Bibi Hilton, CEO of Creative Access, featured in Rohan Banerjee’s Raconteur article discussing the use of positive action schemes in senior leadership recruitment.
Bibi Hilton is the CEO of Creative Access, a charity focusing on diversity within the arts and media industries. She takes the same view. “The talent is there,” she says. “But companies need to cast their net wide enough to reach senior individuals… Whether that means fishing where the fish are using more diverse jobs boards, or working with external partners who inherently have an inclusive pool of talent within their networks.”
What are creative organisations doing to respond to the climate crisis and what jobs exist in this sector? Our latest masterclass focused not only on the roles available in this growing space, but our panellists also advised what our audience can do in their own workplaces, communities and careers to push forward climate solutions.
Our panellists occupied very different roles across the sustainability space. Zoe Constantinou feeds into a more corporate environment as a sustainability manager at ITV in its social purpose team, whilst Creative Access alumni Anthony Shehan Lewis works as a digital campaigner at established campaigning organisation Greenpeace. Destiny Boka Batesa is the co-founder of Choked Up – a grassroots campaign founded by herself and two friends at the age of 16, focusing on the disproportionate impact of air pollution on marginalised communities. Our chair for the evening, former Creative Access intern, Sunita Ramani is a climate justice campaigner and account manager at Greenhouse Communications, a PR and digital communications agency specialising in driving positive environmental change.
“We’re all fighting for the same cause but we’re speaking different languages” – Destiny
Our panellists told us that while they’re all fighting the same battle, they sometimes have to speak different professional languages within each space they work in. Zoe ensures that ITV plans and organises strategies which make the business and its productions more sustainable. She explained that a huge part of her job is people management and says this is a skill you’ll need in any social purpose career: “You’ve got to translate your purpose into business and finance terms”. Continuing, Zoe says she recommends putting a positive spin such as explaining how caring about the planet will help the business model: “The business doesn’t know how to respond, so we are the translator saying this is what you need to do.”
Shifting dialogue depending on who’s listening is something Destiny can relate to. Choked Up’s overall goal is for the UK to create an up-to-date version of the Clean Air Act (which was last updated in the 1990s). The campaign aims to tackle disempowerment around climate justice in Black, Brown and working-class communities. Whilst “it’s been really great to speak up for our peers and our families”, Destiny says that she often has to code-switch in political spheres explaining, “we have to find some sort of rhetoric to resonate with an audience who might not ordinarily listen to us”. Despite dealing with imposter syndrome, Destiny says it’s imperative to empathise and use that empathy to make people listen.
Meanwhile, Anthony says he’s privileged because at Greenpeace he gets to make “outrageous memes” about the climate crisis to engage the public through digital campaigns. He says that online engagement is a vital part of his role – alongside everything from encouraging people to write letters to their MP to making TikToks – it’s all about galvanising people to take action. This is ultimately what wins campaigns and ties into Greenpeace’s mantra of ‘people power’. Anthony stated that Destiny and Choked Up are a great example of this. However, he also added, the movement needs people like Zoe in businesses to lobby the people above them.
“One thing everyone I’ve met in the sustainability space has in common is the thirst for knowledge” – Zoe
All our panellists stated that they had no idea that jobs in this sector even existed when they first entered the world of work. Both Anthony and Sunita were involved in climate action before finding their internships at Greenpeace and Greenhouse Communications via Creative Access respectively. Anthony worked as a street fundraiser for Greenpeace in Brighton after graduating without having much interest in politics or climate justice. However, despite not being the best street fundraiser – “I think I lasted about two months” – the experience inspired him to get involved with local grassroots activism back in London. He applied for an internship at Greenpeace, and has stayed for 6 years, working on campaigns ranging from plastic to palm oil and ocean protection, with a new campaign on deep-sea mining dropping next week (keep your eyes peeled!).
Meanwhile, Sunita was involved in activism at university and knew she wanted to do something creative that also helped to tackle the climate crisis, but just didn’t know what was out there. Sunita found the internship at Greenhouse via Creative Access and, like Anthony, has stayed and progressed there since. Sunita works with businesses, NGOs and activists to get the message out there, and her role sometimes requires lobbying the government or businesses. Last year, she was even able to attend COP27 in Egypt to support a coalition of organisations in food and agriculture.
Zoe has worked in sustainability for a couple of years but admitted she had a bit of an ‘odd journey’ into the sector. After graduating into the pandemic, she worked for a TV catering company and realised that she loved the TV industry. However, through this role she realised how much food waste there was in the TV and film industry and decided to address it in her career. She pitched to a company on reducing their food waste to improve their image, made contacts in the industry and became the first food waste professional in TV and film. Zoe recommended that the audience learn as much as they can about their niche or passion within the sustainability space to propel their career forward in the ever-changing landscape. She spent her evenings attending free courses to upgrade her knowledge and recommends CPD as a great source!
“You have strength in numbers, which is the people power element of campaigning” – Anthony
One thing that really came through in last night’s masterclass was that no one can fight climate change on their own, with each panellist reflecting on how each of the other speakers’ roles contribute to saving the planet. They talked so inspiringly about drawing on your communities, be that in your local area or your colleagues, to find ways of addressing the issues affecting you.
Our panel ended the session with their recommendations to anyone looking to change things in their day-to-day lives. Destiny – who had been mentored by The Advocacy Academy who helped Choked Up develop their road sign campaign – emphasised the need to draw on your networks when implementing campaigns and ideas. She stated, “Start that conversation. There will always be something you share in common with someone that you can work on.” Zoe echoed this and said, “you have no idea what influence you have on the people around you”, with Anthony adding that “you have strength in numbers, which is the people power element in campaigning”. Sunita left us with a final piece of advice for anyone looking to make a career out of their passion:
“Find what you’re passionate about in this space and what speaks to you. Whether that’s social media, art, or TV. There’s no one climate career, there’s no one way to be in this space. Use your passion as the guiding light.”
Huge thanks to our panellists for an inspiring evening and sharing their journeys with us and of course thank you to our audience for attending and asking great questions. Watch the session in full here!
Want to learn more about the roles available in the sustainability space that you never knew existed? Read our blog with Creative Access intern Salomé Revault d’Allonnes who is an activist engagement intern at Greenpeace!
Ever wondered how activists stay motivated? In her role as an activist engagement intern at Greenpeace, Creative Access intern Salomé Revault d’Allonnes empowers and brings activists together in their fight against the climate crisis…
What does your role entail?
I work at the intersection of activist engagement and collective care training.
A lot of my work revolves around designing and facilitating workshops with different groups of activists. I’m also supporting the Activist Development team in coordinating logistical and welfare support for activists before, during and after an action.
In terms of digital communications and storytelling, I also co-edit the quarterly activist newsletter, regular email updates, website copy and I presented a social media video for our recruitment campaign.
Collective care: programmes and practices which support the mental wellbeing of people who are part of causes and movements.
What’s your favourite part of the job?
I really enjoy how varied my role is. It combines many of my interests from my research and tutoring background to my more creative and storytelling side and, last but not least, my passion for social and climate justice and transformative organising.
No week looks the same and that’s something I really value.
How did you get into this role?
I graduated from university in September 2021. I was initially looking to work in the documentary film sector, which I did for a bit, but the lack of security required me to work part-time in jobs outside the industry which didn’t work for me. I knew I wanted to tell stories that matter, speak truth to power and contribute to transformative change.
I am grateful to Creative Access for allowing me to even consider such a well-known organisation in the environmental and NGO sector. I remember seeing the vacancy in a newsletter and thinking why not give it a try without realising that I could potentially be successful. It felt too big and unattainable.
Creative Access were really helpful during the application process by giving feedback on a first application draft and organising a call with shortlisted applicants. That feedback really helped me refine my application and make it to the interview stage. I couldn’t quite believe it when I was offered the job!
What’s been one of your favourite projects that you’ve worked on?
There were other internships being advertised at Greenpeace at the time I applied, but the reason I applied for this role in particular was its focus around building a culture of collective care in the activist network.
With previous experiences around migrant justice and feminist organising, the concept of collective care really resonated with me, and I’ve been given quite a lot of freedom in designing that programme.
I’ve been designing and delivering workshops to develop a culture of collective care with an anti-oppression lens with different groups of activists, volunteers and artists.
My proudest achievement was when someone who applied to our new activist training programme mentioned a collective care session I had run in a previous volunteer gathering as one of the reasons why they were motivated to take action with Greenpeace!
“Your opinion and experience matter and have value. You have a unique perspective and even if you feel like you don’t have enough relevant experience, you have many transferable skills and there’s no way you’ll know everything about a job before you do it.”
What would your advice be for anyone looking to break into the sector you work in?
My advice would be what I keep trying to tell myself every day: your opinion and experience matter and have value. You have a unique perspective and even if you feel like you don’t have enough relevant experience, you have many transferable skills and there’s no way you’ll know everything about a job before you do it.
Stay true to yourself and put forward all the things you’ve done and created, including in unpaid contexts. If you want to break into this sector, it means you are creative and passionate, and these are very powerful tools.
Want to learn more about how you can pair a passion for sustainability with a career in the creative industries like Salomé? Sign up here for our upcoming masterclass on Thursday 30th March.
Anoushka Dossa, Creative Access’ director or recruitment, has contributed her advice to Rafe Uddin‘s piece “How to use your experience for a standout job application” in the Financial Times weekend edition.
“Rather than applying for every role you find, it is better to choose quality over quantity, says Anoushka Dossa, director of intern recruitment at Creative Access, a charity that provides career support and access to the UK creative industries. “Consider earnings, benefits, corporate social responsibility — all the things that are important to you.”
Advanced Television report on the findings of the Freelancer Report, conducted by Creative Access, ‘Data: UK TV freelance creatives demand change’. Creative Access research showed that although freelancers are broadly happy with their career path, there is a breakdown in the relationship between freelancers and employers within the creative economy, as over one in two freelancers say they ‘don’t feel supported by employers’ they work with.
“Freelancers are all too often the lifeblood of a creative organisation,” says Bibi Hilton, CEO, Creative Access. “They’re the flexible extra resource we bring in when the workload suddenly spikes and there’s no time or budget to hire to plug highly valued, and often specialist skills gaps. And yet, our survey shows, many employers are not treating their freelancers in this way. They are treating them as ‘other’ to their permanent employees; investing in training or wellbeing for everyone except their freelancers or worse, claiming to create a culture of ‘belonging’ that includes everyone except the large proportion of individuals not on permanent contracts.
“At Creative Access we’ve been at the forefront of supporting diverse talent for over a decade, it’s all part of our mission to make the creative industries reflect UK society. However, we also appreciate our own role in offering career-long support – particularly when talent is self-employed and lies outside the safety net of an organisation.”
A new press announcement from Creative Access on freelancers in the creative industries reveals that freelance talent demands change from creative organisations. Although freelancers are broadly happy with their career path, there is a breakdown in the relationship between freelancers and employers within the creative economy as 1 in 2 freelancers say they ‘don’t feel supported by employers’ they work with.
Although demand for freelance workforce support in the creative industries shows no signs of shrinking, overall satisfaction is waning among the self-employed.
- Freelancers ask for reasonable adjustments & employer training to thrive
- 50% of freelancers don’t feel supported by the employers they work with
- 1 in 5 (22%) became a freelancer due to negative experiences in a perm role
- Disabled individuals 30% more likely freelancing after negative perm role experience
- 54% say they’re offered a day rate or salary below their level
However, the research also showed that freelancers are overall pleased with their career path, pointing to several positive aspects about being self-employed, suggesting their job gives them satisfaction, namely around:
- remote work (62%)
- project diversity (61%)
- independence (61%)
- it being beneficial to their health & wellbeing (42%)
- and freedom to select clients (32%)
- Freelancers ask for reasonable adjustments & employer training to thrive
- 50% of freelancers don’t feel supported by the employers they work with
- 1 in 5 (22%) became a freelancer due to negative experiences in a perm role
- Disabled individuals 30% more likely freelancing after negative perm role experience
- 54% say they’re offered a day rate or salary below their level
Creative Access, a leading UK diversity and inclusion social enterprise today reveals new research that shows although freelancers are broadly happy with their career path, there is a breakdown in the relationship between freelancers and employers within the creative economy as 1 in 2 freelancers say they ‘don’t feel supported by employers’ they work with.
This is despite the creative industry’s heavy reliance on its freelance workforce. Self-employed talent currently represents a third of resource in the creative economy (source) – sectors such as film, TV, journalism, PR and many more have historically relied on freelance support to deliver projects and plug valued skills gaps.
Creative workplaces ‘excluding’ freelancers
Although demand for freelance workforce support in the creative industries shows no signs of shrinking, overall satisfaction is waning among the self-employed. The report from Creative Access surveying under-represented freelancers in the creative industries highlights poor standards from employers. When asked ‘do employers support freelancers and include them in their teams & organisations?’ half of respondents (50%) said no.
Unsurprisingly, 1 in 2 freelancers also said late payment from employers was an issue. And 1 in 3 disabled respondents said they went freelance due to a negative experience in a permanent role, this was higher than the average 1 in 5, which sadly raises a bigger issue of disabled freelancers being 30% more likely to have suffered bad workplace experiences as staffers, this ‘otherised’ treatment seems to continue into self-employed life.
Not all bad for freelance talent
Despite challenges freelancers face, respondents are overall pleased with their career path, pointing to several positive aspects about being self-employed, suggesting their job gives them satisfaction, namely around:
- remote work (62%)
- project diversity (61%)
- independence (61%)
- it being beneficial to their health & wellbeing (42%)
- and freedom to select clients (32%)
How can employers & the industry help freelancers thrive?
Despite positive experiences being self-employed, freelancers didn’t hold back in identifying how employers and the creative industry at large can better support them to do great work. It’s no coincidence that respondents said employer training on how to best support freelancers is one of the most important resolutions to the freelance, employer disconnect.
Respondents also pointed towards several key action points employers and the creative industry at large can take to help them thrive:
- Make it clear as an employer you will make reasonable adjustments for disabled freelancers – 91% of disabled freelancers in our survey highlighted this was an issue with employers.
- 78% of freelancers in our survey said professional training was one of the most important areas employers and industry bodies can support them
- Providing access to a mentor with a similar lived experience, was valued by 63%
- Access to networking events to build their client and peer contact base (67%)
- As well as training for employers on how to best support freelancers (48%)
“Freelancers are all too often the lifeblood of a creative organisation,” says Creative Access CEO, Bibi Hilton: “They’re the flexible extra resource we bring in when the workload suddenly spikes and there’s no time or budget to hire to plug highly valued, and often specialist skills gaps. And yet, our survey shows, many employers are not treating their freelancers in this way. They are treating them as ‘other’ to their permanent employees; investing in training or wellbeing for everyone except their freelancers or worse, claiming to create a culture of ‘belonging’ that includes everyone except the large proportion of individuals not on permanent contracts.
“At Creative Access we’ve been at the forefront of supporting diverse talent for over a decade, it’s all part of our mission to make the creative industries reflect UK society. However, we also appreciate our own role in offering career-long support – particularly when talent is self-employed and lies outside the safety net of an organisation.”
This week Ramadan begins. Our Muslim staff have put together their top tips on creating an inclusive workplace during Ramadan for employers and co-workers.
Tip 1) Being able to pray on time
One way employers can help their Muslim employees is allowing them to leave for prayer. Praying on time is very important for Muslims, especially during Ramadan. Being able to leave for 5 minutes, even when it’s busy, without being bombarded with questions or judgment will help your Muslim employees feel less stressed. If there’s space, we also recommend setting up a prayer room or an allocated space in your office for both male and female workers to pray separately.
Tip 2) Accommodate employees who break their fast at work
If you have Muslim employees working after sunset, also known as maghrib, having dates and water ready for employees so they can break their fast would be much appreciated by your Muslim employees.
Tip 3) Consider condensed hours
Sleep schedules can be a little off-kilter during Ramadan; we usually sleep later, wake at dawn and then go back to sleep; this makes 9am starts a bit tricky. Some people may prefer taking a shorter lunch break and finishing work a little earlier too.
Tip 4) Avoid evening meetings
If you have late evening meetings or work events, try rescheduling them for earlier so your Muslim employees have enough time to rest and prepare for iftar (when we break our fast).
Tip 5) Think about the comments you make about Ramadan
Although you may not mean it with ill intent, comments like “I want to fast so I can lose weight” can be seen as rude. Ramadan is a religious tradition and a time meant for reflecting on and being grateful for the life God has given you.
Also refrain from saying comments like, “I’m sorry you have to do this” or “are you forced to fast?” Many Muslims look forward to Ramadan; it is a time where we feel more connected to God, our families and friends, we join together to celebrate and we step away from consumerism and material objects to appreciate life and feel more spiritually connected with those around us.
Tip 6) Be flexible with annual leave
Ramadan is based on the Islamic calendar which is lunar. This means Muslims may not know when Eid or Ramadan is until the night before, so if your employee calls the night before to change the date of their annual leave please be understanding. The last 10 days of Ramadan are considered the most holy, so if your Muslim employees come in late or take time off it’s so they can focus on prayer, Quran and their spirituality.
If you would like to learn more about inclusivity practises in the workplace, check out our open training workshops
Overview
The team at H+ K Strategies approached Creative Access in 2017 to help address the lack of representation of Black, Asian and ethnically diverse talent within their business.
Approach
Creative Access has supported H+K Strategies via a multi-faceted approach to the recruitment pipeline, including a regular intake of trainees recruited via Affirmative Action, and annual outreach events (both in person and virtual) to equip candidates with a deeper understanding of PR, campaigns and communications.
Impact
Creative Access was a key partner in the launch and delivery of H+K Strategies’ EquAll, the local expression of the global H+K Diversity and Inclusion program You Belong in 2018 and has since been instrumental in bringing in new candidates to the PR industry and to the organisation.
About Hill+Knowlton Strategies
H+K London is a top public relations agency providing strategic advice and creativity to its clients. With a staff of over 300 it’s part of an international network of 80 offices.
Want to know what’s it like working for an immersive theatre company? Did you even know that you could? In the latest blog for our series ‘jobs you didn’t know existed’, former #CAIntern Jessie Francis talks us through her very exciting role as a creative assistant at the trailblazers of immersive experiences, Secret Cinema…
What does your role entail?
This is always a fun question, to answer. I am a creative assistant at Secret Cinema – an immersive theatre company that brings beloved films, television franchises and even occasionally music to life. In our shows, the audience are not passively watching the narrative unfold, but actively find themselves in the story, uncovering deeper layers of character motives, backstories, mysteries and secrets. Essentially, it’s a bunch of people creating the most elaborate fan-fiction you have ever witnessed.
Being in the creative team, we are responsible for ensuring our shows encompass cohesive and innovative storytelling or world-building across the narrative structure, the set, the performances and some marketing assets. I also bring additional skills to the role through my illustration and video editing skills – so it’s wonderful being able to contribute to the creation of our shows through my many multi-hyphenate interests.
What’s your favourite part of the job?
Any part where I get to dive into story, or a character, or world development. I adore how research can inform a narrative and create a story that audiences can logically follow and understand; which then enables us to push the boundaries of surrealism and theatricality. So, whether you’re faced with Regency Lady Gaga performances, epic scale alien battle sequences or intimate conversations with characters in rooms, where you have no idea how you entered (or even where they are), the roots of the story and world are always grounding you and driving your experience.
How did you get into this role?
I will always be grateful to Creative Access for pushing job roles and careers that I never knew existed, because I didn’t go looking for this job at all. I didn’t even know to look for this job.
I graduated from university in 2019 with a first in animation, and when asked what I wanted to do, I didn’t have a specific vision; but I knew I wanted to work in a story department, or in a writers room, or in story or character development. I was like Lily Allen in the beginning of her LDN music video: ‘Um I’m just wondering have you got any like sort of punky electronica grime kind of like new wave grime but kind of like maybe more broken beats like kinda dubby broken beats but a little bit kind of soulful… do you know what I mean?’. No one knew what I meant (I don’t think I did either.)
I started off in 4Creative – Channel 4’s in-house creative team – on a 3-month traineeship (courtesy of Creative Access) where I edited and wrote scripts for trailers. I then went on to work as a scene build and prop design artist for Blink Industries x Netflix’s charming, spooky, queer animation series Dead End: Paranormal Park. I was job hunting for my next role prior to my contract ending, and on a whim, I applied to a Secret Cinema creative assistant role that was advertised on the Creative Access opportunities page. It turned out that many of the skills I possessed, and was interested in pursuing, made me the perfect fit for a company where everybody wears many different hats and brings so many varying abilities to their roles.
What’s been one of your favourite projects that you’ve worked on?
It would have to be Secret Cinema presents Bridgerton. It was my first show, and I remember sitting in the writers room surrounded by talented creative directors, performance directors, actors and writers and just wanting to absorb all the knowledge everyone had, whilst simultaneously wondering how the hell I had got there. It was surreal and amazing.
What would your advice be for anyone looking to break into this sector?
My only real advice would be to not limit yourself to what you believe you are qualified for. I read somewhere once that men apply for jobs even when they are underqualified, but women only apply if they believe they are overqualified. This has stuck with me, and so I applied for anything that caught my interest and didn’t get caught up in the details of what I had studied or been trained for. Skills can be transferable, softwares can be taught – YouTube and google are your best friends.
At my core, I knew I wanted to be a storyteller and artist, and so although editing trailers, designing props for animation and creating immersive theatre all seem vastly different, they all share the core function of visual storytelling. So don’t limit yourself, and don’t feel embarrassed or flaky for career or industry pivoting. Everything you try and everything you learn will inform and equip you for whatever you do in the future – no matter how disparate it may seem from where you came from. I still adore animation, and would love to return to it one day, but I’m thoroughly enjoying my time in theatre – a medium I was so interested in as a child, and never thought I was talented enough for. And who knows, there’s probably a world in which both can be combined.
Sign up to our opportunities board and find your creative role here.
Much like the industry of politics itself, the House of Commons is hard to gain entrance to. The airport-like security is intimidating, you need a friend on the inside and you’re a little nervous that you might not fit in. But, fittingly for Creative Access, breaking those barriers and taking over committee room nine last night in the heart of Westminster is exactly what we did. Joined by a mixture of undergrads, interns, alumni and curious individuals from our community, we gained exclusive access to a panel of cross-party MPs, a member of the House of Lords, a political correspondent, and a mayoral advisor to hear how they built their careers and challenges they have overcome to get here.
‘This is your parliament.’
It was a strong opening statement from 2022’s MP of the Year and the panel’s chair, Catherine West MP. Previously a social worker in Australia, she went on to work for David Lammy MP and became leader of Islington Council, yet it was only on her third attempt to gain selection as Labour MP for Hornsey & Wood Green that she was successful. This was the start of a theme of the evening; perfect the skill of picking yourself up and trying again after rejection, and you’re likely to succeed.
Her main tip for succeeding in politics? ‘Don’t think that anyone is better than you, because they’re not.’
This was echoed by Ugandan-born, Cambridge graduate and House of Lords member, Lord Verjee’s inspiring take that young people are a force for politics and deserve to be here. Being told that this is ‘the most incredible time to be young…you have so much power’ by the founder of Domino’s pizza in the UK was just one of those experiences that we didn’t realise we needed – but we did! He shared some more serious advice for young people interested in politics: ‘In British culture, we put ourselves down, so make sure you work on your self-esteem and your mental health.’
His biggest tip for succeeding in your career? ‘Dare, care and share’. Dare to be innovative and think big, care about what you do and let that passion drive you forward, and share with those around you, because there are benefits of generosity and it’s also an important part of being human.
What we have in common
Alan Mak, Conservative MP for Havant, was quick to get the awkward bit out of the way: ‘We may not agree on everything’. And he was right, but seeing this cross-party collective on the panel was inspiring, and allowed space to discuss what they had in common: adversity and overcoming it to get into this difficult industry. Mak’s parents moved to the UK from China before he was born, and he grew up in York. He chose not to continue running the family business and became the first person in his family to go to university, where he pursued a law career. It felt particularly exciting for us to hear this story, as his is an inspiring one to all those who seek more representation in this industry. Mak was the first-ever MP from any political party with British-Chinese heritage and the first ever MP of British-Chinese heritage to be appointed as a government minister.
His top tip was that if you’re an aspiring politician, making sure you do some living first. He said his experience in different industries makes him the MP he is today.
There was an intimate moment when Rajdeep Sandhu, Political Correspondent at BBC Scotland, spoke about the imposter syndrome she’s faced because of the lack of representation in the industry: ‘I’m often the only brown person in the room…but I remind myself that this is my job and I’m here as a journalist. I’m here to seek out the story’. Sandhu shared insight into her world as a journalist in Westminster and gained the admiration of the room with her story of the non-linear journey she took to get to Westminster.
Sandhu’s top tip: ideas are your currency so make sure to make suggestions and share ideas in meetings.
Nothing is linear – stories from CA alumni
Sandhu spent years in different jobs before she landed her role at BBC Scotland age 25, including a year as a publishing intern through Creative Access. In a moment of admittance, she said a friend had encouraged her to apply for the role even though she ‘knew nothing about Scottish politics’ and spent ‘three weeks with basically no life’ while she prepared for the interview. Like the end of a great film, this hero got the part and she’s been a fixture around Westminster in the evenings interviewing politicians ever since.
In response to a question from a Creative Access intern currently placed at a TV news programme, Sandhu also said that having a journalism degree is not essential for this career. You can learn the skills on the job and having a beat or specialist knowledge in another subject such as history or politics can help advance your reporting.
Inspiring fellow panellist Njoki Mahiaini, advisor to the London mayor and another proud Creative Access alumna. Born to a Kenyan family in Harrow, she was extremely passionate about politics from an early age and aspired to be an MP – she emphasises that this is not the case anymore! A rejection from Cambridge university led her to Scotland, which opened the doors to Brussels, then NATO, then a thinktank and now the press office of the London mayor. It felt like a special, full circle moment when she spoke about how attending a Creative Access masterclass in parliament years ago led her to where she is in her career now.
Her top tip? Don’t over-promise. Meet the responsibility of your role and just do it very well.
Bells and networking
Alas, the bells rang, and the MPs had to leave for a three-party whip vote, and after more questions and a lot of networking, the night ended. We’d like to say a big thank you to everyone that joined us and to our wonderful panel.
See you at the next one!
In this series, Creative Access is focusing on the amazing jobs happening behind-the-scenes in the creative industries to hopefully inspire you to think about some roles and career paths that you might not have heard about before!
Former Creative Access intern Kaler Wong tells us all about his career journey from curatorial and artist administrator at White Cube to gallery assistant at East London-based contemporary gallery, Kate MacGarry…
What does your role entail?
I work as a Gallery Assistant at Kate MacGarry, a contemporary art gallery in East London. We put on six exhibitions a year and support the artists we work with in external shows, commissions and lots of different projects.
I work as a Gallery Assistant at Kate MacGarry, a contemporary art gallery in East London. We put on six exhibitions a year and support the artists we work with in external shows, commissions and lots of different projects.
We’re a very small team of six so the job is really varied and involves things like assisting with exhibitions and art fairs, administration, marketing, front of house, organising events and even condition checking works of art (below: check out Kaler and colleagues checking some prints, and take the time to appreciate ‘our beautiful bookshelves which took a whole day to arrange’). I’ve done everything from shopping for purple hydrangeas for an artist’s work to model-making miniature booths for art fairs.
What’s your favourite part of the job?
Spending time learning about an artist’s practice and then having the chance to meet them and work with them on an exhibition. We work with 21 contemporary artists (and two artist estates) who work with all sorts of media and are inspired by so many different things. I’ve learnt about ornithology, carpentry, prehistoric archaeology and Malawian history to name a few areas. I enjoy hearing artists speak about their own work and what they are trying to achieve. As an artist myself, I really enjoy seeing the development of the ideas of others, as they form something physical and concrete, and overseeing the whole exhibition process.
I also enjoy talking to guests about art as we get a lot of different people who visit the gallery. We often have groups of students from art schools who visit with varying levels of enthusiasm (occasionally students look bored out of their mind but thankfully they’re an exception). It’s good public speaking practice and ensures I’m knowledgeable and on message on the show itself. (See image of Kaler below giving a talk to a group from Kingston School of Art). We usually have the artist give a short talk to staff about the show before the opening which is invaluable for more personal insights and interesting details.
How did you get into this role?
I got into this role after a year-long traineeship at White Cube gallery, an opportunity I got through Creative Access. Honestly, I really didn’t think I would get the role, after having applied and then been rejected for a number of similar junior positions at other galleries. That was a really great experience in learning how the gallery system works and opening my eyes to the number of different roles and people that come together to put on an exhibition and support artists.
White Cube is a mega-gallery which represents some renowned international artists, so I tried to make the most of the learning opportunities. I was lucky to have a really helpful manager as well as an amazing mentor who made me feel well supported and comfortable asking stupid questions. It also taught me a lot about how to work with people and the importance of communication, from observing how my colleagues dealt with different pressures, to dealing with demanding or temperamental artists (which I saw a fair amount of).
Previously to that I did an undergrad degree in history and a master’s in art history. The art industry in general is really overqualified – I didn’t need the master’s degree to do the job, but I probably needed it to secure the role. I had previously volunteered at a couple of arts organisations and have always enjoyed making my own art @kqhuangart – which also gave me marketing skills.
What would your advice be for anyone looking to break into the art world?
Something that has really helped in my roles so far has been making an effort to see exhibitions and writing about what I’ve seen. When I moved to London for my master’s degree, I was visiting at least three exhibitions a week (admittedly quite easy in London, it may be harder elsewhere). The more you see, the more you can contextualise things and learn what you like. Being able to speak coherently about an exhibition I’ve seen or about artists I like has been very useful in interviews and more generally. It’s easy to be discouraged when things are not going your way and you’re applying for jobs and not getting anything back. But, if you’re passionate about art, don’t stop attending exhibitions and reading about them.
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