“You have to be really intentional”

Creative Career Conundrums is a weekly advice column from If You Could Jobs. Each week their selected panel of professionals from the creative industry answers your burning career questions to help you navigate the creative journey.

This week’s question:

I went to an art uni studying illustration and took the lockdown hit with all my studies. I graduated with a first in 2022, managed to land two book illustration jobs (exactly what I wanted to do) straight out of uni and... That was it. I have since not managed to get any clients and I feel extremely lost on how to find them and advertise myself. I go to networking events, I post my art online and sell at local markets and still there is nothing.

I’ve had people say that’s exactly what I should be doing but there is still nothing...

How do I push my illustration career? How do I move forward and stay motivated?

Shanice Mears, co-founder and head of talent at The Elephant Room:

I think it’s incredible that you’ve been able to achieve that so quickly out of university, and well done on achieving a first. I’m sure a lot of hard work went into your studies. It’s even more impressive that you got all that experience right after university. The nature of the industry we work in, especially with freelance work, means that sometimes it will feel very, very quiet, and you can be disheartened and discouraged. I just want to let you know that you can’t be the only one feeling this way or the only one to have experienced that.

It’s good that you are going to events and posting, etc. I would set targets, first of all. For example: attend at least three events a week, get at least one new person’s email, and post four times a week across all my social media.

You have to be really intentional about what you are doing from the beginning to the end. Are you doing your own project work? I find that when I’m looking for interesting talent, I’m always looking for their own proactivity. Are you creating something new or working on something fresh? Are you able to enter competitions, maybe doing briefs online? Apply for things like D&AD Shift and things that you know will propel you in your career – maybe even a mentoring programme.

The thing is, without sounding patronising, you are young in your career, so you can explore trial and error. It will be good for your portfolio overall.

In answering your creative career conundrums we realise that some issues need expert support, so we’ve collated a list of additional resources that can support you across things that might arise at work.

If You Could is the jobs board from It’s Nice That, the place to find jobs in the creative industries.

Want to stay on top of your job search? Or keep an ear out for when your dream job arrives on our site? Click here to set up tailored job alerts arriving straight into your inbox so you never miss an opportunity. See below for the latest opportunities: