Developing Digital Employment Skills for the Creative Industries.

Physical Folk’s Employment Through Arts (ETA) Programme works with young adults aged 16 to 24 living in Kent, Medway and Essex who are not in employment or education to explore creative employability options through practical creative workshops and individual creative career mentoring, focussed on film/game making, teamwork, interpersonal and employability skills.

As an official Blackmagic Design Training Partner, we also offer some training in the technical skills needed in the UK Creative Industries (Film/TV/XR/Gaming) equipping them with interpersonal and practical skills using DaVinci Resolve and Unity3D.

The ETA Programme builds the confidence and skills needed to gain work or further training in the creative industries. These interpersonal skills will also help to sustain employment in the creative or other industries such as confidence, assertiveness, budgeting, stress and time management.

Some of the digital and creative industry skills covered during the project are script development, camera work, lighting, sound, editing, project/business management, social media marketing, games development, and basic VFX design.

The programme will also offer training and support around employment and job search skills related to the creative industries (including Social Media promotions, networking, presenting yourself, job interview skills and creative portfolio/CV building) with potential invites to Media Industry Events to practice networking skills.

The programme runs as a rolling programme of online support and individual/group mentoring up to 2 days a week over 12 – 30 weeks in groups of 8 to 12 young people. As it is a rolling programme, the young person’s funded allocation completes once they have received a total of approximately 100 hours of support. There are 2 members of staff present in every group and one on one support is on offer for those who need it.

If any participant gets a paid job, apprenticeship or education place before the end of the programme we will encourage them to leave the course early and we will not expect them to complete, as we believe progressing into a job or apprenticeship is completion!

For 9 months after the completion of the programme all graduates will be informed about further creative job opportunities as they arise as well as on-going employability support until the first day of their new job, voluntary, apprenticeship, traineeship or further education placement.

We hold an initial informal online video interview after which the Young Person will complete an online Initial Assessment in English and Maths to determine what support they may need.

They will then complete a telephone/video call Induction which will cover Policies and Procedures as a statutory requirement common to all employers.

Then finally they will complete an Individual Learning Plan (ILP) based on their career aims and skills development needs, which again will be conducted by telephone/video call.

Physical Folk’s Employment Through Arts (ETA) Programme works with young adults aged 16 to 24 living in Kent, Medway and Essex who are not in employment or education. Or those who are at risk of not being in Education or Employment.

Paid job, apprenticeship or full time education place.