How hiring through Arts Temps benefits you and the talent of tomorrow

At UAL we have been recruiting our students and graduates through Arts Temps to work in our teams for the past 10 years. They have been the inspiring source of creative talent that has made UAL what it is. We love to hear from our temps and the managers who hire them about how employing arts temps benefits them both!

We caught up with UAL alumnus Sean Hawkey, UAL Short Courses Marketing Assistant and Amanda Mattsson, Short Courses Marketing Manager. Sean was hired as a temp when he was in his third year studying Photojournalism and Documentary Photography at the London College of Communication and continued working with the UAL Short Courses team after graduating and is now a permanent member of the team!

Hi guys, thanks for joining me. Sean, could you start by telling me about your role in UAL Short Courses? 

Sean: So, I work in the marketing team, creating content used for social media and the website. I was initially hired as an arts temp in the customer service team, but I quickly moved more into content creation, gathering photography and video.

My background is in photography and videography and I suggested we should focus more on video content, as that seemed more popular with our audience, so I sort of took a lead on that, gathering footage and editing it.

Amanda: Sean has been instrumental to the team in a number of ways. He has actively shared creative ideas and implemented these into our content strategy. One of the biggest tasks Sean has worked on is leading a video project whereby he has created and edited over 50 videos focusing on student stories, tutor interviews and creative process to be hosted across our social channels and website.

That’s great, what did you learn from working with the team, Sean? 

Sean: This role has taught me so much, it’s allowed me to put my studies into practice and I’ve even developed new software skills in Graphic Design and Animation, so I feel more well-rounded in what I can produce now. It’s also been great to work with my colleagues in Short Courses and learn from them, I’ve learnt more about other skills not covered in my studies such as copywriting.

Amanda: I have been really impressed by the creativity in his content creation whilst we have been at home without access to filming in person. He has experimented with different styles and formats and actively tracks engagement to improve future projects. Sean has also helped redesign our visual identity across our social channels and streamlined our content creation.