Creative Industries
The creative industries can be some of the most varied and opaque areas of work out there. We’ve broken these down into 13 industries that you can find more about below.
In general, creative industries don’t tend to advertise many roles on jobs boards. Often finding vacancies can rely on a referral from someone in your developing professional network or come through specialist jobs boards or recruitment agencies. Understanding the industry you want to work in is key to getting ahead and the information below should give you a starting point for this.
Getting experience early is also key as building your network is often the best way to build your career.
Keep in mind:
- Many creative industries are mostly based in London with travel or relocation necessary to enter an early-careers role or get initial work experience
- Many people start out or continue to thrive with a portfolio career (doing multiple things at once to grow multiple career paths and/or generate multiple streams of income). ERIC have some helpful information on this in their National Freelancer Week resources.
- Quite a few creatives can work freelance- more information on this below
- The links below are just a starting point. Branch out from these to discover more. You may also find ERIC’s database of resources for the creative industries has more.
Job applications, portfolios & freelancing
Creative job applications
Different creative roles may ask you for different application documents when you apply. Some common forms and resources (you won’t need all of these, choose what is relevant to your industry):
- A traditional CV: typically flexible at 1 or 2 pages, a traditional CV format is appropriate for most job roles in the creative industries too. Our advice on CVs including templates and how to get CV feedback are here.
- A creative CV: some CVs might need to follow a different format. For example, design roles can often benefit from being a bit more visually engaging as an example of your design ability. Film, TV and other production-based roles are expected to use a grid format to list productions you’ve worked on. Examples of different creative CV approaches with guidance on when they’re needed are available in this digital guide from University of the Arts London. Choose a creative format when it’s relevant to your industry of interest, not because you want to stand out- often a more predictable and plain CV is appreciated by employers.
- A traditional cover letter or supporting statement: again, it’s usually fine to use a traditional cover letter format for these. You typically don’t need to write a cover letter if you’re not asked for one. Our advice on cover letters with examples are here.
- Speculative applications: this is when you reach out to a person or organisation when a role isn’t being explicitly advertised. It’s common to build your network this way in the creative industries as many roles aren’t advertised. Prospects offer advice on writing speculative applications here.
- A portfolio or showreel: hosted on a live website (better for video content and live demos) or PDF document, these are a common requirement for roles where examples of your creative work are needed to see your ability (e.g. design, writing, animation, VFX and other visual media roles, fashion and architecture) as well as coding-based roles like those in web development, games design and UX. Screenskills offer advice on different portfolios here.