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The Creative Graduates Creative Futures survey1 of 3,500 creative graduates in their early careers reveals resourceful behaviour in the face of the challenges of finding work and earning a living, with high levels of self-employment, unpaid work to gain experience, and portfolio careers. This picture is all too familiar to many of us working in the arts sector, and now we have detailed evidence of these career patterns. These models for working life represent a new way of maintaining life-work balance, relevant to a rapidly changing society. Graduates typically experience complex careers, prize creativity above other factors in the workplace, have a strong inclination to continue learning, and as a result experience considerable personal and work satisfaction at the expense of some disadvantage in earnings.

The value of creative workers is certainly on the agenda within the sector. Proposals for paid internships and graduate apprenticeships will go some way to help career entry (Visual Arts and Crafts Sector Blueprints, 2009), but the bigger challenge is that steps need to be taken to improve the pay levels of a considerable proportion of creative industry workers as their careers progress. What are the implications in the arts sector for CPD provision to enhance the prospects of emerging creative workers and encourage sustainable careers? It is important to examine what is distinctive about these creative careers to ensure the right kinds of support.
Seventy-two per cent of graduates in the Creative Graduates Creative Futures survey had participated in some form of CPD since graduation. Forty-seven per cent engaged in more formal study, with fine artists (69%) and applied artists (67%) having the highest participation in further study. Over half of all graduates had continued to develop their creative practice in some way since graduating.
The report provides important pointers for the kinds of provision required. Fundamentally, creative practice is at the heart of creative careers and at the heart of learning. In the academic domain, creative practice provides the context for personal and professional development, and students continue to centre their needs around their creative practice as they move into their working lives. It follows that it is essential for creative workers to put their creative practice at the heart of any discussion that reviews their progression and needs, so they can articulate their strengths confidently and position themselves (and their practice or creative venture) in relation to future goals – whether these are personal, career or practice specific. This requires skilled facilitation within the professional domain. High quality critical engagement with practice will ultimately improve confidence and creative output, and encourage longer-term sustainability. Creative practice is the engine for research and innovation, leading to new creative ventures: the lifeblood of the creative sector.