Industry Skills: the thinking behind Created
At Created, we want our students to leave with industry skills employers are looking for. We’re not just talking about technical skills, but all the practical, professional and personal skills ideal candidates should have.
That’s why we created the Industry Ready Skillset.
It does what it says on the tin. Our courses are based on a list of industry-ready skills creative studios, brands and agencies actually want from their hires.
How did we figure it out? We caught up with our founder and CEO, Dom Davenport, to fill you in on the backstory.
How did you get started?
The idea behind Created started from my own experiences, as I realised the creative industry and landscape was changing. We interviewed hundreds of top creative organisations and agencies from across the creative sectors to find out:
- What type of talent they wanted to hire
- What they felt was missing from the talent pool
- Who’d really thrived in their teams, and why
- What these successful hires had in common
- What skills made them stand out
What did you find out about creative careers?
We found that it wasn’t just about being a great designer or being particularly technically competent. These successful designers were so much more. They were great communicators. They could sell the product or ideas as well as the ‘suits’. They were self-motivated, adaptable, able to lead a group or follow instructions and ultimately, they were great storytellers.
...it wasn't just about being a great designer or being particularly technically competent. These successful designers were so much more...
Every conversation we had was slightly different, but they all pointed to the same thing: professional and personal skills were just as important as practical, typical design process skills.
What surprised you about what you found?
So many industry leaders and recruiters mentioned self-leadership as one of the main skills they wanted from their creatives: but they couldn’t find a way to put it into words! They knew they wanted their teams to have it, but they couldn’t articulate that need. They only realised it was a major factor when they pinpointed it as one of the defining characteristics of people who had been the most successful in their jobs.
What happened next?
After the conversations, competitor research and a deep dive into creative job descriptions, we picked out the main themes and boiled down everyone’s answers. We found three main areas that really seemed to make employers in the industry get excited about potential hires. These areas were: Practical, Personal and Professional.
How did you build what you found into Created courses?
We used the core skills to build out all our course material and industry set briefs. On our Foundation courses, we focus mainly on the Practical skills, like storytelling and the design process. Professional courses cover Practical skills too, but with extra Personal and Professional skills thrown in.
For example, one of our industry briefs is a group project where students create and run a 10 day Instagram campaign for a Billboard Top 10 artist. Not only do our students learn the technical skills required to design for social media, but they need to use communication, collaboration and project management skills to successfully complete the task.
How do students know they’re ready to use their new skills?
From the get-go, our students are aware of the industry skills they need. At the start of the courses, they do a quick quiz to see where they are with each skill, then track their progress as they work through their online classes. With each class, they learn and apply new skills and get a chance to try them out in real-world scenarios. What we’re trying to do is meet each student where they are, then provide the support they need to get where they want to go. That’s why coaching and mentoring are such a vital part of our courses.
...they learn and apply new skills and get a chance to try them out in real-world scenarios.
That’s what Created is all about! Understanding what skills you need, and building them up as you create new work for your portfolio.
Watch and learn
Check out this video to find out more
If you’re interested in learning these skills to develop your creative career, check out our professional courses in Motion Design and UI Design.
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