Future goals - Post apprenticeship

As it nears the end of my apprenticeship with OperaUpClose I have been looking and investigating in communities, groups and newsletters that give advice on creative job hunting, as well as actual job advertisements. As much as the Artswork team have been helping and giving myself and my peers advice, it is ultimately down to us individually to investigate on our own - which I have so far found to be inspiring and exciting to research into.

I have made a plan mentally on how I want my life to look in 6 months to a year, as I am also taking into consideration the fact that I am planning to move to Bristol in September to become more involved in a creative hub city - I have found online that there are a lot more opportunities in and around Bristol and overall decided this would be a good idea to work towards to start off my career.

After looking into it, I found a Bristol specific website based around creative job roles and opportunities called Bristol Creative Industries which lays out very similar to 'Arts Jobs' and seems to show more positions that cater better to my specific job role and what I am qualified for.

In addition to the job hunting, I have signed up to a few creative newsletters from a couple of arts organisations that promote primarily freelance work across the UK. Freelancing in general is something I would love to get into, specifically to broadcast my more artistic skills such as my illustrations and paintings, alongside ASM work, photography, and helping on site for productions or film/tv sets. Although freelance work is not my soul priority currently, this is something I am still trying to promote as I am completely aware it is a lot harder to get into nearer the beginning of ones career. In most cases, positions in freelancing are based around recommendations and networking with others within the industry, hence why I am looking at it as a sort of 'side hustle' rather then a full time course of action (for now).

Working with OperaUpClose has allowed me to broaden my skills in a multitude of different expertise, this includes producing, logistics, stage management, marketing, copywriting, digital campaigning and so much more. This has become extremely helpful when beginning to apply for future working roles due to the fact that I can broaden my search to a bigger variety of positions that each require different experience and skills. By having so much experience in different areas I am hoping for this to appeal more to employers, giving me an advantage when finding a position after my apprenticeship.

The specific roles I am mostly interested post OperaUpClose surround social media marketing, creative campaigning and producing for organisations similar to OUC. After working in an intimate and smaller company, I have found it to be extremely appealing from a personal viewpoint as I feel more valued and 'seen' as a member of staff, also giving me the opportunity to build relationships with each member of the team. I have been deciding with myself whether or not this is something I would look for specifically when researching potential job roles, however I fear being picky in certain areas may come to a disadvantage when job hunting!

Applying for jobs can seem quite daunting at times, however I am continuing to stay resilient and keep an open mind in the hopes I may land a few interviews prior to my contract ending in August. Despite this being slightly nerve-racking, overall I am looking forward to the start of a new and exciting career which could potentially lead down many creative pathways!