Hello! Official newbie here, Olivia. I started working at Gibe just over a week ago as a Junior Producer and within the first week I had made my stamp of high sophistication on the office - check out the lady bird underneath... I'm here to talk about the initiative which I signed up to, Creative Pioneers Challenge which acts as a stepping stone for all potential young creative talent in the UK - and why YOU need to look out for it when it makes a re-appearance!
Above: I purchased that gem for Secret Garden Party festival, but unfortunately left it behind in the office... kind of a good thing because it would never of made a happy return from the festival site had I of brought it with me.
I am one of those new graduates that everyone seems to be talking about at the moment, even worse, I've graduated with one of those degrees, Fine Art & Art History - (must draw emphasis to Art History, yes, there was some writing involved!). Times are changing and the struggle to find a job is not as difficult as everyone has played it up to be, though it was worth mentioning that I found this job via the glorious Twitter. It seems that using Twitter as a different search platform to Google and Reed jobs actually pays off, "Intern", "London" directed me to Creative Pioneers.
Creative Pioneers Challenge - the hunt for new creative talent
Creative Pioneers is a pretty cool initative set up by some kind folk who managed to get companies such as Facebook, M&C Saatchi, Twitter, ITV, Ragdoll Research, 3Sixty etc. involved in a nationwide process. It is set up for creative minds all over the country who have potential but aren't too sure how to apply their skills or haven't been given the opportunity to prove themselves. This process was far easier than sending out an email into the abyss of a secretary's inbox and painstakingly writing a covering letter which - if you ever articulated out loud, would effectively earn you a punch for being so sucky-uppy (yes, terminology like that was saved from any covering letters I sent.) Basically, if you pass the first stage you would be invited to attend a "Speed Meeting" session across the UK, anywhere from London, Manchester, Bristol to Scotland - I didn't dare travel up North before things got too grim so I stuck to the South. Due to availability, I picked Bristol. If you have ever been speed dating, this is like the employer equivalent - yes, you have to make a good impression, yes, you have to sell yourself but instead of your hobbies or dream date it's more like a quick fire round about skills and CV credentials. I kept my head down, kept my tactics to myself (when a previous candidate told me a question she'd been asked from one of the companies, I made a few mental notes of what my answer would be) and most importantly, I didn't walk into any floor uplighters (someone did in the most majestic, haphazardly manner on his way out, what an exit!).
Luckily a bit later down the line I got an offer from Gibe, and hey presto. Whoever said getting a job after Uni is impossible obviously needs to get a Twitter account...Although this was a one off I got the feeling that both employers and candidates would agree it's an all round success and would hands down recommend it to both creatively minded companies and creative graduates and unemployed collectively. It just goes to show that even in a digital age, face to face opportunities are well worth seizing hold of!
I was allocated as a Can-Doer...
Given your attributes, experience and character you are put into one of three categories... Which one are you?
| Can-do | Can-code | Can-start |
| We want the fearless advocates of bright ideas and those that carefully balance creative flair with commercial canniness. You don't need to track a record but we are looking for the imaginatively minded. The team players with the guts to grab opportunities and innovate tommorow. | We want the tinkerers of the technical and the minds that love to find out how it all works. Can-Coders are anything from those that have dabbled with code to digital whizz-kids. If you've got your own website, blog or you just love reading Wired, then could lead our digital revolution. | We want the self-reliant self-starters who live and breathe determination. If you've got buckets of entrepeneurial spirit and you think you're onto a good thing we want to hear your ideas. We're looking to help those who want to make the content and platforms of tommorow for digital domination. |
Amidst quietly dodging tea round duties, configuring new computer settings and commenting on the weather I have actually been hard at work - just basic user testing to ease me into the job but stay tuned to read up on the thoughts and criticisms of the most common mistakes and errors within websites when it comes to User Testing. Currently updating the Gibe website so keep a watchout for new case studies!
Hopefully if you keep up to date with this blog, my posts will become so heavy with terminology that you will just get me straight away - none of this simpleton talk!
