Creative Opportunities 2022/23 Overview

Since 2012, Creative Opportunities has been the ultimate bridge between your creative passion and a thriving career. In 2022/23, we witnessed a whirlwind of opportunities, with a staggering total of 1964 paid roles advertised, showcasing the boundless potential of our creative community. 1644 of these were jobs and 320 were internships. We also advertised 48 competitions and 70 volunteering roles. Let’s look at each of these categories:

• Jobs
• Internships
• Employers
• Jobseekers
• Applications
• Competitions and volunteering

Jobs

In the job market of 2022/23, 58% were in creative industries, and 42% were in the non-creative zone. So, whether you're all about gaining experience or just need some extra cash for that London life, you're in luck!

Employers were super active in September, January, and June – that’s when they posted most full-time jobs. If you’re on the hunt for internships, November, January, and March were the golden months. Perfect timing for students like you!

Now, let’s talk job types. About 44% of the gigs were full-time, 27% were freelance (freedom, anyone?), 20% part-time (for that perfect work-life balance), and 9% were temporary.

And hey, there’s something for everyone! 57% of the jobs were entry-level (beginner-friendly!), 38% were in the middle (you got this!), and 4% were management level (aim high!).

In the creative world, PR and marketing, fashion design, and graphic design ruled the roost. But if you’re more into the non-creative stuff, education and teacher training, public services, administration, and business consulting were where the action was.

Internships

320 internships were up for grabs in 2022/23, and a whopping 82% of them were in the creative realm, while the rest were still within the exciting world of creative industries.

When it comes to sorting these internships, a solid 49% got the 'Creative' stamp from employers, making them the stars of the show. 'Administrative' roles took up 22% of the spotlight, and 'PR and Marketing' came in with a respectable 16%.

PR & Marketing, Fashion Design and Design were the top three industries that advertised internships. Meanwhile for non-creative roles, sales, retail, buying and merchandising was as the most popular type of internship advertised, followed by ‘Hospitality and events management’ and then ‘Business, consulting and management’.

Employers

We hit a milestone with over 1000 employers jumping on board to use our service, and we can't thank each and every one of them enough for opening the door to employment opportunities.

What's even more exciting? A majority of these new employers were super cool micro-sized businesses, offering a plethora of entry-level roles. This means our students and graduates have fantastic chances to bridge the gap from classrooms to real-world industry experiences. Small-to-Medium Enterprises took the lead, offering a whopping 39% of our roles, while the big players in the industry, the large organizations, contributed a commendable 12%.

Here's the fascinating part: employers discovered our platform through our amazing graduates and alumni from UAL, their colleagues, and good old internet searching. If you're an employer with roles to offer and you know other employers, why not spread the love? Introduce them to Creative Opportunities, and let's create more success stories together!

When it comes to the industries shaping our platform, the creative world was abuzz with activity, especially in fashion design, graphic design, and performing arts. On the other side, non-creative industries made their mark too, with significant contributions from 'education and teacher training,' 'Sales, retail, buying, and merchandising,' and 'charity and social care.'

Jobseekers

Creative Opportunities isn't just for UAL folks – job seekers from all corners of the globe signed up, and we welcomed over 7700 eager minds!

A whopping 64.2% of these sign-ups were from our very own UAL students and graduates. It's fantastic to see our own community actively engaged. The remaining 35.8% were from passionate individuals beyond the UAL network.

Of the UAL students, current students signed up the most, most likely in their final year looking to secure employment after their course ends.

Applications

In the bustling arena of opportunities, 59,459 applications lit up our screens in 2022/23. Current students led the charge with 41%, closely followed by our esteemed alumni at 34%. An impressive 25% of applications came from non-UAL jobseekers, reflecting our diverse community.

The most common opportunity type applied for which was ‘job’ at 74%, followed by ‘internship’ at 20%, competitions at 4% and voluntary roles at 2%.

The top five opportunity types most applied for were: social media assistant, art teacher and hosting classes, gallery assistant, entry-Level Graphic Designer or design Intern and studio Assistant.

The industry sectors which had the greatest number of applications were ‘visual arts’, ‘graphic design’ and ‘film and TV’.

High up on the application list was our own Enterprise programme, UAL funded internships, which was popular amongst our students.

Voluntary roles and competitions

In the realm of voluntary roles, the top three industries we advertised were opportunities related to ‘charity and social care’, ‘sales, retail, buying and merchandising’ and ‘museums & galleries’.

For competitions, the top three industries we advertised were opportunities related to ‘visual arts’, ‘fine art’ and ‘design’.

Google Analytics

Creative Opportunities received over 1.02 million views during the 2022/23 academic year.

Summary

Since its inception in 2012, Creative Opportunities has been the beacon guiding creative students and graduates toward their dreams. Managed by Careers and Employability, it's become the ultimate hub for those aspiring to turn their passion into a career.

We don't just offer opportunities; we provide a gateway to a world of potential. Whether you're seeking jobs, paid internships, competitions, or volunteering roles, this is your space. Are you studying art, design, communications, or a performance course, or have recently graduated? Well, look no further – Creative Opportunities is tailor-made for you! Our goal is to help you achieve your ambitions and make a living doing what you love.

If you are a creative industries employer or have a creative role to offer, you are welcome to sign up and use our jobs board. This year it has been great to see more fashion related jobs return to the jobs board since covid lockdowns ended. However, there were less full-time entry-level roles advertised compared to last year.

SMEs and micro-sized employers are very important for our students as they offer a chance to obtain industry experience and we are looking into developing the site to offer more for both employers and our students, including a new ‘placements’ section where employers can offer roles for students that are part of their course and credit earning.

Have questions or eager to explore more? Reach out to us at jobsonline@arts.ac.uk. Your creative journey begins here, and the possibilities are limitless.