“Wow!” thought our traveller, as they arrived in Montreal, finding a city of contrasts, with older quarters as well as a heaving inland port. It seemed like anything was possible in a place like this!
Reflecting on the journey so far, the people met and possibilities which abound, our traveller though just how difficult it is to pick one job in life! Looking at several articles online they discovered that many people all over the world will work multiple jobs. “It’s estimated that Australians will have an average of 13 jobs in their lifetime, and it’s about the same for North Americans.”[i]
Having a croissant and strong black coffee for breakfast our adventurer smiled… glad there was a world of possibility. But how could this be navigated? Looking deeper online, they found that a combination of qualifications and skills which could be “transferred” was key. There were also different ways work could be structured -from full and part time options, through to self-employment and portfolio careers where you could spend your time doing more than one thing, such as spending four days a week as a part-time Careers Adviser and the rest of your time as a freelance illustrator or writer.
But how could you get into these careers?
A quick look on the National Careers Service website gave some great initial answers. With Careers Adviser work being accessed via a post-graduate qualification in Careers Guidance (QCD), a series of diplomas taken whilst learning on the job or a Degree Apprenticeship: https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/job-profiles/careers-adviser. With all our adventurer had learnt, they thought this might be fun! They noted how some people came into as a second job, after teaching or youth work (transferring their skills).
But what about creative jobs, how could they find out more about what was possible? A quick check in the search history of their phone helped them find their old favourite: https://discovercreative.careers/# as well as https://www.meet-eric.com (the creative careers app). These tools gave them so many ways to discover what was possible in the creative industries… so many opportunities!
Lastly, they wondered how they could boost their skills, to give themselves an even better chance in the job market. Going back to the National Careers Service website they found: https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/find-a-course/the-skills-toolkit – free courses to help people learn skills or change jobs! That will do, they thought.
Setting their sites on the horizon and the waiting countryside, they picked up the sketchbook, paints, backpack, and easel and wondered what they would go and paint first… of course, going to university, taking a college course or 6th form study were all ways to become a “Fine Artist”, but so was picking up a brush and just having a go! Perhaps they would be an “Outsider Artist”… Art Brut awaited![ii]
Chris Targett, Area Manager Kent & Medway, CXK Careers Service.
[i] https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-many-jobs-you-have-during-your-lifetime-leonie-sanderson/
[ii] https://www.theartstory.org/movement/art-brut-and-outsider-art/
