Finding work experience in the creative industries can be tricky. You probably won’t find as many structured placements as you would in other fields, since a lot of creative work happens through small studios, freelancers, and informal networks rather than large organisations with set programs.
That doesn’t mean there are no opportunities available, there are still plenty of ways to build real skills and get genuine experience under your belt, even if it takes a bit more initiative to find them. Here are a few work experience ideas for creative students.
Help out at your local gallery
Galleries and museums often need extra hands, especially when they’re setting up new exhibitions or running events. Volunteering at a gallery could involve:
- Setting up and arranging new exhibitions
- Welcoming and chatting with visitors
- Helping promote events on social media
- Learning about different art styles and artists directly from curators and staff
- Seeing how a gallery actually operates behind the scenes, from logistics to programming
Smaller, local galleries are usually the easiest place to start, since they tend to run on a small team and are often glad to have an extra pair of hands. Larger institutions can be worth approaching too, but expect a more formal application process and less flexibility around when you can help out.
Share your writing with the world
If writing is where your interest lies, there are plenty of places to showcase your work beyond the classroom.
- Magazines and literary journals that accept student submissions
- Local community newspapers, which are often short on content and open to contributions
- Online writing platforms and blogs
- Writing competitions, which double as a way to get feedback on your work
- Starting your own blog or newsletter, where you set the direction entirely
Submitting work for publication also teaches you something a school assignment doesn’t, since you’re writing for an actual audience and often working to an editor’s feedback or a publication’s specific style.
Discover theatre behind the scenes
Theatre isn’t only about acting. A huge number of roles go into bringing a show to life, and most community theatres rely on volunteers to fill them. These roles can include:
- Lighting and sound design
- Costume and makeup
- Set building and design
- Stage management, coordinating everything that happens before and during a show
- Front of house duties, like ushering and ticketing
Technical and backstage roles in particular are worth considering if performing itself isn’t your focus, since they build hands-on skills in areas like design, coordination, and problem-solving under pressure, all of which apply well beyond theatre.
Build your photography portfolio
A good eye and a camera, even one on a phone, is often enough to start building a photography portfolio. From there, you could:
- Photograph school events like sports days or formals
- Take photos at local community events or markets
- Shadow a professional photographer for a day to see how a shoot is actually run
- Enter photography competitions to test your work against a wider field
- Create a themed photo series exploring a single idea or location in depth
If you’re photographing people in public, always get their permission first, and be upfront about what the photos might be used for. Editing your shots afterwards is worth practising too, since most professional photography work involves as much time behind a screen as behind a lens.
What’s next?
Keep examples of everything you create, whether it’s paid work or not. A folder of your best pieces, built up over time, is worth more to a future employer than a list of places you’ve volunteered. It’s also worth keeping a running note of the skills you pick up along the way, since these are easy to forget by the time you sit down to update your resume.
If you’re ready to start exploring creative pathways further, you can find more work experience ideas and opportunities on our website.
