama is based on the experiences of his brother Anthony Bryan who was wrongfully detained by the Home Office and threatened with deportation. This shocking and powerful insight into the Windrush Scandal will air on Monday 8^th of June at 8:30 pm on BBC One.

The discussion was chaired by Creative Access CEO Josie Dobrin and included panel members Stella Corradi, Stephen S. Thompson and Patrick Robinson. An award-winning director, Stella has directed acclaimed work, including Trigonometry and Through the Gates, which was nominated for Best Single Drama at the BAFTA’s. A leading writer, Stephen’s novels include Toy Soldiers and No More Heroes and is currently a Senior Lecturer in Fiction and Creative Non-Fiction at the University of Winchester. Playing the lead, Patrick is an eminent figure of British television and theatre and has been on screen in Casualty, The Bill, Strictly Come Dance and Mount Pleasant. We are in awe of all their work!

Each of our guests had important things to impart on the industry and representing this deeply troubling part of British history on screen. Reflecting on playing the part of Anthony, Patrick shared that, “you don’t need to act … you feel what you experience.” He revealed that “when I saw the script and read it, I was in tears by the end … I knew I wanted to be a part of the production.” After meeting the team, he became part of a “fantastic story that needed to be told for the whole of this country to hear and to see.”

Stella shared that she wanted to direct Sitting in Limbo as soon as she came across it: “it was a hard job to get, it was a really great script.” She discussed the responsibility a director has when looking out for her cast and crew. She ensured the cast were kept uplifted outside of the heavy drama they were filming as she revealed, “we laughed a lot.” Stella also emphasised that the director is part of a much wider team: “As a director, you need to be clear in communicating your vision to every head of department so they can filter it through their individual teams. It requires a lot of trust.”

Stephen spoke about his personal highlight of the whole process: “Overall seeing the very first cut, when it’s all stitched together and seeing the whole thing come together.” When discussing the nature of Sitting in Limbo as a story, he stressed the importance of diverse storytelling: “Too often diversity is associated with race racism, and the challenge for the broadcasters and the industry is for us to go beyond that. This is obviously an important story for us to tell, but we want to be able to tell stories beyond this as well.”

Lastly, when Josie asked for one line of advice for people who want to direct, act and write, the panellists offered the following:

• Stella advised directors to “try and get on set and see how it works, try and figure out all the roles and understand what everyone does, that’s the biggest education you can have.”
• Patrick said, “Just do it! Use your imagination and just do it, use your phone and make something.”
• Stephen advised aspiring writers to “write everyday. Try and make the writing the centre of your being, your existence and your daily existence. Practice, practice, practice.”

A huge thank you to Stella, Stephen and Patrick for their brilliant and inspiring discussion and to the team at IJPR for organising the session (especially to our brilliant former Creative Access trainee Nicole Campbell). 

You can watch the session in full here.

Isabella Silvers, Associate Editor at Hearst Magazines UK, and former Creative Access intern, shares her nine tips for being a good ally. In these traumatic times, many non-Black people are asking what can be done to support fight systemic racism so we are grateful to Isabella for sharing her thoughts:

1. Do not share videos of black people dying on social media. Black people know what’s happening and it’s traumatic to see it.
2. Do be vocal when an incident occurs. State loudly and proudly that this behaviour is unacceptable and that Black lives matter.
3. Do use your voice to call out systemic racism and murder whenever you can. Say that you stand with black people and that you do not accept the actions of anyone who shows racism or unconscious bias. Call out this behaviour whenever and wherever you see it (when it is safe to do so); this includes at work, in your friendship group, within your family and more.
4. Do write to your MP and politicians to put pressure on them to see consequences for those who exhibit racist behaviour. Ask them what they’ll be doing and demand justice for the victims of systemic racism.
5. Do challenge those you work with or your employer and ask what they will be doing to be an inclusive company and stand up for Black people.
6. Do Sign petitions from legitimate sources, such as Change.org or Petition.Parliament.co.uk
7. Do donate to legitimate fundraisers, funeral funds, bail funds for protesters and organisations fighting against systemic racism.
8. Do educate yourself. While Black people are grieving, it can be exhausting to be asked to educate non-Black people. There are lots of resources online and on social media on how you can be a better ally.
9. Do seek out perspectives other than your own in film, TV, literature and more. Seek out different stories, biographies and shows.

You can follow Isabella on Twitter and Instagram

Q&A with Yamin Choudhury and Stephenson Ardern-Sodje

We were delighted to be joined by Yamin Choudhury and Stephen Ardern-Sodje for this week’s Thursday Thoughts on theatre!

Yamin is Artistic Director of Hackney Empire, a renowned theatre that has seen a score of talent come through its doors over its one-hundred-and-twenty-year history. Yamin first joined the Empire in 2003 and has a background of work in inclusive theatre spaces such as the Haringey Shed and the International Village in Australia and China. An award-winning arts practitioner, he has been instrumental in catalysing the careers of the next generation of talent with his Creative Futures programme. The programme encourages young artists to immerse themselves in the world of theatre and build their skills and confidence, regardless of their ability or background. We love his work!

Stephenson has dazzled on stage in Hamilton, playing no less than four roles, including the lead, Alexander Hamilton. After studying English and Creative Writing at Brunel, he gained an internship at Green Door Pictures through Creative Access in 2015. Stephenson then decided to take a chance and audition for Hamilton. Despite having no experience on the stage, he impressed them so much that they funded a Master’s in musical theatre. Stephenson later re-auditioned and made his West End debut a year later.

Both of our speakers had incredible stories to share on their journeys into theatre. Stephenson kicked things off by asking Yamin what exactly being an Artistic Director entails. After joking that most Artist Directors like to “mystify the job”, Yamin explained that his role at Hackney Empire “involves a lot of people management, a lot of planning and administration, a lot of meetings, and a lot of trying to identify opportunity, artistically and professionally”.

While the position might sound more business orientated, Yamin’s passion for theatre began from a love of the stage. He was first introduced to Hackney Empire when going through a “very difficult period in my life, I was lost, I was isolated”. However, when he encountered performances on the Empire’s stage, he was blown away by the range of performances on offer: “As soon as I was introduced to theatre at 18, it was like a drug. I couldn’t imagine life without it”.

Yamin was inspired to pursue a career in theatre before eventually returning to the Empire. He emphasised “there’s literally nothing I wouldn’t do for this organisation, because it saved me. Arts and culture transforms my ability to understand myself and others, and if it can do that for me it can do that for everybody.” Stephenson agreed on the powerful impact theatre can have: “When theatre’s at its best, it feels like nothing else.”

Addressing a question from an attendee who asked, “How do you overcome imposter syndrome?” Yamin answered, “I haven’t … In the spaces I enter, looking the way I do, speaking the way I do, you are the odd one out.” However, he acknowledged that not everybody feels it. Referencing Sharmaine Lovegrove, Yamin explained “she doesn’t suffer from it at all, because her sense of value and self is so strong that it goes above her head. That’s what I aspire to be.” Stephenson also encouraged surrounding yourselves with people “whose opinions you value … When I’m worried about not being worthy of something, having other people understand that feeling can help you realise you’re not alone in it.”

When discussing taking chances in the industry, Stephenson also stressed:

“What is stopping you really? You know you want it, so try and make it happen.” He encouraged attendees to not let having the right experience or qualifications hold them back; the first step in achieving your goals is allowing yourself to pursue those dreams.

Finally, in the Q&A, when asked what changes we might expect in theatre, Yamin and Stephenson looked towards the changes that might shape the stage. While Yamin acknowledged the uncertainty in the industry, he encouraged creatives to take this as an opportunity to spark change:

“Covid-19 has proved that innovators will thrive. Revolutionise. Be cutting edge. Be exciting. Reframe models of success. Don’t wait for the establishment to do so.”

A huge thanks to Yamin and Stephenson for their thoughtful, moving and inspirational words. You can watch the session in full here. 

We caught up with Mareyah Bhatti, our intern with Forum for the Future, who talked to us all about her food blog Carbon Foodprints and how sustainable cooking has been keeping her sane during lockdown.

Graduating with a Geography degree means I have a well-established passion for the environment, and it’s something I wanted to integrate into my everyday life. My love of cooking and being creative was something I aimed to combine with my knowledge of all things sustainable. So, I created my food blog, Carbon Foodprints. Alongside setting this up, I applied for an assistant role at Forum for the Future through Creative Access. They’re a charity who aim to tackle global challenges such as sourcing sustainable protein. As a Geographer, I really admired their focus on everyday issues and I’ve been able to feed these ideas into my blog.

Forum for the Future’s values include being adaptable, and I think that that’s something that resonates with the current situation. We have been pushed to rethink many aspects of our lives: how we work, how we exercise and even how we eat. Even more importantly, we’ve had to re-imagine how we relax and de-stress. Working from home has its ups and downs and finding a way to disconnect from the outside world is essential to our well-being. I’ve found cooking to be a great outlet to do just that.

Buyer stockpiling has reshaped our grocery habits, and the availability of certain items has sometimes meant that deciding what to cook may be a struggle for some. It’s important to view the current climate with a positive attitude though, and in this case re-imagining the dishes I prepare has motivated me to be flexible and even more creative – and that’s not such a bad thing. We still have the freedom to make whatever we like whether it ends up being tasty or not (no-one has to know…)

Being the founder of the cooking blog, Carbon Foodprints, has meant that I’ve also had to adapt to the recent shopping trends. Recipes I’ve posted during lockdown come with tips to help us all navigate this situation – this includes cooking meals with more dry cupboard ingredients, but also considering how to substitute elements of a meal and still end up with something pretty decent. After all, what’s the point of food if you don’t enjoy it? All this is done with a consideration of the environment in mind, as changing our kitchen habits to be kinder to the planet isn’t as hard as you might be thinking. As you may have guessed from the name of my blog, I cook with a focus on being sustainable and reducing our carbon footprint. This involves being reactive to our surroundings, whether this means only using produce in season or adapting recipes to what we’re able to find in our local supermarket.

My cooking is inspired by my south Asian heritage as I grew up surrounded by traditional dishes using recipes that have been passed down the generations. This includes everything from pakoras to a classic chickpea curry with roti. Each recipe is given a ‘carbon foodprint’ score so you can assess the impact of what you’re choosing to eat and compare which ingredients are better for the environment. Most of my recipes can be changed to be veggie or meaty, and as a result are highly adaptive to suit your needs. This is extremely helpful at the moment if you’re struggling to find all the ingredients you want.

Substituting ingredients isn’t as scary as it sounds, and here a few examples I’ve found to work really well:

• Couscous is a great alternative to rice and roti and can be used as a side dish to the curry dishes I’ve shared
• Plant based mince is high in protein and as easy to cook as beef or lamb, and it has a much lower carbon footprint
• Adding blended cashews to curries adds a depth to the flavour usually given by cream, it’s also a good source of healthy fats

I hope these tips have been helpful, and have shown how relaxing being creative with cooking can be. More ideas can be found on my website and Instagram page, ranging from further tips on how to successfully substitute ingredients to how to grow your own fruit and veg at home. Just a few simple changes can mean your meals are environmentally friendly and just as delicious. Please get in touch by messaging my Instagram page if you have any questions or meal requests!

Every fortnight, we hold a discussion with leading figures in the creative industries, each one hosted by a former Creative Access trainee. Yesterday we were thrilled to be joined by Jonny Geller and Cameron Myers.

Jonny is CEO of Original Talent and Chairman of Curtis Brown Literary & Talent Agency which represents actors, presenters, authors, playwrights and directors including Robert Pattinson, Margaret Atwood, Stacey Dooley, Sacha Baron-Cohen, Robert Peston and more. Jonny was awarded Literary Agent of the Year Award in 2012. He consistently appears on Evening Standard’s 1000 Most Influential People in London list and was named amongst Britain’s most influential 500 people by Debrett’s 500 in 2015 and in the same year as one of GQ’s 100 Most Connected Men in Britain – so it was a real privilege to have him join us!

Cameron is an Assistant Editor with Hodder & Stoughton’s General Non-Fiction team – where he started as an intern via Creative Access – and was one of SYP London’s Events Coordinators in 2019. In 2016, he graduated from King’s College London with a degree in Law, and has since gone on to pursue a career in book publishing.

Jonny began his discussion by acknowledging that ‘Creative Access is an extraordinary organisation that I’m glad to say that we’ve not only supported, but that we’ve benefitted from. Over the years we’ve some excellent people coming through our agency.’ We’re delighted to have placed so many talented interns at Curtis Brown.

Starting off with a little about his background, Jonny had some advice for those starting out in the creative industries and are unsure of what direction to take. After realising he would have to re-evaluate his decision to become an actor, his friend offered a useful strategy on deciding what to do next, saying that the only way to give up on a dream, is to replace it with something else:

For Jonny, the lines crossed at books and selling. This resulted in Jonny finding himself at Curtis Brown as an assistant, where he is now CEO of Original Talent and Chairman of the agency twenty-seven years later. Discussing the role of an agent, Jonny said: ‘My job is to pick the best possible creative talent. It’s a fantastic feeling taking someone’s dreams and hopes and finding them a publisher and then seeing their books on the shelves of a bookshop a year later.’

When Cameron asked what skills make a successful agent, Jonny responded with the fact that, ‘You need empathy’. Empathy for your client’s work and empathy for them. Followed by ‘clarity, in your objectives’ and the ‘joy of discovery’. As an author’s agent, Jonny is ‘at the beginning of that chain. If I don’t believe in it, nobody else will’. Enthusiasm for the book is essential behind a book’s success.

In our Q&A, when an intern asked about the aftermath of being furloughed and missing out on valuable experience, Jonny stressed the importance of staying committed. ‘If you’re starting off in a career, you must keep absolutely focused on what it is you want to achieve and why you’re in it. Don’t give up.’ He then offered valuable advice for interns when they start work: ‘My experience is the people I remember who come to the company full of enthusiasm, full of positivity and full of knowledge’ about the company they’re going into. ‘Everyone notices a good intern’.

After Cameron enquired how things might change in the creative industries, Jonny finished the discussion by acknowledging that ‘the great thing about crisis and chaos, creativity is always the first thing that comes out of it… People need storytellers. People need creative industries’.

With huge thanks to Jonny and Cameron for their time and wise words.

You can view the whole conversation on our YouTube channel here.

This post is written by three people with disabilities who work in academic publishing – Simon Holt (Senior Acquisitions Editor, Elsevier) is visually impaired, Katy Alexander (Global Director for Marketing and Communications, Digital Science) has dyslexia, and Becky Degler (Digital Product Manager, Wiley) has chronic migraine.

Diversity is finally at the forefront of the agenda for many creative organisations. This post explores the importance of making the publishing industry accessible to people from all backgrounds and walks of life. In a recent survey by the UK Publishers Association, just 5.4% of respondents indicated that they have a disability, compared with 15% of the global population. We also know that people with disabilities of working age are 30% less likely to have a job than the rest of the population, both in the US and UK. The UN suggests that the picture is similar (or worse) in other parts of the world.

Why is this the case? The answer lies somewhere between culture and awareness:

Simon: There are barriers to entry within the publishing industry that disproportionally affect people with disabilities. For example, as a visually impaired person, I was once asked to do a proofreading test at an interview for a Development Editor job with no proofreading responsibilities (I was told it was needed to demonstrate ‘basic publishing skills’). There are certainly challenges that arise as a result of having a disability, but there are also lots of skills I have gained, too. The thing that I want to make clear is that I haven’t been successful *despite* my disability; I’m successful *because* of my disability, and the adaptability, resourcefulness and efficiency that has given me. These are all things that help me at work.

Becky:  People with disabilities often face double discrimination: there are barriers to gaining and staying within employment, but also to earning potential and career progression. For example, as a person with chronic migraine, I’ve encountered prosaic versions of ‘someone who is frequently sick cannot be as productive as a healthy ‘normal’ employee’; ‘if stress is a migraine trigger, then you’ll never be able to cope with the increased responsibilities’; and ‘if you can’t put in overtime then there’s a limit to your progression.’ Managing stress effectively is what I do to survive. Progressive roles shouldn’t be off-limits because of my disability. In fact, the skills I’ve acquired through it can be differentiators that help me — and the company — thrive.

Katy: From my own experience and what I’ve observed of friends and colleagues with disabilities who have established themselves within the industry, I think there are several key traits that can support success. Skill Number 1) Grit: growing up with dyslexia teaches perseverance; constant effort is required to overcome obstacles or challenges that are part of my everyday life. Skill Number 2) Creativity: being dyslexic means thinking outside the box — we dyslexics just have to. For small and large organisations alike the ability to come at problems from a different perspective can support innovation. Skill Number 3) Relationships and Professional Development: I care very deeply about what motivates the people I work with and how I can help them succeed. In part, I’m sure this is because I didn’t experience this type of support myself.

So how do we change perceptions and grow representation in the industry? Simon, Becky and Katy emphasise that the answer is in changing our attitude and policies. We need to stop focusing on the ‘dis’ in disability and focus more on the ‘ability’. The message is that disability inclusion is about engaging with a sector of society who are currently underrepresented in our workforce, recognising the skills that we can offer– skills that we have because of, not despite, the fact that we have a disability. Most of all, it’s about solving problems together to find creative solutions that benefit everybody – as people with disabilities, that is simply what we do.

Check out the original post on Scholarly Kitchen here.

Now that working from home has started to become more of a norm, it’s more important than ever to take care of your mental wellbeing. We’ve come up with a list of simple ways to look after your mental health:

1.Keep connected

Staying in touch with our friends and family is key to our mental wellbeing. Catching up with people we enjoy spending time with is a great way to boost your mood. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, it can also be helpful to open up about your feelings to someone you trust.

There are lots of ways to connect digitally beyond video calls and messaging. Netflix Party is a fun way to stay social and watch content together. Online games, like Quick, Draw and Psych, are also a brilliant way to spend time with friends.

2.Take a break

It’s also important to take a break and prioritise yourself. Technology is great for keeping us connected, but when using it a lot you can start to feel stressed. Taking a short break can help you relax.

Try an evening where you don’t check your social media and phone. Use this time to do something else, such as a hobby or something new. This could be listening to music, reading a book or watching a film you’ve been meaning to see for a while. Take this time to focus on what you would like to do.

3.Manage your news intake

Keep track of how much news you’re watching and how this is making you feel. You might want to consider limiting the time you spend following coverage of the outbreak if you’re starting to feel anxious. It might be helpful giving yourself a set amount of time each day to update yourself and turning off news alerts on your phone to remain informed but not overwhelmed.

4.Mindfulness

Focusing your attention to the present moment can help soothe stress and anxiety. Mindfulness and relaxation techniques are helpful for improving our wellbeing. These are great ways to direct any worries away from the future or situations that we have no control over. Headspace has also released free meditation sessions that you can listen to any time.

5.Keep creative and do things you enjoy

Doing something creative can help you feel calm and relaxed and keep your mind active. Explore old and new hobbies, including painting, crafts, playing music, dancing and baking. Don’t worry too much about the end result, focus on enjoying the process.

Lots of activities have also moved online, from writing workshops to live drawing classes. You can receive a weekly guide on them here. We’re also sharing the CA’s community art and positivity posts on our Instagram. Check them out to get inspired and share your own posts!

6.Look after your body

Our body and the way we feel are dependent on each other. When we’re stressed, it can be easy to fall into habits that might make you feel worse. Try eating healthy meals and drink enough water and exercise regularly. You can go outside for exercise or try a home work out to stay fit indoors. Yoga is also great for the mind and body. You might want to explore a new form of exercise you haven’t tried before.

7.Connect to nature

Mind recommend getting as much sunlight, fresh air and nature as you can. When going on a walk, take time to listen to the sounds and sights around you. If you can’t go to a green space, try opening your window and noticing your surroundings. Can you feel or hear the sun, wind or rain? Focusing on nature this way can improve our mood, reduce feelings of stress or frustration and help you feel relaxed.

8.Set yourself small goals

When you’re at home or if you have more free time than you’re used to, It can feel overwhelming deciding where to start with the day. Try setting yourself small goals you want to achieve each day: one creative, one social, one productive and one self-care. Start small, it could be calling a friend or opening a new book. Reward yourself when accomplishing a task, even if it’s just telling yourself ‘well done’.

9.Be kind to yourself

If you’re finding things hard, it’s okay to press pause. Try not to hold yourself to expectations and goals you set out to achieve before or after the current situation. Don’t be hard on yourself if you’re struggling to meet them. It’s alright if you aren’t being productive right now and just focusing on taking each day as it comes. You can just be. That’s enough.

10.Talk to your GP or mental health team

If you’re struggling to cope with feelings of anxiety and stress, please speak to your doctor or NHS 111. Many GPs are offering telephone consultations.

For urgent support, Samaritans are also here to listen at any time, day or night. Call free on 116 123 or visit the Samaritans website.

The Wellness Society have also published a Coronavirus Anxiety Workbook.

Anxiety UK also have a helpline staffed by volunteers with personal experience of anxiety so you will be speaking with someone who has been there. Call them on 08444 775 774 (Monday – Friday: 9.30am – 5.30pm).

Local Minds offers valuable support for yourself and if you’re supporting someone else experiencing difficulties with mental health.

Body & Soul are running MindSET every Wednesday at 11:30 for young people aged 16 – 30, help young them to manage emotional distress. You can sign up here.

Do also look at the Creative Access blog on taking care of ourselves and each other here.

We caught up with former Creative Access intern Dean Webster, who spoke about the need for greater accountability when it comes diversity in the freelance television workforce…

I started my career in television seven years ago as a Creative Access & PACT Diversity intern, where I was given a fully paid placement at Shine and sent on a funded training programmes. I was given the skills and connections required to start in television and, since my internship, have continued to receive support and advice from Creative Access. Unfortunately not all diverse talent have access to the same resources that I had.

As far as I see it, the diversity issue essentially comes from a lack of accountability. Whilst the Diamond system’s aims are commendable, production companies can choose to opt-out of it and the metric has many flaws exacerbated by the workforce’s fast turnaround, which means that quotas are currently the best workable solution. If we want to make authentic progress when it comes to diversity and inclusion, we need to address systemic issues around recruitment, progression and training, and pay which affect the industry as a whole.

There is an inherent lack of accountability when it comes to TV recruitment. Not all jobs are advertised, full job and people specifications are rarely provided and opportunities for part time working, working from home or job sharing are not considered from the outset. This is exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis, with PACT and the CDN airing concerns about the impact on producers in the nations and regions and diverse talent respectively.

If all roles on programmes were advertised, even ones earmarked for people who had worked on previous series, we would be in a better position to monitor diversity as well as career progression within the workforce. Other sectors have adopted initiatives like the Rooney Rule, where at least one BAME person must be interviewed for a role, but the lack of transparency means we don’t know if things like this are being done or, in the instances they are, if they’re successful. To eradicate barriers for diverse talent we need to identify where those barriers exist and this requires us to objectively look at initiatives and challenge those who fail to adopt them. Transparency also helps us look at other issues – how many people move up in our sector, how many people with career breaks return to the sector and at what position, how many people who’ve never worked for a production company/group are offered interviews or roles there for the first time?

I also believe there’s a broad issue with freelancers’ progression up the career ladder, which can be linked to the lack of training offered. Freelancers are commodities, so it makes sense to offer work to ‘safe bets’ who are very experienced in that job role. I believe this, however, is short sighted, does not benefit Britain’s creative sector as a whole and does not benefit freelancers individually. For employers of permanent staff, the cost behind recruitment and retention means there is a financial interest in upskilling workers so they stay with you for as long possible. In my view, the same incentive does not exist for freelancers, so freelancers have to pay for their own training or hope to find a kind employer to do that for them. Whilst I know first-hand that the latter exists and am grateful to the people who have helped me on my way to where I am, it’s unfair to rely on this inconsistent, informal arrangement to help a sector of thousands of workers. Relying on individuals to self-fund their development and training plays directly into the mechanism of inequality that stops diverse talent joining the industry.

We need a formalised training system, led by a consortium of broadcasters and/or production companies, which recognises that a highly skilled freelancer is beneficial to the sector as a whole, not just that sole freelancer. Solving this not only helps diverse talent but helps the sector as a whole, by unlocking the potential of freelancers at every stage. (NB: I have been to ITF training and am currently attending some of the fantastic free ScreenSkills virtual training courses, so I appreciate that there are initiatives out there for freelancers. I do, however, think lots of freelancers can move through their career without receiving any formalised training.)

Finally, pay. It has been clear for a long time that our lack of collective bargaining has resulted in freelancers’ rates being individually negotiated down, often dressed as a lack of budget. Whilst we all know this is commonplace, the lack of data means evidence is usually anecdotal. BECTU’s move to release a rate card for editorial staff, giving parity with camera and sound colleagues, is welcome, but without in-depth analysis of data from freelancers across the sector – this is a subjective ‘best guess’ and doesn’t consider factors like experience. We need to coordinate ourselves to regularly assess industry rates for roles and join collectively to set minimum levels for roles and agree on annual rate rises. This is perhaps the most troublesome issue for us, as it essentially requires individual freelancers to agree not to take jobs when these rates are undercut – but with strong leadership, from the union or another widely endorsed body, we could weather this storm and see long-term benefits.

Apologies for the length of this post – it’d probably be shorter if I had a job (hint hint). This just scratches the surface, I know there’s more to add and there will be lots of views on these thoughts. I look forward to hearing your thoughts and feedback.

You can follow Dean on Twitter at @TVsDeanWebster

Here at Creative Access, we had the privilege of speaking to the multi-talented Ingrid Persaud, author of the stunning new novel, Love After Love. Winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize and the BBC Short Story Award, Ingrid gave us an exclusive interview all about her journey from law to fine art to writing, and shares her wisdom for aspiring authors.

Q: Tell us about your background?

I am a Trini to the bone – born and lived there until I was eighteen. Since then London has been my home and I also spend time in Barbados. Regardless of where I am physically my heart and navel string are firmly in Trinidad.

Q: You’re a woman of many talents, from law to fine art. Why did you decide to start writing?

I took my cool time getting to writing. For decades I was hustling with this thing and that thing and never completely at peace with myself. It was only when I moved to Barbados and desperate to carve out a creative space that I turned to writing fiction. It was portable and fitted with my other commitments. Now I’m privileged to write full time.

Q: What is Love After Love about?

It’s the story of an unconventional family – Betty a widow, Solo her son and Mr Chetan their lodger. All is well until one night, after a few glasses of rum, secrets are revealed that tear them apart. To mend a broken family takes all kinds of love – starting with love of the self. Love After Love borrows its title from the poem by Dereck Walcott. If you haven’t read it yet go now. I don’t know what you’re waiting for.

Q: Have you started your next book yet? If so, what’s it on?

I am always writing. When I’m not writing I am thinking about writing. Maybe what I’m working on now will come together and form the next novel. Or not. I’m prepared to discard work if it isn’t good enough.

Q: What do you think about representation of diversity in literature in the UK?

Serious talk now. What we read and who we read moulds us so we can’t let this issue slide. Diversity in literature suffers from both under-representation and misrepresentation.

The under-representation is stark. Statistics show that less than 5% of characters in children’s books are BAME. Fewer BAME writers are being published since 2000 than the previous two decades. Indeed, the Jhalak Prize was created specifically to raise the profile of BAME writers in Britain.

As that wasn’t bad enough we have a next challenge – misrepresentation. Once your name looking little ethnic your work is immediately exotic – “multicultural literature” or “world literature” or some other subset that gets put on the back shelves. It’s hard to simply be considered as writing literature and to have your work compared to your peers regardless of ethnicity.

Q: What’s your advice for aspiring authors?

Respect yourself and your work. That means showing up at your desk and writing every day. Yes, every single day even if it’s for 15 minutes or half hour. None of this waiting for the muse business. For all you know the muse self-isolating. And read, read, read. It’s that simple and that hard.

Q: Something we won’t find out about you from following you on Twitter!

Decide what you’re willing to reveal on social media and leave out the rest. I tweet mainly book related content and a bit of politics. Otherwise, you see me? I keeping myself quiet. But if I had to tell you something personal…Is shame I shame. I’m the only Trini who can’t dance. How I born without rhythm I’ll never understand.

You can buy a copy of Love After Love here.

By Nelima Begum, Editorial & Marketing Assistant at The Literary Consultancy

I’ve always thought the road to ‘success’ was a straight line – you get good grades in school, graduate from university and suddenly the universe will just deem you worthy of your dream job and you get to live your best life. No. Maybe some of you already knew before graduating but I sure didn’t – looking for ANY kind of job post-uni is difficult, let alone the one you want to pursue a long-term career in! And if that career is in a creative industry, well, you may be in for a bumpy ride. When I graduated with an English degree in 2017 (why does that feel like centuries ago now?!), I was having an existential crisis every other day thinking about my career, what I wanted, how far I’d like to go and who I’d want to work for. I. Was. A. Mess. Looking back on it now, those feelings were totally normal – you can’t make a decision like that in a day. When I sat down and made a mind map of things I was interested in, spoke to people about my options and spent many a late night in bed staring at the ceiling, I decided that more than anything, I wanted to work with books. They’d shaped me, changed my outlook on the world and I wanted to be a part of the industry that churned them out: publishing.

How? How does one get into publishing? It was like I’d just decided and now I didn’t know where to go. I started with creating a LinkedIn and then progressed to the jungle that is Indeed.co.uk. Neither really gave me anything substantial and so I thought to Google publishing houses and apply directly through their websites and portals. To keep track of everything, I made a spreadsheet of EVERY job I applied to and had columns for whether I got an interview and whether or not I received an offer. Each stage of progress was marked by red, amber and green boxes and after a while, I realised that the whole spreadsheet was red. All of it. What was I doing wrong? I made it a mission to get in first with every vacancy but everything just got so overwhelming – why were there so many areas in publishing, which role was I best-suited to? I thought you just needed to love books? No one wanted to hire me without experience but no one was giving me the opportunity to gain experience either. It felt like the biggest catch-22 and after a bag of rejections a few train wreck interviews, I was almost ready to give up and NEVER look at another publishing job description again.

Then, just like those moments in cartoons where the clouds part to allow a big ray of sunshine to come through and the birds start singing, a friend of mine told me about a handy little (not little at all) organisation called Creative Access which is dedicated to creating diversity and inclusion in the UK’s creative sectors. Plagued with disappointment, I felt like this was my lifeline and started looking at the opportunities page on their website. I was amazed to say the least – so many vacancies with such big, reputable names in a variety of industries! I starting applying like no tomorrow and was pleased to see my CV and cover letter going further than it ever had before. Suddenly, I was interviewing with places like Bloomsbury and Pan Macmillan! Each interview taught me something different so even if I wasn’t getting the job, I was still getting better each time and growing in confidence, too. I found myself checking the Creative Access website pretty much every day and becoming more optimistic with each application.

Suddenly I landed my first role in publishing – Submissions Administrator for The Future Bookshelf, a creative writing initiative being run across four imprints within Hachette UK, which sought to encourage submissions from writers from under-represented backgrounds. It was something that spoke to my heart and I was over the moon to get it! While there, I had a fantastic manager who, knowing it was my first job, did everything to make sure I got as much experience and exposure to the industry as possible. I was reading submissions, co-ordinating readings for colleagues, getting involved with social media and even putting data together for team meetings. I loved every minute of it and was trying to learn as much as I could. I got to sit in on meetings, have one-to-one chats with people from every department and even pick up skills in copy-editing and proofreading. It was an incredible first job because I had the opportunity to learn a bit of everything and network with smart, creative and talented people who had worked on incredible books. At that point, I’d decided I wanted to work in editorial. Even though I was sad to see my contract end after six months, I knew I had enough to apply for another job. Back to the Creative Access website I went.

My second job was at HarperCollins; I’d applied for their BAME traineeship (through the Creative Access website, obviously) and after 2-3 rounds of interviews and a terrifying presentation in front of company executives, I got a rejection. It was a bitter feeling to say the least BUT, they liked how I came across and kept me in the pipeline, regularly sending me and other candidates they’d liked but not hired, vacancies before they went live on the website. That’s how I landed my second job – Marketing Intern at Avon, a commercial imprint publishing everything from women’s fiction to crime and thrillers. It was great – different, but great! How I’d ended up in marketing, I wasn’t sure but because it was such early stages of my career, I thought to be open to everything. I learnt LOTS when I was at Avon; Photoshop, creating digital content, helping out with marketing campaigns, reading submissions with the team and learning all things social media. It was wonderful but it was another six-month contract and I was nearing the end. At the time, there weren’t any other permanent jobs going, so I thought to do what I always do: go back to the Creative Access website!

Then I saw it – an entry-level role with The Literary Consultancy (TLC), an editorial consultancy based in Farringdon which prides itself on working with writers of all kinds and providing a variety of services, hosting events and creating content dedicated to their development and success. They were hiring an editorial and marketing assistant and I went for it. I feel like my previous roles had prepared me for this moment – editorial AND marketing? It HAD to be for me. I was abroad the week that they were interviewing, but the team were lovely enough to interview me via Skype! I felt very lucky and to this day, am full of gratitude for their time and consideration. Long story short, I got the job and was over the moon. I bid farewell to the lovely folk at Avon and began my new venture at TLC.

I’ve been working with TLC for almost a year now, and there isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t feel blessed to be here. I have an incredible team (see pictured) who are so dedicated to overseeing my professional development and are forever creating opportunities for me to get involved with whatever crazy, cool, creative project they’re working on next (watch this space for something exciting in the coming months which yours truly will be doing!) I love working with writers as well as our team of industry experts, having fun with TLC social media, getting involved with marketing campaigns and events and everything in between. This job is a dream and I wouldn’t have this (or any of my previous jobs) without Creative Access. They are an incredible resource and have been a beacon of hope for me for almost two years now! An incredible organisation, I have hope that thanks to their tireless efforts and dedication, creative industries WILL reflect society and WILL progress for generations to come.

Sometimes I feel like my way in was just a happy accident and other times, when I’m being contemplative and thoughtful, it feels like the stars had aligned and I got what was meant for me. My point is that success is NOT linear, but you should enjoy the journey and learn all that you can from it. Every job was a stepping stone and gave me a wealth of experience and knowledge, each one developing me more than the previous role. I’m incredibly excited for my future at TLC and can’t wait to see what else comes my way. My advice to applicants, job-hunters and publishing hopefuls is to work hard (network, volunteer and put yourself out there), be patient, remain optimistic and know that it will happen for you when the time is right…

Oh, and check the Creative Access website on the daily – in case it wasn’t obvious ????

Have a publishing interview coming up but have no clue what to expect? We caught up with our former Harlequin UK intern – turned Head of Zeus Commissioning Editor, and now the Editorial Director for Orion Books, Rhea Kurien, to ask her about her top tips for acing those interview questions…

1. Tell me a little about yourself and your experience to date.

They ask this 9 times out of 10, so do think carefully about how you present yourself. Try and be succinct and tailor your answer to the job you’re applying for. It’s a question that trips a lot of people up, so it’s worth practising this one out loud so you don’t blank when asked.

2. Why do you want to work for us?

Be specific – show them that you know their list, have read their biggest books and are keeping abreast of what exciting things they are doing. Don’t just read their website (websites are usually out of date), really study their social media feeds and search for articles about them on The Bookseller. What are they doing that you feel really passionately about?

3. What have you read recently and really loved?

If you’re fresh out of university, I know it can be difficult to think of any books beyond what you read on your course. However, to work in publishing (especially editorial, marketing and PR), it is crucial that you have read books that have been published in the last year or so. Go into bookshops and see what books are charting, compare that to the kind of books that are featured in supermarkets, look at the Kindle bestsellers on Amazon as often as you can, and then read read read.

Here is a chance to showcase that you have read books on their list, do try and read a couple of their big books of the last couple of months.

4. What is a recent marketing campaign that really stood out to you, and why?

This will depend entirely on which area of publishing you’re looking to go into e.g. commercial, literary or academic. A couple of stand out campaigns for commercial fiction in the last year or so are Candice Carty-Williams’ Queenie and Beth O’Leary’s The Flatshare. Lots of pre-publication buzz, a really standout and high concept package, great endorsements from other authors and trade publications, lots of visibility both digitally and on the ground e.g. tube advertisements for Queenie at Brixton station. A similar non-fiction example is Lisa Taddeo’s Three Women. With literary fiction, two examples are Margaret Atwood’s Testaments and Hilary Mantel’s The Mirror and the Light (did you see when they placed the Wolf Hall Tudor rose emblem on a billboard in Leicester Square?).

You don’t have to use an example from the publisher you’re applying to – they want to know you know the wider market.

4. Why should I consider hiring you?/What makes you the right candidate for this role?

Here, you want to do the same thing you should have done for your cover letter: refer to the job description. Pick out key phrases from this, boring but important things like good at meeting deadlines, managing conflicting priorities, good people skills, and yes, ultimately, that you love and are excited by the idea of seeing a book from concept to finished product.

5. What have been your major achievements to date?

This doesn’t always come up, but if it does, don’t be afraid. It doesn’t have to be work-related, you can talk about something you did at university or something you achieved outside of work or study. Having other interests is a good thing, and having an example that shows you are capable of taking initiative is even better.

6. Any questions?

Always prepare at least three questions for this. You want the interview to be a conversation. Something I always like to ask is which books the interviewers are really excited about publishing this year.

Competency-based questions

With entry-level positions, there is really only so much they can quiz you about the industry. For the most part, if you’ve got to the interview stage, they already think you’re qualified. They just want to know if your work style will fit in with their team. That’s where competency-based questions come in, things like ‘give me an example of when you had to juggle conflicting priorities’ or ‘tell me about a time that you had to handle a difficult client’. This guide will help you construct your answers in this format: the situation, the obstacle you had to overcome, your strategy, and the (successful) outcome.

Your examples can be from situations you faced at university, any part-time jobs, or even previous internships. It doesn’t matter, the important thing is that you highlight that you know how to handle difficult situations. Publishing is all about working to really tight deadlines, working with lots of different people, and multi-tasking so show them you can do these things.

Final tips for interviews

Be your amazing and authentic self, make good eye contact, smile and be enthusiastic about being there, drink water when your mouth gets dry, don’t panic if you need a minute to think about your answer before you reply, and thank them for their time.