5 Steps to Becoming a Creative Director

The pinnacle of creative work. For design graduates and experienced artists, it's the final rung of the ladder. The coveted Creative Director role you've been chasing is right there, but you need to know how to beat the competition and sell yourself to recruiters to land the job. Here are five steps you should follow to become a sought-after Creative Director in no time…

1. Get some work experience after graduating Before you jump on the graduate school bandwagon, it's crucial to get those years of work experience. Once you've earned your BA in graphic design or animation, you should send carefully crafted CVs, portfolios and original cover letters (see point four) to recruiters and HR managers, and start learning on the job. Find out what you're good at. Master new skills. Discover what genuinely interests you. Build a network of contacts globally.

2. Figure out where you want to be Whether you're planning to work in advertising or publishing, you need to make sure you know your industry inside out. Do your research. Remember that the design and concept work you lead at a magazine is very different from what you'd do at a marketing agency or book publisher. Which industry resonates with you most? What do you want to achieve?

3. Be a tech enthusiast Today's Creative Directors wear many hats, including tech expert! Experience with HTML, PHP, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Flash is absolutely essential, and knowledge of coding and development is an advantage. You need to be able to communicate with developers in their own terms, as confidently as you do with clients or your team of designers.

4. Creative personalisation wins today You may want to consider other ways to catch your dream company's attention. In this industry, it's notoriously hard to land those more senior roles, and sometimes a killer CV and rich experience simply aren't enough. To find their dream creative roles, designers have taken all sorts of inventive approaches to show HR managers what they can do — from this clever copywriting CV disguised as a patient information leaflet, to this gorgeously illustrated Pixar job application.

5. Invest in a postgraduate degree Once you've established yourself, earned the respect of your colleagues and have a few years of experience, start thinking about how to reach the next level. You may want to consider enrolling in a postgraduate programme such as the Royal College of Art's MA in Information Experience Design, Design Products or Visual Communication. This is a chance to gain new skills, build a network of connections, and obtain the credentials needed for more senior roles. Like other RCA alumni, you could graduate straight into a leadership position.

Follow in the footsteps of outstanding designers, artists and inventors… 86% of graduates from the Royal College of Art (RCA) find work within six months of graduation — proving there really are creative jobs out there for people with the right skills. And it isn't hard to see why…

With famous alumni including David Hockney, Tracey Emin, Orla Kiely and eight members of Apple's top design team, the Royal College of Art is one of the world's most prestigious art and design universities, offering advanced facilities for emerging artists, architects and designers.

For the chance to meet the RCA dean this year, students in the US should email RCA's communications director Áine Duffy, stating their discipline and preferred date.

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