Hi Guys,
As a result of the amount of CVs Gloss received for jobs where the graduates
didn't have enough experience (clients words, not theirs), Gloss decided
to do what many others aren't doing and decided to help them out by creating
Creative Protege. By making use of their contacts within the creative sector
(over 400 design agencies) they can provide briefs directly from Creative
Directors whereby graduates can work on them onsite or remotely. Most
importantly this gives graduates a company which they can then put on their
CV as employment - complete with references - and a portfolio which includes
companies such as MTV, Salvation Army, ripe design etc.
Since its inception Creative Protege has managed to find graduates freelance
work, voluntary placements, paid placements, permanent work and as much
careers advice as they can handle. They have even helped a group of talented
designers create a collective and start their own agency to bring in paid
work. It has 2 people working for it which is fully funded by Gloss and
currently makes no profit. Any money that it does make goes right back into
the company in order to provide more man hours / facilities and help give
opportunity to the designers who are obviously serious about getting into
the industry.
The bottom line is that we get graduates into the industry by using
technology, innovation and the passion of the graduates - surely that can
only be a good thing? It's definitely working and the designers that show
the most promise (and we have discovered some amazing talent) get taken on
as freelancers for paid work for clients that can't afford to use a
traditional design agency.
We have helped to launch PR and Design agencies, 2 magazines, a holistic
therapy chain, a charity, and many more start ups and I promise you this -
the work is awesome...
We really enjoy this forum as it has been a great place for us to get
feedback on improving our company and always welcome help from industry
experts in making our offering better. In no way do we wish do step on
anybody's toes - we just want to re-grease the wheels of employment starting
with those who need it and be further involved in the industry we all love.
Adam