Make It Happen

Confused about how a creative CV is different to a normal CV? Not sure if you should be creating a video CV? Wondering how on earth to actually prepare for an interview? You’ve come to the right place.

Let’s get started with those applications!

For very creative industries, the visual appeal of a CV can be just as important as its contents. They can be an added way to showcase your design abilities to a potential employer, alongside your portfolio. Below, you will find helpful articles which break down precisely what a creative CV is and what to consider if you want to create one:

Bath Spa University, A Guide to Creative CVs

Creative Lives In Progress, A Guide to Creating a Great CV

Prospects, Creative CVs

For a more visual explanation for how your creative CV could appear to employers, check out this resource below. Despite it being directed at students at the London College of Fashion, it provides a host of transferable tips and examples to help inspire you:

University of the Arts London, Postgraduate Creative CV Examples

One crucial tip though – don’t make it all style over content! You still need to make sure the content of your CV reflects the skills asked for in the job description. It doesn’t matter how slick it looks – if it lacks the crucial information employers need it will get discarded! Even if you plan to make a highly creative CV, we’d still recommend having a peek at our general advice about how to write your CV:

Careers Service, CVs and Applications

There’s no one perfect way to write a CV or cover letter, and trends in format are always changing. As a creative though, it’s good to know about the latest trends so you can decide whether they suit your purposes or your style. The first article below discusses the increasing popularity of ‘Value Videos’ for job applications. It cites a survey indicating that 9 out of 10 employers will watch a video CV if it’s sent to them, so it could be a way to help you stand out. As with any application though, it needs to be done well! Find out more in the articles below:

EDHEC Business School, Value Videos

Prospects, Create a Great Video CV

Creative Access is an organisation focused on supporting creative individuals find jobs, regardless of ethnicity, social status or disability. They provide a host of career support, mentoring and training, funded by employer partners from within creative industries.

Creative Access, Individual Support

The best advice for interviews, whether they’re for creative and cultural industries or not, is to research and prepare as much as you can ahead of the interview. The information on the Careers Service website will help you figure out exactly how to do that. It also helps with how to structure great answers to those tricky interview questions. Be sure to give it some attention if you have an interview coming up!

Careers Service, Interview Advice

CareerSet is another fantastic digital resource to support you with CV and cover letter preparation. Make sure to take a look.

CareerSet 

Here at the University, the Careers Service offers a wide range of support for students, both online and in-person. Find out more using the links below:

Careers Service Homepage

Careers Service Inclusive careers for everyone

The CCCR wouldn’t be what it is, without the influence of the Careers Service’s Careers Compass. It follows the same steps as this resource, but is directed more generally to all students and graduates, as opposed to just us creative and culture enthusiasts.

Careers Compass

Interested in a quick visual summary of some key points? Here’s a comic strip looking at how to prepare for an interview.