Ola Animashawun, the Creative Director of Euphoric Ink, knows all too well the importance of networking. He has 25 years of experience of working in theatre, is an Associate Director of the Royal Court Theatre and founder of the theatre’s Young Writers Programme. Ola is also a presenter, consultant, script editor, compere and producer. Here he gives some sounding advice on how and why networking will help you get ahead in your career.

Everyone has a network, and everyone you know is part of your network, and one way of helping you to succeed in the way you want to succeed, is to get your network to work for you.

“No man is an island”

You’ve probably heard the expression, “no man is an island” but have you ever really considered what this actually means? Basically, no one exists in perfect isolation.

All of this connects us to other people, puts us in touch with other people and gives us something ‘in common’ with a vast range of people from a broad spectrum of life’s experiences. So if you think about it, you know a lot of people.

Strictly speaking, the expression “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know” is not true. You have to know what you are talking about and you must be able to do what you can say you can do. However, if it’s career advancement you’re looking for, then you are also well-advised to know exactly who you know and get in touch with them. In other words network.

Think about it like this. If you want to buy a car, but you don’t know anything about cars, what does the wise person do? They ask around and they canvas opinion, starting with the people they know and trust, i.e. they go to their network for support.

And on it goes in terms of which dentist, which plumber, which university, which travel agency, which mobile device, which piece of software etc.. all through life.

So your career shouldn’t be treated any differently. So you have to go out there, make it clear (by appropriately and sensitively broadcasting) who you are, what you’re about, what you can do, and how well you can do it and then trust the process to help you to be in the right place at the right time. It does work.

One final and very important note. Networking is a mutual state of affairs. As you ask, be prepared for people to ask you in return, what do you know, who do you know, can you point them in the right direction etc? Then share, don’t hold back. Share your knowledge, and share your contacts. Creating a virtuous circle of mutual benefit as it were.

Now work on how you’re going to network by doing the following:

1. Start by answering two very important questions to provide self-awareness and self knowledge:

a)What makes you tick, turns you on and off?
b) What do you want to do and want to be in terms of your career?

Be as clear, direct, simple, detailed, specific and succinct in your answers as possible – don’t stress it, its not a GCSE, just follow your instincts and you’ll realise you already have all the answers.

2. Make a very good first impression – always – and then ensure you always make at least a good impression after that.

Think about and find out about the people around you – who they are, what they want and how you can be the solution to their problems.

Know your chosen field inside out – read the trade press, blogs, watch the vlogs, attend the trade events, clock the people, voices, trends, meet the people and make sure you remember them and they have a good reason to remember you.

3. Be pitch perfect – have an informed opinion and choose when, where and how best to voice it.

Be ever generous – use your knowledge to help others to get what they want – become known the go-to person.

4. Set yourself goals and targets – including the goal to review your targets and goals on a regular and specified basis.

If you want to get something then simply ask for it.

So there you have it. Understand that Networking is a key part of your work life, so like the foundation of all success, be strategic, diligent, and apply yourself to ensure you do it well. Do all of this everyday – little and often will suffice – but make sure you do do it, everyday.

Sathnam Sanghera, features writer for The Times and Chair of Creative Access, attempts to give some practical advice about sustaining a career in the creative industries.

Last month I wrote an article for The Times business section about careers advice. Taking issue with a new generation of business websites tediously obsessed with proffering job tips such as “follow your passion” and “give 110 per cent”, I came across a report by the Inspiring Futures Foundation which found that only 1 per cent of state school students between the ages of 14 and 18 were influenced by the advice of a careers adviser. And concluded that the middle aged should, if tempted to proffer unsolicited advice, just shut up. No one is listening anyway.

Which puts me in a rather awkward position in fulfilling a promise to write something proffering careers advice for Creative Access interns. I stand by it – ultimately young people should be allowed to do things their own way. There are no real rules. Which perhaps counts as advice of sorts: be prepared to be flexible when working in the creative industries. Jobs in film, TV, journalism or PR are not like jobs in law, accountancy of medicine. You need no particular qualifications, there are thousands of different ways in, and you might need to be willing to change your mind and direction once you do get in. It is simultaneously the best and worst thing about the media sector.

As it happens, you can make a decent amounts of cash eventually: there are real opportunities for people who understand the arts and creativity and yet have business acumen. But starting salaries are not in the same ball park as those for corporate graduate training schemes, and the thing that will drive your success is commitment to doing great work, and the daily demonstration of great work. It’s a paradox: the less you are motivated by money, the more likely you will be well paid.

I’ve lost count of the number of job candidates and interns who claim they are passionate about film, or TV, or fashion, or current affairs or books, but who turn out to have nothing to say about these things whatsoever on their social networking accounts and seem to mainly to be concerned with complaining about the quality of donuts at Greggs. When I was starting out, the only creative outlet available to me was my local newspaper, but nowadays, with Facebook, Twitter and blogs there are thousands of outlets. It’s great fun, but there is also no hiding.

Another common mistake in interviews is candidates not knowing enough about the company they are talking to. There is no excuse, if you go into a TV channel, for not knowing what they are broadcasting that week and the nature of their competition. You also need to have opinions about the kind of stuff they should be broadcasting in future. Equally, it is unacceptable to go into a book publisher and not know what their biggest hits have been and the books they missed. This is basic stuff.

I could go on. Don’t do a media studies degree – if you go into the media actually knowing something about something, whether it is history, or science, or architecture, you will have an advantage over most people. Work hard. Trust your instinct. Listen more than you talk. But I realise I am falling precisely into the trap I warned against in my column. So I will leave you instead with some unsolicited advice that some of my middle aged friends proffered on this topic on Facebook, and which you will doubtless ignore.

The creative industries are highly competitive and can seem extremely difficult to break into, especially if you don’t have the right connections to give you a helping hand. Creative Access are here to help open the door to the creative industries for those from Black, Asian and ethnically-diverse backgrounds.

Hearing the term ‘internship’ can sometimes be daunting. For some, the word will start alarm bells will be ringing, leading to negative thoughts about spending endless amounts of time by the photocopier, dreary filing duties and making countless cups of tea for the team; i.e. doing temporary, unpaid, low-level duties, for an organisation that you will not be associated with for more than a few weeks or months.

But why is being a Creative Access intern different? Here are eight reasons why:

1. You are paid!

While many internships are unpaid, all internships provided through Creative Access are paid a bursary of at least the equivalent of the London Living Wage. This way, you won’t have to worry about dipping into your savings to make it through the duration of your internship.

2. Induction

Upon accepting an offer of an internship, all interns are invited to a Creative Access induction hosted at ITV Studios. It’s an insightful day to prepare you for life as a Creative Access intern, featuring inspirational speakers, guidance on presentation skills and goal setting, and offering a chance for you to meet other interns embarking on a similar journey.

3. Training

While you still may be asked to make the occasional cup of tea, we ensure that you receive a sufficient quality of training throughout the duration of your internship. We make sure that all line managers provide an internship training schedule, which will be agreed with you as the intern. This schedule can be used as a reference of what you can expect to learn during your internship.

4. Masterclasses

Each month, we bring all of our current and former interns together by hosting a Masterclass. In recent months we’ve met Malorie Blackman, and are also set to meet Sir Lenny Henry. We have also been hosted by organisations including, Twitter, Google, Hachette, the House of Commons and ITV, to name a few. These sessions give you an invaluable insight into all sectors within the creative industries, giving you the opportunity to network and  gain advice and inspiration from industry experts.

5. Support

Once you have started your internship, your relationship with Creative Access does not end. We will check up on you throughout your internship and provide a support system for you, which will continue even when your internship is complete. Whether it be an issue you need help to overcome, general career advice or even if you simply need a chat, we are only a call or email away.

6. Mentoring

Once you start your internship, you will be assigned a mentor within your company. This will be a senior member of staff – crucially a different person from your line manager. The role of the mentor is to help you build confidence, credibility and competence during your internship and specifically to help you think about your next steps after your internship finishes.

7. Buddy system

Every intern is assigned a ‘buddy’ who was a former Creative Access intern. The aim is to make the initial process of settling in as an intern smoother and to offer you support based on the former intern’s own knowledge an experiences.

8. Tickets to theatre shows and events

Often, our supporters and media partners such as The National Theatre, Donmar Warehouse and the Almeida will contact us with free tickets to shows and/or events. We always inform our interns, past and present of these events and they are always greatly received and appreciated.
So what are you waiting for? If you are from a black, Asian or other non-white ethnic minority background, view our latest opportunities and start your journey as a Creative Access intern now by registering here.

So your dream is to enter the big wide world of marketing. You’ve sailed through education, applied for countless amount of roles and you’ve finally secured an interview. Firstly, congratulations! Secondly, are you prepared?

Marketing is one of the key components to an organisation’s success and there isn’t a rule book on how, when or where it’s done. As you probably already know, there are many components that make marketing a success and it is proven to be a very competitive industry to get into. Regardless of what the type of marketing role you have applied for is, the following tips combined are key to scoring well in a marketing interview.

Research

First thing’s first, you need to research. It may be the most obvious starting point, but we cannot express enough the importance of researching and the difference between a well-prepared and an ill-prepared candidate at an interview. The worst thing you can do is go into an interview without any knowledge about the ever-growing list of marketing strategies and even more so, without any knowledge of the organisation you will be potentially working for.

A great starting point is the organisation’s website. So ask yourself:
– What type of organisation are they?
– Who are their audience?
– What are their current marketing strategies?
– What are their goals and values?
– What are their achievements?
– How do they measure their success?

We all dread the ‘where do you see yourself in five years?’ question, (as no one can predict the future), but you must be prepared to answer it. Know your direct marketing from your promotional marketing and your marketing analyst from your marketing director. Ask yourself why marketing is the career route you have chosen and where you want it to take you eventually so you are prepared for this question.

Ideas

Having ideas can be useful for any type of job interview but when it comes to a marketing role, having ideas is essential. When filling a marketing role, employers tend to be seeking a ‘fresh pair of eyes’ to analyse their current marketing strategies and will appreciate a new perspective.

If you like an existing strategy, suggest an example of what can be done to maintain/enhance it. There is no right or wrong answer, everyone is entitled to their opinion and as a potential employee, bringing ideas to the table can help you stand out from other candidates. Be brave!

Social Media

Social media has become one of the key tools in an organisation’s marketing strategy. If you haven’t done so yet, sign up and become familiar with multiple social media platforms and focus on how they can be used for marketing purposes. The main social media platforms range from Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Snapchat, Google+, YouTube and Pinterest. Find out what social media platforms the organisation currently have profiles on (if any) and be sure to mention that you have seen them active on these platforms and how effective you find their practices.Make sure your own social media channels are relevant and up to date as your potential employer will definitely look at them.

Skills

Consider your current skills, tailor them to the job description and highlight them to the interviewer. Some of the essential skills in marketing that you could demonstrate examples of are:

• Communication. Having the ability to communicate with both internal and external stakeholders of all levels, from youth to pensioners and assistants to CEOs. Highlight your capability and confidence in using multiple channels of communication (face-to-face, social media, email, telephone, skype).
• Creativity. There isn’t a wrong idea when it comes to creativity. Don’t be afraid to express your ideas no matter how big, small, quick or time consuming they may be.
• Writing skills. Be confident in your grammar and punctuation. Understand the difference between your ‘their’s ‘they’re’s and ‘there’s’? Be aware of how different writing styles can appeal to different audiences.
• Team playing. Marketing is a team effort, filled with a combination of ideas and opinions and is hard to do alone. Demonstrate times you worked in a team, what role you played and what was achieved as a result of teamwork. This doesn’t have to be in a work situation but can still highlight your skills.
• Analysis. Knowing your audience and measuring the success of marketing relies a lot on analysis. Demonstrate ways to analyse a market and how you can interpret written, numerical, visual and verbal communications.

Portfolio

It’s one thing to verbally highlight your skills and marketing capability, but presenting your skills with evidence in a portfolio will give the employer a visual idea of what you are capable of and why you are suited for the role. Tailor your portfolio and make it relevant to the role you are applying for. If you are a blogger, print off your best written work. If you are a communicator, print off presentations you have collaborated. If you are a designer, show off your best photoshop work. Be proud of your accomplishments and don’t be shy to bring a portfolio along to your interview, even if it wasn’t asked of you.

We hope these tips have helped to boost your confidence and have helped to prepare you for your marketing interview. Don’t forget that we have some amazing paid internships in marketing as well as other creative sectors, so feel free to check them out here. Good Luck!

We’re sure you’ve heard many times before that job searching can often be a job within itself. And with hundreds of people competing for every role, especially in the creative industries, its imperative that your CV and cover letter accurately represent your skills.

So whether you’re a fresh-faced graduate or a seasoned professional looking to make a career-changing move, make sure you check out our tips on how to create an outstanding CV and cover letter.

Things to consider before you put fingers to keyboard…

• Cover the basics first and include all of your personal details – name, address, phone number and email. It’s all well and good showcasing your excellent experience but it’ll be for nothing if an employer doesn’t have your details to contact you!
• Make sure the length of your CV is relative to your work experience. There’s no point in having a four page CV when you’ve only just graduated. Chances are most of it will be unnecessary waffle so you’re better off cutting it down to one or two pages and focussing on any extra curricular skills or work experience that you’ve picked up during your studies.
• Be honest. You may just think that you’re being creative, but exaggerating the truth when it comes to your skills or experience will not help you. It also won’t take long for the employer to see through that if you’re lucky enough to get through to the interview stage. Save everyone’s time by focussing your energy on applying for roles that you’re qualified for and are confident that you can excel in.
• Make sure your cover letter reflects your personality, details relevant experience and shows why you are interested in the role. Employers receive hundreds of CVs everyday so a strong cover letter is important if you want to stand out. Make sure you tailor your cover letter to each role that you apply for. This will show that you’ve taken the time to research and haven’t just copy and pasted a generic response.
• If you’re going for a creative role, make sure your CV includes links to your work. If you’re going for a role in social media there should be links to your social media channels. If you’re going for a content creation or film role you should include links to your show reel and any credits you may have gained.

Put yourself in the employers shoes

You wouldn’t employ just anyone to look after a loved one or do some work in your house so make sure you have a full understanding of the type of person a company is looking for. This knowledge will take you far for when you when you have to sell yourself and convince them to invite you in for an interview.

Create more than one CV

If an employer looks at your CV and sees that you’re interested in pursing roles in film, book publishing and PR, it may give them the impression that you’re a flight risk and you’ll just jump ship the minute you find another role in a different sector.
By creating a number of CV’s and tailoring each one to specific sectors or subject areas, you’ll show your employer that you’re committed to your career goals.

Get a trusted squad to proof read your CV and cover letter before you press send

When you write something yourself and spend hours working on something, you become blind to your own work and may be unable to spot typos or phrases that don’t quite fit.
So before you send your application over, enlist a trusted group of people to proof read your CV and cover letter and actively encourage them to provide their honest feedback.

We hope these tips have given you the inspiration to write an amazing cover letter and CV. If you feel that you need some face-to-face guidance when it comes to your CV, we run regular CV clinics which can be found here on our Opportunities page.

The PR industry is notoriously competitive so it’s always useful to get advice from talented people in the sector who have managed to successfully launch their careers. In this guest blog piece, FleishmanHillard Fishburn’s Max Kalu talks about how he got into PR and offers some valuable advice to anyone wanting to do the same.

Growing up Public Relations, known to many as ‘PR’, was an industry I had heard of, but never considered. In truth, it just never occurred to me to look into it, in typical Nigerian fashion my parents were intent on me being a “banker, doctor or lawyer” and that was about it.

I accidentally discovered PR whilst I was studying Politics at Swansea University. In my third year, a friend and I decided to act on our massive interest in fitness and launched ‘Mr University’, the UK’s first student bodybuilding competition.

We ran the competition for a successful year, securing sponsorship from Microsoft and coverage in various outlets including the Huffington Post and BBC Three.

I naturally fell into a PR role; my essay writing skills were used to write press releases, and my eye for detail and critical thinking were needed to navigate the various reputational issues namely unfounded claims of steroid use and sexism, we were levelled with.

Mr University offered me clarity on the direction I wished to take post-university, and following graduation I joined FleishmanHillard Fishburn as a Graduate Trainee in the Corporate Communications team.

Having spent just over 7 months at FHF, I can say no day is the same. At one moment I may be on a conference call with a client across the world, the next having lunch with a journalist from a global newspaper.

If you’re contemplating a career in PR, the first thing I advise is a frank and honest self-assessment of your personality type and attributes.

Practically, there are a number of ways to get into the industry. University level education is expected with subjects varying across industry specialisms. For example, many of my colleagues in the Corporate team have arts and humanities backgrounds, but many of my colleagues in the Healthcare team studied science subjects.

Prior experience is also a must. My path was unconventional, but I’m a big believer in the worth of real-life experience. Nothing demonstrates natural aptitude better than taking your own initiative. This can be a pretty simple – outreach to local media outlets for an event at your university for example.

Internships remain the most common way for students to build their CV’s and can provide valuable insight into agency life. Familiarise yourself with agency profiles on PR Week, and shoot off introductory emails along with your CV.

The main concern of any PR firm is managing client reputations and generating publicity. In order to continue achieving this in our rapidly evolving and increasingly global society, the PR industry needs more people like you and I – people that bring diverse and different views to the table. I haven’t looked back since entering the world of PR, and I don’t think you will either.

All your friends call you a bookworm but this is hardly surprising. You spend more of your time hanging off your Kindle than you do hanging out with them.

It’s OK though because today you feel vindicated. The thousands of hours you’ve spent immersed in your favourite books have paid off and you’ve finally landed a job interview with a top book publisher.

Sure, take a moment to celebrate, but you’re not quite home and dry yet. If you’re going to ace this interview you need to nail some essentials. It won’t as easy as wowing them with all your literary references but luckily for you, we’ve put together these tips to help you the competitive edge.

Have detailed answers prepared for these questions

• Who is your favourite author and why?
• What is the difference between a publishing house and a literary agency?
• What genres are your favourite and why?
• What is your favourite imprint and why?
• Why are you interested in a specific type of literature?
• What are you currently reading?

Read, read, and then read some more

At this stage, it’s safe to assume that you’re a bona fide book nerd but however much you think you read now, the reality is that you can always read more. To succeed in the sector you really need to live and breathe books so impress your interviewers by showing them that you know your JR Tolkien from your JK Rowling.

Turn up your social media output, including your blog

You may love to read but can you write? In today’s publishing sector you’ll be pushed to find a major, or even independent publishing house that doesn’t have their own blog and full spread of active social media channels.
Whether you’re going for an Editorial or Marketing role it’s imperative that your blog and social media channels showcase your writing style. You also need to get to grips with the role social media plays in the publishing industry and use this to keep up to date with the latest industry trends and hot topics.

So if you’re not already on social media, start today and maybe even start following some of your favourite authors and publishers.

Get clued up on the different departments

Right now you may be thinking to yourself “I’m going for a Foreign Rights role, why do I need to know about what the Marketing department do?” well, you’d be wrong. All of the departments are subtly connected so it wouldn’t hurt to gain an understanding of the role each of them play in the overall picture. You don’t need to be an expert overnight on them all, but understanding what each of them contribute is invaluable when you’re sat in an interview. Here are a list of the departments you should know about:

• Contracts
• Foreign rights
• Marketing
• Accounts
• Publicity
• Sales

We hope these tips have given you the confidence to ace your interview.

You’ve dedicated hundreds of hours reading Shakespeare’s entire works and you’re familiar with every artistic director in the UK. Finally this knowledge has paid off as you’ve only gone and scored yourself that much coveted job interview at your all time favourite theatre company.

Before you celebrate by reading ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ for the 50th time, you realise that if you want to rub shoulders with the likes of Rufus Norris and Matthew Warchus, you actually need to put the ground work in and ace this job interview.

But how do you make sure you effectively convey your passion for theatre as well as selling yourself and convincing them that you’ll be a sparkling addition to the team? Well, sit tight and read some of our top tips on how to prepare for a theatre job interview.

Equip yourself with knowledge of the company and the industry. You wouldn’t set out for a walk in the desert without packing plenty of water, so why go for a job interview without researching the company first? It’s all well and good saying that you live and breath theatre but you need to make sure that you effectively demonstrate this knowledge in your interview. So load up on research and show them that you know your Les Blancs from your Les Misérables.

If this is the industry you want to work in you need to know if inside out. Here are some good questions to think about:

• Can you name their recent plays and artistic directors?
• What do you like or dislike about their plays?
• Which emerging talent (screenwriters, producers etc) are you the most excited about and why?
• What do you consider to be the biggest threat to the theatre industry at the moment?
• Why do you want to work for their theatre company over all the others?
• Do you have a good understanding of the different roles within theatre?
• What is the most recent production you saw and what did you think of it?
• What is production that has had the most impact on you?

Think about what you love the most about theatre and why you want to work in the industry. If you’re an aspiring actor or actress and think you’ll just take any job in theatre until you score your big acting break then perhaps now is the time to reconsider your motives. Yes you do need to start somewhere, but convincing your interviewer that you will be perfect for the role behind the scenes when really your heart lies at the centre stage is bound to rub them up the wrong way. Your first passion really should be for the role you’re going for.

We hope these tips will help you ace your interview. If you’re still waiting to secure an interview and need some help with your CV, be sure to sign up for one of our CV Clinic sessions.

5 plus 5 equals 10 but so does 7 plus 3. Just as you can get to the same answer in different ways, there is no one path to follow for a creative career. I learnt this while undertaking work experience with Creative Access. My week with Creative Access gave me fantastic insight into their work helping young people from Black, Asian and ethnically-diverse backgrounds to pursue their passions and follow their dreams in what can be a cut-throat and competitive environment. Here are some of the things that I learned.

Parental pressure can result in the tragedy of young people shelving their talents for the sake of more ‘stable’ professions. At a masterclass organised by Creative Access, DJ Angie Greaves recalls how “Being from a Caribbean family, my parents wanted me to be a teacher, a nurse or a doctor, but I was addicted to radio.” Her message was clear, if you have an addiction that you want to make your career you should give into the craving.

The creative sector may be a harder climb than other sectors and you will not reap financial rewards for a while, if at all. The difference is that once you are at the top of your Mount Everest the level of satisfaction is unparalleled.

While it is not a necessity, university is often at least a stop-off on the way to the final destination of a creative career. While getting good grades is important, what is paramount is that you take advantage of the opportunities for both personal growth and experience in your chosen creative sector. The candidates Creative Access meet who are the most successful have almost always been involved in societies, worked on personal projects and gained work experience in their preferred field.

In the middle of a Physics or Engineering degree and convinced this rules you out of a creative career? You need not worry as many creative businesses actively look for employees with science backgrounds. In fact, Creative Access recently placed a medicine graduate in a publishing house! Rest assured that while arts and humanities may be the traditional route into the sector, having specialist knowledge can be an advantage.

Your CV is your entry pass. This is what the Creative Access team will use to decide whether you fail to meet the criteria for the internship or whether you are a VIP who should be shortlisted. Given the extremely high volume of applications that Creative Access receives, you should make sure that your CV allows you to stand out.

Your cover letter is also extremely important. It is always important tailor the cover letter to the role you’re applying for. See it as a sales pitch by bringing up your academics and why they matter, all your relevant experience and what it is you’re looking for.

In both your CV and cover letter show your strengths and skills with short, sharp bullet points. You should be VERY careful with typos. In roles where writing and attention to detail are pivotal a small mistake can have a big impact on how you are perceived as a potential candidate. Don’t forget that if you need help you can attend a Creative Access CV surgery?

Getting on the bottom rung of the creative career ladder is in itself an achievement. Once you get your first internship or work experience remember that this is just the start of your journey. In the media it is widely acknowledged that who ends up where is dependent on luck. Nevertheless, you can make yourself more lucky with the right attitude and a lot of hard work. As well as digital, production and writing skills, you may end up becoming a top tea-maker! Regardless of whether or not you have a first from Oxford no task should be beneath you. Kiss DJ and presenter Neev Spencer recalls how she even worked as a receptionist in a radio station purely to get experience. The trick is to learn your trade inside out, acquire as much knowledge and as many skills as possible. Then when you are given the chance, show what you’re made of! Whether it is being asked to write an article or edit a video – there will be make or break opportunities for your future career.

Similarly, if you are unsure what area to focus on you will be helped to find your feet. Making the jump from university to the professional world can be trying and testing and yes, you may face a few rejections before landing an opportunity. Regardless, it is better to take a few ‘so whats’ in your stride than to be haunted by ‘what ifs…’

Tiata fahodzi’s artistic director, Natalie Ibu recently spoke at our Creative Industries Showcase at Channel 4. In this blog piece, Natalie talks about the importance of networking, celebrating your identity and also offers some essential creative career tips.

12 years ago, I was a graduate with lots of excellent essays on my hard drive, very little practical experience and no network – there was no club (boy’s or otherwise) that I belonged to. 12 years ago, I got on a similar – smaller scale – initiative and was one of five trainees, each attached to theatres in the East Midlands. And that was the start of my journey; a journey not without its hurdles, injuries, wrong turnings – think less motorway and more country roads with no sat nav or googlemaps – but a journey never the less.

12 years on, I’m the Artistic Director and Chief Executive of tiata fahodzi – a national portfolio organization regularly funded by the Arts Council. We started 18 years ago, founded by Femi Elefowojo jr. A British-based Nigerian actor and director who looked around him and saw that the stories we – and by that I mean the theatre sector – were telling were refusing to acknowledge the existence of all sorts of people and growing communities. And so he started a company devoted to telling stories about the African diaspora in Britain. Just one person with an idea and a desire to make a change. Does that sound like you?

18 years on, and I am the third Artistic Director with the absolute pleasure of continuing to build a legacy and the privilege of commissioning, programming and producing work that truly reflects the developing African diaspora in contemporary Britain. Work that multiplies the singular narratives that exist and sees every kind of “African”. Whether they’re a mixed heritage, working class (but now middle class through education and profession) Scottish girl who grew up eating sausage and tatties rather than okra and fu-fu (hello). Or they’re in touch with the origin of their name but have never tasted the fried fruity goodness of a plantain. Or they take okra soup as packed lunch to their city job but have never set foot on African soil. Maybe they’re bilingual but know nothing about their heritage or know it all but from papers rather than parents.

At tiata fahodzi, we’re interested in the dual, the in-between, the second/third generation African who is mixed experience and lives vividly and richly but you’d never be able to tell if you watched our stages, our screen or listened to our radios. I – at 32 – still meet people who are surprised that there are black people in Scotland – we, culture, have let those people down in doing our job of sharing the world they live in. I – and others like, and unlike, me – continue to be unseen and unheard. Let’s agree that stops here and now, with us.

Not all of you will be thinking of a career in theatre but I wish you were. Because the industry I want to work in, the meetings I want to go to, the audiences I want to sit in and tell stories to – look diverse. I feel like we spend a lot of time talking about why everyone needs theatre – and, listen, I’m a theatre fan girl so I absolutely believe that theatre is essential for living – but we don’t say enough that theatre needs you.

We’re tight for time so I wanted to share some things I’ve picked up over the last 12 years, 5 residencies and endless jobs as a producer, director and teacher.

Here goes, strap in:

Trust your instinct. I knew I wanted to be an artistic director at 17 – I know, it’s weird, I don’t think I really knew what that was, then. But I chose my degree based on that desire, I chose the jobs I did based on that ambition. And here I am, 15 years later. If you feel it, you feel it for a reason – follow that instinct and see where it takes you.

Don’t believe the hype. In 2008, some mentors suggested I go for another residency – a high profile director development attachment. They said, you won’t get it, it’s highly competitive but it’ll be good experience for you. Guess what? I got it first time and got a residency at one of Britain’s leading theatres – the Royal Court. Don’t take notice of the myth around jobs, opportunities, organisations. Get involved.

Everyone has the right to ask and – similarly – everyone has the right to say no. I expect to have coffee with every single one of you who thinks theatre might be the place for you.

So I’m hoping you’re hyped about the future, hyped about the role an internship might play in forging your career but if you’re still none the wiser whether theatre is for you, I’ll finish with this. If you’ve got something to say about and to the world, then theatre is a loudspeaker. What exactly have you got to lose?

Channel 4’s Commissioning Executive recently opened our Creative Industries Showcase event at Channel 4. In this blog piece, she talks about how she launched her career in TV.

Growing up in the 80s ‘having a passion for the media’ meant having an appointment to view The Krypton Factor, Desmond’s or Saturday Superstore, listening to Mark Goodier on BBC Radio 1 and obsessing over any Smash Hits issues my mum would let me and my sister buy as a special treat. I know, relatively primitive cultural pursuits next to today’s avalanche of platforms and content. But despite any interest in popular media, without any connections or know-how of who to contact or ask, I found myself accepting to pass on the possibility of working in TV.

It was only in mid 20s when I was completing my PhD and contemplating a life as a research scientist that I decided I’d try one last attempt at getting into TV production. So I wrote a few letters. And I received no replies. That was until my dad spotted an advert in the local newspaper saying that BBC Wales wanted to broaden its intake of new production staff. A few chats with outreach HR staff and an application process later, I had landed myself a 1 year production traineeship at BBC Wales.

In retrospect it sounds straight-forward, but at the time I remember feeling lost as speculative attempts didn’t work. To me, ‘the media’ was a big white ivory house without a door and I felt like I was running around it knowing I wanted to get in but not knowing how to find the door. Thankfully, the industry is a little more transparent now.

Perhaps being a mature entrant helped me get into the BBC but that still wasn’t a guarantee of a life-long career. None of my contracts were ever that long, which is normal for the industry. I moved around the UK which culminated in over eight years working on a range of BBC TV programmes, including radio and online. It is an incredibly competitive industry and still has a long way to go in terms of a range of views, voices and visions, but the trick is to understand how you can make your outlook matter.

Even though I had a good run at the BBC, I still found it tough to maintain momentum and often wondered how my interest in the global world could be explored. Even with experience, doors can still shut in your face and cynicism can set in. So I took 3 years out to work in international development. Returning to TV production only 5 years ago, I have freelanced as a producer at a range of large independent companies on programmes and ideas across all the major broadcasters before joining Channel 4 on a 1 year placement within their documentaries commissioning team. Commissioning is often viewed as the apex of the TV production tree as it is these people who have the influence to decide what programme ideas a broadcaster will buy and make, so it has been an extraordinary insight.

Thinking about it now, perhaps my route in was a lot to do about timing and luck. I was a few years older than the average new TV entrant and had knowledge outside of the media – in this case a science degree – but I also think there is no one way.

Finally, don’t think you can do everything. You can’t and won’t – and – above all, be confident. The biggest barrier to accessing this industry is having the self-belief that you can add to it and then learning to communicate that amiably. Afterall, if you’ve got it, flaunt it. Everyone else in telly is…

Congratulations! You’ve finally managed to do what everyone said was impossible and bag yourself a coveted interview spot with the TV production company of your dreams. After spending an hour elatedly dancing around your bedroom in your PJs, it suddenly dawns on you that although you’ve spent what has felt like a lifetime dreaming about working on the set of your favourite TV show, you haven’t put any thought into the interview process or how you’re going to prepare for it.

Well don’t panic. Luckily for you, we’ve prepared some great tips that will help you ace your TV interview and hopefully knock your unprepared, competition out of the park.

Make sure you do your research. We really can not emphasise it enough when we say that the key to preparation is knowledge and you can only get that knowledge through research.

Expect to be asked all about your favourite and least favourite shows and be prepared to have a strong opinion on why you love or hate them and if you’re able to tell them how you think these programmes can be improved then you’re well on your way to impressing their socks off. So if you know your ‘Making a Murder’ from your ‘How to Get Away with Murder’, now is your chance to show them just how many hours on Netflix you’ve racked up! Here are some important questions you need to ask yourself before your interview:

• What TV programmes do they make?
• What do you like or dislike about their programmes?
• Do you have any format ideas that you think would be perfect for their target audience?
• Do you know the difference between pre and post production?
• Why do you want to work for their production company over all the others?

Think about why you want to work in TV. A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that working on a TV set is going to be super glamorous and that you’ll spend your days schmoozing with the stars and your nights hopping from award ceremony to party. That’s not to say that you wont get to do these things, but before you get to experience any of the perks you need to prepare yourself for the hard graft, the heavy lifting and the very long hours. If you’re the kind of person who can take the good with the bad then you’re cut out for a career in TV so you just need to convince your interviewer.

Also, when you’re asked why you want to work in TV, use this opportunity to not only demonstrate your knowledge but also talk about your previous experience, skills and education to explain why you’re not only perfect for the role but why you would be an asset to the company.

Make sure you ask questions. Even though you’re the one being interviewed, it doesn’t mean that asking questions is off the table. You need to know what their office culture is like and whether you’ll be a good fit for it. Asking about the potential routes for progression is always a good idea too. Although you want to get as much experience as possible, it’s always useful to know if there will be opportunities to develop the role or move into another department after you’ve been there for a certain amount of time. No one likes to feel stagnant!

We really hope these tips have helped you well on the way to acing your next TV job interview. And don’t forget, we have some amazing paid internships in TV and other creative sectors, so feel free to check them out here.