Kamal from Careers and Enterprise came up to speak to us about the agency today. Kamal runs and is charge of the agency, before he spoke to us I thought that the agency was another name for the Careers and Enterprise team but it's not.
What is The Agency?
The agency is in-house at the college who send out and have external businesses approach them with live projects and briefs for us undergraduates to work on for us to gain experience. The Agency is a great way for us as students to gain experience for real clients in the arts industry without all the pressures of us doing it alone as Kamal is always there to help with the money side of things and if any support is needed.
The jobs can lead to something even bigger once graduated as quite a lot of people who have gained experience through the agency have been employed into a middle level job instead of a beginner/graduate job because of their experience they've had.
What will Kamal help us with?
Send a message to the client to see what budget they have and what skills they require
The budget then allows him to hire a student which is normally mainly second or third years due to our skills
Talks to the client with us
and what do I need?
A portfolio
He then spoke about some of the past projects, all of which are published on the website for the agency. One project which was a photographic one was for a company called Primal. This is a locally based cycling clothes store where the student was tasked to shoot commercial images for their website for advertising purposes. The client has sent in project briefs before and came back because the shoot was so successful the first time round. All projects have been published in a book with the students name in so they get recognition for the work.
How has this helped with graduates and students further into their studies?
People who took part in these briefs and projects, after they graduated they were the first to be employed.
By getting involved in these projects you can negotiate your role in your job in the outside world.
One girl went to the agency but really lacked with her confidence so she helped out at the agency with templates and posters etc. She now works in London but still works for the agency as well.
Pay
Graduates = £20 p/h
Undergraduates = £10 p/h
Online shop:
As part of the Agency they have an online shop were there is an opportunity to sell prints and work. The shop is linked on the website so the public can buy anything as well it's not just for students.
https://livemake.bigcartel.com/products
I really enjoyed listening to Kamal today because I had heard of the Agency but never knew much about it and it has made me really want to get a portfolio together and get involved in projects through Kamal.
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