Cultural policy and research career orientation

Are you aged 16-21 and interested in careers in cultural policy, with a focus on social research?

We are Fortia Insight - a social research and evaluation consulting company. We passionately believe that robust, data-driven insights are key to shaping effective policy, unlocking investment and delivering positive change for people, places and the economy. As part of our work we are currently doing for Arts Council England, we are running a career orientation offer. This offer is designed for young people aged 16-21 who are interested in careers in cultural policy.

This opportunity includes:

• Three online workshops on careers in cultural policy, placemaking, and creative industries, with a focus on social research and evaluation. During the workshops, we will introduce routes into cultural policy, including transferable skills, CV and application tips, and an interactive mini evaluation challenge. Places are limited to 10 per workshop.
• Two hours of online one-to-one mentoring for up to 10 workshop participants with a strong interest in careers in cultural policy. Mentoring will cover career pathways, transferable skills, application advice, and discussions about working in evaluation and cultural policy career settings.
• Three one-week long work shadowing opportunities for mentees with a keen interest in joining the sector. We have offices across the UK so, depending on where you are based, we can offer office-based or hybrid (mix of online and office-based) work shadowing. We anticipate to offer mainly online opportunities.

The workshops, mentoring, and work shadowing opportunities will take place in January 2027. Mentoring and work shadowing opportunity dates will be agreed individually, and are unpaid.

To take part, you need to complete an expression of interest form. In the form, we ask you to tell us a little bit about yourself, the area where you live, and what interests you in this opportunity. We will also ask you a little bit about your family background, such as whether you were eligible for free school meals.

We welcome and encourage expressions of interest from candidates who are under-represented in the creative industries. This includes individuals who identify as Black, Asian, or from other ethnically diverse backgrounds, or people of any ethnicity who belong to the following under-represented groups: disabled people, people with the characteristic of gender reassignment, individuals from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, carers and asylum seekers.

Please make sure that you state in your application that you found this role via Creative Access.