A – Level (and GCSE) results set to be the lowest in recent history…so what

It’s true, academic achievements and educational decisions made early in your career can alter your short term trajectory, they do not define long term success. For creatives in particular, patience, consistency, awareness and a willingness to challenge conventional wisdom will.

Education is critical. There is no doubt developing an appreciation for lifelong learning will yield outsized returns, but the piece of paper containing your qualifications (although important) will not. Your grades are an evaluation of you at a specific point in time but having trained 100s of people over the years you quickly learn they are a surface level evaluation, the best evaluation we have but a surface level evaluation nonetheless. You need only take 2 people with seemingly identical profiles to see the issue. Person A and B are the same age, completed the same course and achieved similar grades in their GCSE's. What this doesnt show is that person B is also caring for a parent, works nights, and engish isnt their first language. How accurately does that grade measure the individual given the wider context.

I’ve long written about the fact talented individuals are increasingly finding their way into top roles via unconventional routes and often walking completely uncharted paths in their career development. Better yet, established roles and disciplines within the studio have been disrupted more in the past 10 years than the previous 40 and as a result the once well-defined lines between creative disciplines have become blurred, as have the paths to a career in a creative profession.

What was historically the equivalent of a well trodden single road track from education to a career is now a spaghetti junction of opportunity with new exits and on-ramps being built at a greater pace than any previous generation of creatives have enjoyed.? The aim of this article isn’t to say legacy qualifications are not important but instead remind you that by their very nature, those old qualifications are always a lagging indicator of the new roles and opportunities that typically arise in periods of innovation and disruption. ?Being observant, patience, and reactive to trends and emerging opportunities is far valuable in the long term than the qualifications you hold today.

I wrote a piece discussing this phenomenon of creatives achieving premier roles without walking a typical academic path using Everything Everywhere At Once as the example but if you cant read that, check this self taught 14 year old artist as a perfect example demonstrating this trend.

Skate to where the puck is heading

Just a few years ago roles for SubD, Unreal, Blender, XR, AI/ML, app development, innovation officers, HMI, Unity and VFX experts simply didn’t exist within the design studio at any great scale. ?

Whereas most, if not all contemporary studios both large and small have seen these disciplines become fundamental parts of their strategy, with most bringing that work inhouse as core roles.?Trends like this open up a range of new roles and reward 'industry standard' skills in the short term but an aptitude to learn, and the ability continue to your development in the long run. ?Your job is trying to identify what comes next and to skate to where the puck is heading.

The emergence of so many new core disciplines and specialisations in recent years reiterates the importance of staying vigilant to opportunities and changes in the market. No better is this sentiment summarised than Alvin Tofflers quote

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who can’t read or write but rather those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn”.?

To put this into context, the role have occupyed and enjoyed for the last decade could not have taught or suggested when I graduated because my role fundamentally didn’t exist. The same can be applied to those studying and graduating today. Its highly likely the roles you will occupy in the next five years havent been defined and in many caes do not exist yet, so dont get too caught up in disappointing grades.

I want to share a few stories to illustrate this via 4 friends who in their own way navigated unconventional paths to top roles without the need of traditional qualifications.

Rares Ghetau - Dyson Visualisation Manager

Didn’t go to university but instead worked his way through the ranks at Bentley to secure a role as a respected visualisation artist and a valuable member of the team. Later moving to Dyson, Rares has continued his development to become visualisation manager, leadnig a team and strategy for Dyson.

Ewen MacRury - Principal Visualisation Specialist @ McLaren

Similar to Rares, rather than the typical graduate route, Ewen also worked his way through the ranks at Bentley to become a respected member of the design realisation team. Since moving to McLaren Ewen has continued to develop in his career and currently leads McLaren's visualisation team.

Mark Owens - Interior CAS Manager

Although Mark did go to university, studied automotive design and did end up working within the automotive industry, it wasn’t necessarily in the creative role he desired. Rather than letting the dream die, I was lucky enough to see Mark dedicate himself to developing his digital modelling skills to get his foot in the door and has since gone from strength to strength within the design department at JLR and now at occupies the role of Interior Surfacing Manager at Bentley.

*Maybe its because I was there yesterdsay but a key takeaway is that I think Bentley could show a few companies a thing or two about identifying and cultivating talent regardless of where it may come from and regardless what qualifications they may have*

Tom Clive aka TomLikesRobots on twitter -

I met Tom, an experienced Web Developer in the public sector, through our shared interest in exploring AI enabled workflows and consider his journey as one of the best examples of navigating an unorthodox path.

Having collaborated Tom on a number of AI related articles in the last year, his dedication to publicly sharing his R&D not only illuminated new workflows, it also shed light on a new career path that contributed to him securing a dream job at Metaphysic.ai working as a #AI #VFX specialist on Hollywood films, most recently working on Robert Zemeckis’ upcoming Tom Hanks feature.?A role that would has no connection to A level qualification but instead has everything to do with reinventing yourself around creativity and emerging technology.

What I’m trying to say to any student recieving the A-levels last week, (or GCSE's today) currently going through clearing, or even creatives struggling to find a role, is that your credentials in the short term might be how you are measured, but in the long term you will be defined by your ambition, creativity, consistency and work rate are how you will be defined.

The story that triggered me writing this is the story of Amo Dadzie a full time accountant. He didn’t compete in the junior championships, follow an elite pathway or development programme and only took up sprinting at 26 after university. Competing in Austria a couple of months ago he clocked a time of 9.93 (fourth fastest in British history) securing a spot in the World Championships in Budapest aged 31.

Proving life isnt a sprint its a marathon (except in the case of Amo).

Perception vs Reality over the next decade for those able to apply the 'learn, unlearn and relearn' philosophy