Yesterday was the Arts Administration workshop at the University of London and I was lucky enough to be able to attend. The event had a really fantastic line up.

There were four panels throughout the day representing different areas within the arts. First there were speakers from the performance arts, then museums, then visual arts and the final panel consisted of the British Council, Arts Council and also the circus (not sure if this was making a comment of some kind?!)

Throughout the day there were some key points that kept being made by nearly all the speakers and I thought I would reiterate some of them here.

If you want to work in the arts you need to:

Volunteer

Just about everyone said you should volunteer. This seems to be the most common way to get into the sector. It provides excellent opportunities to network and also gain experience.

Prove you’re passionate

It’s not enough to visit a few galleries or the theatre every now and again. You need to get actively involved in the cultural industries- this links back to volunteering. You need some solid experience and proof of active involvement to put on your CV to demonstrate that you are really interested in working in the arts.

Be Persistent (but not a pest)

When you contact an organisation to ask about an opportunity follow your phone call up with an email. Maybe send a hard copy of your CV. After a few weeks you might want to call again. This is what was suggested at the workshop and examples were given of people who had secured their job in this manner. However, it is important to get the balance right and not become a pest. There is a fine line between being determined and being annoying.

Ask Questions

All the speakers said they were happy to answer questions. They said that they liked it when people contacted them to ask about their job, what they do and ask about opportunities within their organisation. Interestingly, very few would actually give us their direct email…

Get Experience

Again, this goes back to volunteering. However, all experience is good. Jobs in the arts are highly competitive so the more skills you have the better. In particular, a lot of the speakers recommended building up your IT skills. 

CV advice from the day

• Check your spelling, I’ve told you this before: http://c2careers.wordpress.com/2009/05/12/how-not-too-write-a-cv/

One speaker (from the arts council) said if she found a spelling mistake in the first paragraph then she would not bother to read the rest of the application form. Justification: if you can’t spell then you do no not have good communication skills.

• Do not use pictures or fancy fonts. Even at an artistic organisation this is NOT appropriate. The person in charge of recruitment at Whitechapel specifically said that she would not consider such a CV.

Thoughts about the day

Personally, I really enjoyed the day. It was useful to get some insider perspectives on working within the industry. It was also interesting to try and gage what people thought about the industries they were working in, and whether or not they enjoyed it. Some people seemed really enthusiastic about their job and what they were doing while others seemed quite jaded by their chosen career path.

It was certainly a thought provoking day and I highly recommend it.

If you’re considering working in the cultural industries but would like a helping hand with applications or deciding whether or not it is really the right choice for you then why not come and visit one of our advisers at C2?