Life After University

I already have it in my mind that I do not want to continue in education after I graduate but I wan’t to see what opportunities are available just to make sure that i’ve not missed something that would be good for me. 

Masters - I don’t want to be in education any longer and I don’t see how a masters degree would benefit me at this stage in my life. Most of the masters courses available in the field of illustration are routed towards children’s book illustration, graphic design and illustration, sequential design and drawing skills. The only one that appeals to me from this list is the final one but I feel that my drawing skills will continue to develop anyway as long as I continue to draw all the time! There is not a more specific field I want to learn more about and I don’t think a more general course would benefit me any more than this illustration degree program already has. 

PGCE - I have no interest in teaching at the moment. Maybe after I have gained more experience and have done what I want to do then I may become interested in then this might change but for now this isn’t an option for me. 

Apprenticeship - I didn’t really know what this was properly. It is learning on the job and getting paid for it but I wasn’t aware that you are actually working towards a specific qualification, the highest level of which is equivalent to a foundation degree or diploma. This is not what would be best for me either. 

Internship - I would consider this with the prospect of a job afterwards as long as it was relevant to my aims for the future. One concern I have is whether I would actually be gaining experience or just making tea? After researching internship opportunities online, I am struggling to find many roles that would suit me. A lot are very digital based and focus a lot around graphic design, fashion and styling, and doing the ‘in-between’ tasks, which is understandable. I have not ruled out this option though, its a good way to get your foot in the door. 

Moving on from education, I have started to look at employment opportunities.

Jobs - I have been browsing jobs websites looking at creative vacancies. It became clear that most companies ask for you to be competent with Adobe creative suite, most commonly photoshop, illustrator and indesign, even if it is not clear how these would be relevant to the job. I think I need to use this year to learn a lot about these programs so I have more confidence in saying that I would be able to use these programs effectively. Some jobs  found actually sounded really interesting, I just don't know whether they are specific enough to what I do for me to fulfil the requirements of the position. 

Part time work - Another option for me is to get a part time job which would allow me time to develop my own practice alongside this. I would want this job to connect to the creative industry too so I can be learning relevant skills while I am working and not doing something mind numbing that I would grow to hate. I will need some form of definite income to fund my living expenses/rent/board.