Job Prospect for fine arts degree

[WillowTit]

i was watching a thread with a similar title for english literature for my dd but my other dd has the above degree and has reached a stalemate
not sure what she wants to do now, so i thought MN might open up some ideas for her
thank you

I'm watching as I have a vested interest.
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/higher_education/5249122-if-your-child-was-planning-on-studying-artfine-art-at-uni-would-you-advise-them-against-it-due-to-lack-of-job-prospects-and-ai

Are you able to say where she studied, what she'd like to do and what jobs she's applied for?

she did have thoughts of architecture but that seems to require another degree.

She was at University of arts london.
thanks for linking that thread, she did leave university hating art!

Has she said why she now hates art? Presumably she enjoyed it when she decided to do a degree in fine art.

Even if she doesn't want to "do art", she has a trained eye which is a useful thing.
Advertising, arts administration, museums / galleries, education (school or for an arts organisation). Art therapist, conservator - some of these would require a post grad but that not unusual in any field.

And if she really doesn't know what she wants to do, I would suggest to try getting a office / admin job for any vaguely creative kind of company eg an advertising agency or media company - so she will stay in the creative field, build her network and get an idea of what is around.

good idea @sallylondon

Unfortunately there was an IFS report a few years back showing that you earned less for having done a fine art degree, which I can understand to a certain extent. My heart often sinks when I hear of young people, especially girls (who face additional challenges around careers and motherhood) going off to do very arts-based choices that are unlikely to lead to career pathways.

The horse has bolted on subject choice but I have always thought of it in two layers: degree + professional training.

So what further training could she do now to overlay her degree with a professional qualification?

Teaching
Social work
Healthcare
Financial Advisor (IFA)
Counselling

Would a careers book be a useful purchase?

But, please don’t get sucked down the art-therapy route. There are PG courses available but I have never known it to be used in any educational setting or service where I have worked, nor has anyone I know ever accessed it privately.

she is not a recent graduate, she has been teaching efl for quite a few years but not fulfilled.

One of our copywriters at work had a degree in fine art. He used to make sculptures and show them in galleries as a sideline, but it didn't pay the rent, so he spent the day writing copy and the evenings sculpting.

Would she consider becoming an art teacher?

she says no to art teaching

What about the civil service?
Social Research?
User experience roles in IT?
Auctioneer?

Can she learn graphic design skills like Indesign? Book page designers are very in demand

I would recommend your DD reads the 'What Graduates Do' report (link below) and browses the Prospects.ac.uk website as these show Art graduates do build careers outside the obvious arts routes; the descriptions of the various jobs are also very good imo; these will help your DD look beyond the job 'labels' and beyond the stereotypical routes Arts grads go down/are encouraged to go down.
luminate.prospects.ac.uk/what-do-graduates-do

How about interior design? She could do a postgraduate course. Architectural interior design is a complex skill that can be applied to both professional and domestic settings.

My friend is an art therapist. She works in schools and has her own practice. The council pay for all her school visits.

I know an art therapist too but she covers a very wide geographical area and has done a lot of expensive training. It isn’t an area with a lot of vacancies

@BadSkiingMum Your comment about Art therapy caught my attention. I know a family friend who did this as a degree and didn't know the prospects were so dire. I imagined there would be lots of need for such skills especially with the sharp rise in MH diagnoses in children.

My niece has a first in fine art, she graduated in 2021. She thought about doing art therapy but the training was only for a small percentage of graduates. She ended up working in The Works. As a side hustle though she has been making jewellery, having stalls at craft fairs to sell her art work. Such a shame that she hasn’t been able to use her degree for a well paid fulfilling job.

I was an art teacher for 25 years. I never said this in class but l wouldn’t advise anyone to do a fine art degree. It qualifies you for nothing.

A design degree is a different thing and there are jobs available.

But a fine art course in my eyes just leads to a low paying job.

Would she consider becoming a tattoo artist? I have met several who have started out at art school, including the Royal College of Art, who specialized in illustration or drawing and migrated over to tattoo art.

I know three recent fine art graduates from art schools who are now nail technicians. One of them gave up teaching to do nails and says she earns more than being a teacher . I can’t think she was including a pension in her calculations though.
I also know a recent fine art graduate who is making a good living from selling her art (mostly textiles). She had a lot of practical and financial support from her family - creating a studio for her for example). She won a prize for her degree show.
A lady I know in her early forties makes a good living from illustration but I don’t know what her degree is in.
One of the nail techs hoped to get into graphic design but nothing much has come of this - jobs seems to be given on the basis of a portfolio of freelance work. She considered doing a course in graphic design at a fe college which has good links to the industry but decided against it.

I would suggest she consider her soft skills and whether she can do a master’s degree to compliment her fine arts degree. Communications, organisation skills, working with others, event management. Is she a leader? A decision maker?

i agree that a masters would be the best way forward

@WillowTit Be careful about a masters. DD is an interior designer and most are very clued up on the required software and its use plus all the design techniques required. They complement architects so they must know their stuff. From fine art to a master’s without a diploma/degree in the subject is virtually impossible. It’s not art and it’s not curtains and cushions either. Look up what KLC teach.

My dd also has a degree from UAL. Not the same one and there’s two market leaders in interior design. KLC and Inchbald. DD did a diploma with KLC but it’s very expensive. Lead to a job she loves though. Your dd needs to do a lot more research and work out how she can retrain and ensure she gets work.