The Art of Starting your Career

_Jess Reid, who studied Art History at Warwick, provides advice on how to find a career after university._

The job application process: leaving university knowing I had a job waiting for me was a comfort not many of my fellow History of Art students had. The only way to be in a similar situation yourself is to persevere with the limitless number of application forms and rejections, like I did. I began applying for jobs from January and I ensured I checked the career websites twice a week. The arts sector is extremely competitive and you cannot be fussy about your first job. I am extremely pleased to have a full-time job as a gallery assistant, which has enabled me to move down to London and enjoy the city life!

Working in galleries: working at the National Gallery has great prestige, since it is one of the most well-known museums in the UK. Working in a public-facing role in such a prominent museum is an enjoyable experience since I get to meet people from all over the world, some of whom are famous! With Italian tourists I seize the opportunity to fine-tune the Italian language I studied at university and, with the many different types of people I meet, I always have a funny story about such encounters to tell my housemates after work.

Working versus student life: finally a word of warning to arts students; working full time can be a shock to the system but the benefits of earning a wage and knowing your career pathway has begun far outweighs the challenges!

_David Levesley, studying English Literature at Warwick, provides advice on how to put yourself in a position of experience during your university years._

Working for passion: one of the great things about the Edinburgh Fringe, and projects like You Me Bum Bum Train, is that they are fundamentally run by people who care about the arts over money. The warmth of seeing people giving up payment for the sake of theatre is an amazing sensation.

How to fund your dreams: theatre costs money. Somehow, the simulation of a world full of costs ends up costing a huge amount. But out there in the ether are a great many places you can find to fund performing arts ventures, starting right here at humble old Warwick.

At the very beginning of term one the Retired Staff Association offers money for any extra-curricular projects, including theatre (which they have been known to fund in the past). They are lovely, warm people and really relish new projects.

The Theatre department also offers the Clive Barker Award for performances mainly with goals of going to the Fringe.

The Lord Rootes Fund, which can fund any endeavour, has a long history of supporting Warwick theatrics. IATL also offer two festival funds for shows going to big theatre events. As well as these are various other sources of money like the Opportunities Fund.

Alternatively, do as Warwick alumni and current Mononoke adaptors WholeHog are doing and go for kickstarter or WeFund or the many websites out there where people can chip in tiny amounts of money to start a project. Princess Mononoke raised thousands and thousands of pounds for the show just by putting it out there. It really is incredible how much people want to help.

If your lack of faith in humanity or the University (or both) is a problem, IdeasTap is the place to look. Their website contains a comprehensive list of all sources of arts funding available and also has some available from their own pockets; the IdeasFund Edinburgh and its Brighton sibling specialise in funding Fringe ventures. They also work with the Pleasance in London to provide money for other Edinburgh shows later in the spring.

What do you need to work in the arts? Theatre requires pessimism, stinginess and pragmatism as well as excellent timetabling and budgeting skills. These skills are crucial for showing funds how much you know about the process. People do not want to give the lazy their money. They want people who will make it go further.

Conclusions? Don’t fear for your project’s health after whatever society funding has gone out the window; look elsewhere and have faith in your ideas. People want to make art happen more than ever in tough economic times, you just need to find the right ones