Tara Saunders is studio art director at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, London Studio. In this article, she explores how those in digital industries can help create a bigger and better talent pool.
The government recently calculated that the digital and creative industries are worth almost £10m an hour to the economy. Without a doubt, they are the largest area of growth in the UK and are cementing our place as a cultural world leader. But is trouble looming?
It’s reported that more and more employers highlight shortcomings in their graduates’ practical employment skills and although there are more students qualifying in specialist digital media subjects, there is still evidence of a problem with the quality of the talent pool.
The annual CBI-Pearson Education and Skills Survey found that over a third of employers in London are dissatisfied with their graduates’ levels of pro-activity and self-management, while almost half are not satisfied with their levels of business and customer awareness.
Less than ideal
In our industries, the quality of graduates’ portfolios and evidence of past work falls short of the ideal. Graduates in the tech and creative industries are entering employment as generalists rather than specialists, which, if allowed to continue, could damage the digital and creative industries’ long term success.
While this is no doubt a serious issue for educators to consider, employers in our industry cannot lay the blame solely at the door of universities and schools.
The best way of ensuring graduates enter the industry with the skills they need to succeed is for employers in the tech and creative industries to work more closely with educators to provide young people entering the jobs market an awareness of the skills needed to excel.
I have been fortunate to be involved with various schools and universities, most recently working with Escape Studios, a visual effects, games and animation school which is part of Pearson College London, in the formulation of its new course content.
My support to Escape Studios has helped them achieve their mission to equip industry-leading animation and VFX professionals and will hopefully offer benefits to future industry employers.
Understandably, the idea of giving up one’s own time to help train up the next generation can seem daunting for busy digital and creative employers.
However, if it is something you are interested in there are ways of making it work:
1. See what’s on your doorstep – Firstly, if you’re an individual looking to get involved, ask around if there is already an academic liaison scheme established within your company that you can get involved in. If you work in a large company it may take a few enquires to reach the right people, but when you do I’m sure they will be jumping for joy at the news of your offer of help.
Within my studio, we are able to support the ‘PlayStation First’ scheme and work closely with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe’s Academic Liaison team that run many initiatives.
2. Use existing contacts – It’s much easier to get started and more sustainable if you work with an organisation that you have an existing connection to. This could be supporting the university or college you studied at, or building a stronger relationship with one that your company regularly recruits from. These are good places to start if you’re reaching out for the first time.
3. Network – Attend the end of year shows of relevant courses to your area of work and talk to the course lecturers and students. Most course lecturers and leaders are keen to have industry input to their curriculum so don’t be shy and make yourself known.
4. Explore the benefits – Check if there are any benefits to you incorporating support and mentorship as part of your role and company responsibilities. This works really well if there are mutual benefits to your involvement. Mentoring students can be a great way to develop your leadership and feedback skills and this could help with your career development.
Discuss if you can build it into your job description and if there is potential to have a small amount of time allotted in the week to dedicate to it. This is understandably easier for large companies to accommodate but can also work for small ones if the right person and balance is found.
5. Keep it simple – It’s easier to support something close at hand than undertaking the logistics of supporting something on the other side of the country or abroad! Work with courses/colleges that are close to your work or home so dropping in to see how students are progressing is easy for you.
6. Ask around – See if there are any like-minded colleagues within your team. It’s much easier to sustain on-going support if there are others you can share the load with when work pressures exist. Get together and discuss mentorship techniques or projects that would make good live briefs for students and share knowledge of promising students that you think will fit into your team in the future.
Getting to spot and foster talent when they are still studying is one of the best benefits of getting involved early and can be an excellent recruitment route for a company.