We were delighted to take part in this year’s Discover! Creative Careers Week, an industry-led initiative designed to provide young people aged 11-18, from England, with encounters and experiences of the creative industries through in-school, workplace and online opportunities.

In partnership with Speakers for Schools, these brilliant Bristol Creative Industries members provided virtual work experience sessions covering PR, marketing, advertising, film, TV and more:

Stuff Advertising | Modular Digital | Carnsight Communications | Fable & Verse | McCann | AMBITIOUS | Team Eleven | Hybrid | Sunhouse Creative | Taxi Studio | Stratton Craig | Shaped By | Enviral | Conscious Solutions | Fiasco Design | The Bottle Yard Studios | Beeston Media | JonesMillbank | Studio Giggle | Distortion Studios

The sessions, managed by Bristol Creative Industries membership and operations manager Alli Nicholas and internship programme manager Clare Leczycki, featured talks about life in the creative sector, myth busting, the huge variety of different roles, and career pathways.

In between the talks, the young people were split into groups to research roles in the industry and consider their own values. They also worked on an example marketing campaign, including the problem they were they trying to solve and the marketing strategy. At the end of the final day, they presented their ideas.

We were really impressed by the young people who took part. Big thanks to attendee Imani Joseph-Obiorah for sharing this great post about the first day. Click on the image to read a larger version on LinkedIn.

The agencies

Here are great posts from some of the agencies about why they took part and their experiences during the events:

Nina Whittaker, Stratton Craig:

“Having discovered copywriting through a careers event myself, I know that events like Discover Creative Careers Week can genuinely change lives.

“A platform like this helps demystify the often lesser-known world of creative careers, opening minds to possibility and hopefully inspiring a new generation of talent. The whole process was imaginative, incredibly well-organised, and a privilege to be a part of. And it was easy to see that the students found it beneficial – they were engaged, curious and enthusiastic, and I was really impressed by their insightful questions, comments and feedback.”

Sally Knapton, Sunhouse Creative:

“It’s never felt more important to be supporting the creative industry and inspiring future talent is absolutely key to this. It was impressive to hear the students’ pitches off the back of three days of agency interactions – encouraging for the future of the creative industries!

“On a personal note, it took me a fair amount of trial and error to discover the brand design side of the industry even existed! So making ourselves visible and talking more about our part of the industry is something I feel really passionately about.”

Katharine Eriksson, McCann:

“McCann Bristol’s involvement with DCCW gave me the opportunity to show and say what I’d love to say to my younger schoolgirl self.

“I truly hope we managed to make an impact on the young people, show them their voices absolutely matter, and that they are welcome with open arms to the advertising industry and McCann!”

Daisy Martin, McCann:

“It was a great opportunity to bring attention to the variety of roles we have here at McCann. Hopefully, we were able to provide some insights on how advertising agency’s work and what we all get up to in our day-to-day.

“The questions at the end were really well thought out and insightful and makes me think many of the listeners would thrive in the advertising industry.”

Patrick Mbele, McCann:

“Speaking was an incredibly enjoyable experience. It was refreshing to see their genuine curiosity and enthusiasm as we talked about my role and the path I took to get here.

“Their questions were thoughtful and engaging, making the conversation lively and meaningful. I hope the session sparked some ideas and confidence in them to explore their own unique paths.”

Nick Farrar, Shaped By:

“We have a number of work experience students here each year and we’re always really enthused at how genuine and enthusiastic young people are about what our sector can offer.

“Inviting people into your studio is always good fun, it’s an investment of time that we never regret, but it was great to have a chance to reach a much wider audience for a short amount of time. Giving them access to a wide range of agencies over a two-day period is a top opportunity.”

Richard Spruce, Stuff Advertising:

“It was great to be involved in DCCW and I was really impressed with the students.

“To see how far they had come in a matter of days was quite incredible and speaks volumes to their attitude and all of the great help and advice Bristol Creative Industries had been able to offer them.”

Bristol Creative Industries Talent Programme

A key focus at Bristol Creative Industries is boosting workforce diversity in creative businesses and helping to grow the talent pipeline for our members.

As well as our groundbreaking Bristol Creative Industries Internship Programme with Bristol-based agencies, we provide other opportunities for members such as participating in Discover Creative Careers Week.

We have also committed to an annual programme of round tables with key post 16 education providers in the region including colleges, academies and universities.

Our aim is to promote creative careers to staff and career advisers, drive applications to our internship programme and explore how we can promote the creative industries to students already studying.

By joining the Bristol Creative Industries Talent Programme as a partner, you’ll help to fund all of our activities that support  underrepresented groups entering the creative industries. Your support is vital to ensure we have a healthy and diverse talent pipeline.

For more details, contact Alli Nicholas, BCI membership and operations manager, at [email protected], or Lis Anderson, BCI co-chair, at [email protected]  

About Bristol Creative Industries

Bristol Creative Industries is the membership network that supports the region's creative sector to learn, grow and connect, driven by the common belief that we can achieve more collectively than alone.