Students hear from experts in industry during annual Creative and Tech Futures Day
College students recently learned what it takes to have a successful career in the creative and tech sectors, as the College’s Creative Industries faculty held its third annual Creative and Tech Futures Day.
Experts from industry gathered at the College’s Granton Campus last week (5 February) to speak to students about building successful careers in their chosen field. They shared information about their own journeys, provided advice around making the transition from college to employment, and answered any questions students had.
Students from across the College’s Creative Industries faculty attended the all-day event – formerly known as the Creative Industries Employability Day – where they had an opportunity to seek career advice from guest speakers from across the creative and tech sector, including experts in music, photography, fashion, computing, performing arts and more.
Students were inspired at 32 different sessions by around 80 industry panellists, many of whom are former Edinburgh College students themselves. The experts provided students with their top tips on what recruiters look for in a candidate, entering and finding a rewarding career in the industry, making the most of their talent, standing out from the crowd, and becoming successful creatives.
HND Cyber Security and Digital Forensics student Colin McKendrick said: “Since I’m in my final year at College, I was looking for real insight into what I should expect after completing my course, especially in terms of career paths into industry, and I found it very useful. It was also great to see one of my former classmates on one of the panels, as it shows the kind of progression that can be achieved from being student to starting your career. It was also particularly inspirational to hear from panellists who hadn’t done degrees but still managed to build successful careers, and it was really helpful to hear about what they did outside of college to help boost their profiles.”
Students heard from a wide-range of organisations including: Adarma, Aegon, Catalyst EPS, Creative Edinburgh, Capital Theatres, Leith Agency, Lloyds Banking Group, Made Scotland, Post Electric Studio, Strange Town, SSE, Tinderbox Orchestra, 2iTesting, and many more.
Edinburgh College Creative Industries Centre Administrator Andy Duncan said: “What an incredible day we had on at our annual Creative and Tech Futures Day last week. This event allows the next generation of talent to get first-hand insights into working and freelancing in the creative and tech sectors, providing them with inspiration along with hard facts to help kick start their own careers. A massive thanks to all of the industry panellists and College staff who helped to make it possible.”