Success as a writer depends on your individual determination and perseverance. However, skills gained on a creative writing course are useful in marketing, PR and teaching, as well as many other careers

Job options

Jobs directly related to your degree include:

• Advertising copywriter
• Arts administrator
• Creative director
• Digital copywriter
• Editorial assistant
• Lexicographer
• Magazine journalist
• Newspaper journalist
• Publishing copy-editor/proofreader
• Talent agent
• Web content manager
• Writer

Jobs where your degree would be useful include:

• Academic librarian
• Concept artist
• Film director
• Information officer
• Marketing executive
• Primary school teacher
• Public librarian
• Public relations officer
• Secondary school teacher
• Social media manager
• Web content manager

Work experience

Building a portfolio of written work, especially any that you've had published, will help to evidence your writing skills and establish your reputation as a writer.

You can gain valuable experience by writing for your student newspaper or magazine, volunteering in schools, or getting involved with writers' groups. Also, try submitting work to journals or anthologies, entering competitions, or approaching local drama groups to see if they will use your scripts.

To make yourself more employable, look for opportunities to gain some solid work experience. This could be in the form of paid administrative work for a company or volunteering, perhaps with a local charity helping them to promote the work they do.

You could also write speculatively to a number of businesses, including publishing houses and marketing firms, to ask if you could complete some short-term work experience or shadowing. This can have the advantage of getting you a foot in the door in a highly-competitive industry and could lead to a permanent position.

Work experience

Building a portfolio of written work, especially any that you've had published, will help to evidence your writing skills and establish your reputation as a writer.

You can gain valuable experience by writing for your student newspaper or magazine, volunteering in schools, or getting involved with writers' groups. Also, try submitting work to journals or anthologies, entering competitions, or approaching local drama groups to see if they will use your scripts.

To make yourself more employable, look for opportunities to gain some solid work experience. This could be in the form of paid administrative work for a company or volunteering, perhaps with a local charity helping them to promote the work they do.

You could also write speculatively to a number of businesses, including publishing houses and marketing firms, to ask if you could complete some short-term work experience or shadowing. This can have the advantage of getting you a foot in the door in a highly-competitive industry and could lead to a permanent position.

Skills for your CV

As well as building specialist knowledge of creative writing, you'll have developed effective written and oral communication skills through your degree. Other strengths you can evidence include:

• creative thinking and problem solving - these skills are useful for many jobs and you'll have gained them from developing characters and storylines
• independent working - having to be self-motivated as a writer means you can effectively determine and direct your own workload
• time management and organisation - learning to structure your time effectively as a writer means you can be highly organised
• a good understanding of information technology
• planning and researching written work - you'll be adept at this from turning ideas into well-rounded stories
• presentation skills
• editorial and proofreading skills - from producing accurately written content
• negotiation skills - learning how to market your work effectively gives you the skill to negotiate in other workplace settings.

Further study