Many employers indicate in job advertisements that they would like to hire people with experience. People entering the labor market are frustrated – where would they get it if not at work?
Meanwhile, there are plenty of ways to gain experience. Today I will tell you 5 ways to prove yourself to a potential employer from the creative industry (advertising agencies, social media). These are the things I pay attention to when I consider potential hiring an applicant.
Create a blog
And write it regularly. Not only will you be able to demonstrate features such as discipline and regularity, but you will also acquire a number of skills useful in the creative industry.
First, you’ll learn the basics of a blogging platform (or building simple pages on WordPress). In addition, you will demonstrate the ability to search for information – it is extremely important to be friends with Google. Secondly, you will have a chance to practice your copywriting skills, writing texts in accordance with SEO rules and evoking specific emotions in the reader.
Run own Instagram profile
Another good way to develop discipline. In addition, you will learn how to create an engaged community, write interesting descriptions and the rules of maintaining profiles in social media.
You will be able to check how hashtags work and how best to choose them. You will become friends with the algorithm and gain your followers. This is invaluable knowledge – gaining a sense of a specific target group is an extremely valuable skill and for a recruiter in an agency, it is more important than any diplomas.
Taking interesting photos, skilful processing and creating infographics and carousels are also very sought after skills – it’s worth remembering.
Find jobs at Fiverr
Fiverr is a site where you can offer your services (even in bundles!) and users can hire you and pay for everything through the site, making the transaction secure.
People offer absolutely everything on Fiverr – creating graphics, product descriptions, blog entries, photos, drawings, and even doing small jobs, such as adding descriptions under a YouTube video or preparing file templates in Excel or Google Sheets.
Fiverr is a good place not only to earn extra money, but also to gain experience in working with clients, conducting conversations with them and providing service at the highest level.
Follow other specialists
And be sure to draw conclusions. When it comes to social media, web development, computer graphics, desktop publishing and the rest of the creative industry, virtually every professional now has an active place on the web. Instagram profile, Facebook group or fanpage or your own website.
Find such specialists in your field and observe, inspire yourself. Do not only look at the end result, but also what is behind the solutions used. Starting from obvious things, for example, rethinking the colors of the brand, ending with more subtle aspects – for example, analyzing the last sales campaign.
Ask among your friends
If you are taking your first steps and have no experience, but you already have some skills that you have gained on your own (online courses, e-books, practice, practice and more practice), try to offer your services to friends. Preferably for a small fee, adequate to the time spent, taking into account that you are just starting.
Such a situation can be a win-win for you and your friend – they will have the service performed, and you will get a position for your portfolio, which you will be able to boast about in your CV, cover letter or during an interview.
As the owner of a company operating in the creative industry, I can say that I value proactivity and the willingness to gain knowledge and new experiences above all else. If I’m not chasing an urgent project for which I need help, I don’t mind helping the person I work with in development or buying additional courses for them.
However, I must see that this desire to develop is in you. Work on your private projects and let each one of them to be one small step on the way to mastery in this field 🙂
