OTHER WAYS INTO ADVERTISING
Always a competitive arena, student awards briefs are a great way for you to get noticed by industry professionals. Most awards also allow people with less than a couple of years’ industry experience to also take part. Some are free, others will charge. But if you win, the accolades are priceless.
D&AD SHIFT AWARDS
An intensive night school programme that places an emphasis on raw, untrained talent. Shift compels its students to make the best creative work of their life. This is accomplished through workshops, talks by those at the top of their game and real client briefs that show young minds how to apply their abilities and craft, and find paid opportunities and a route into a new career.
Shift runs from September to January. They meet two evenings a week and occasional Saturdays in agencies around London.
BRIXTON FINISHINH SCHOOL
This course aims to make you as employable as possible so you can achieve your creative career goals by understanding how to deliver your “A” game in interviews and demonstrate your potential.
In 12 weeks you will cover digital marketing (theory and practice), creative thinking and the soft skills needed to succeed in the workplace. As the end of the course approaches the focus shifts to include interview practice and CV writing.
CREATIVE CIRCLE FOUNDATION
If you’re 19+ and keen to work in the creative industries this is a free full-time course based in London. But don’t worry, bursaries are available to people currently not living locally.
The course is supported and funded by the UK creative industry and aims to help address the lack of diversity in UK creative departments.
CREATIVE COMEBACK
Only 12% of creative directors are women. And, just when creatives are stepping up to leadership roles, motherhood comes along. With a career gap and a biased recruitment sector, it’s difficult to return.
Their returners programme is a way to address the gender pay gap as well as an opportunity for you to put yourself in the faces of ad agencies and other creative brands.
JOLT ACADEMY
JOLT aims to shake up the industry by helping creatives from all backgrounds to kick start their careers. They partner with the UK’s leading diversity organisations, to find
the most talented creatives from all kinds of backgrounds. There 80-week round-robin programme includes 10 eight-week placements at top UK creative companies.
SCA2
The world’s most successful advertising course. Their words, not ours. The reason it’s on this list is because it’s not a university course. But it is paid for. The advantage is that every year, they offer at least one, if not two scholarships. Look out for them from around April with a deadline usually in July.
Helping bridge the gap between junior talent and the creative industries.