Careers Advice & Employability Support
The Glasgow School of Art Careers Service provides impartial, expert careers advice and guidance to support the GSA’s student community. Working across the GSA’s four schools, we support students to develop the professional skills, knowledge, and practice needed to build sustainable creative careers and confidently navigate an evolving world of work.
Students can access confidential, personalised careers support at any stage of their studies. Our one-to-one meetings offer tailored advice on a wide range of topics including CV writing, job searching, interview preparation, exploring career options, and enhancing employability.
Throughout the academic year, we deliver accessible masterclasses and workshops focused on professional practice. In collaboration with academic staff, we also embed discipline specific careers education directly into our curriculum, ensuring we provide students with professional practice advice and opportunities which are relevant to their discipline and creative practice.
Student resources
Our careers resources are designed to support students to plan their career with confidence at every stage of your studies. They help you to reflect on their skills, explore opportunities, and take practical steps towards their future, from getting started to preparing for graduation.
The step‑by‑step guides cover key areas of professional practice and employability, including researching the creative industries, applying for jobs, preparing for interviews, exploring freelancing, and launching your own business. Students are given practical advice, expert tips, and best‑practice guidance to help them build confidence, make informed career decisions and build strategies to get there.
Creative business advice
Whether students are developing a new business idea, growing an early‑stage venture, or exploring funding opportunities, the GSA Careers Service offers support to help them move their ideas forward.
Working in partnership with experienced advisors, mentors, and industry professionals with specialist business expertise, they offer training and one‑to‑one mentoring to support business ideas and early‑stage development across the creative, cultural, and enterprise sectors. Our support helps students to build confidence, test and refine ideas, develop viable business models, and make informed decisions as their projects evolve.
Each year, we support business and enterprise development through the GSA Creative Business Idea Award, and enable students, graduates, and staff with high‑calibre projects to take part in the Converge Challenge. These opportunities support ambitious, innovative ideas with the potential to become successful and sustainable businesses that make a positive impact in Scotland and beyond.
SHIFT programme
SHIFT is a unique annual collaborative training programme for students, led by The Glasgow School of Art (GSA), the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) and Queen Margaret University Edinburgh (QMU) and welcoming students and graduates from other participating Universities from across Scotland.
SHIFT was created to support the business skills development and transition of our Arts and Creative industries students and new graduates out of Higher Education. Working with a peer group from several institutions, across a range of disciplines and different skills, SHIFT is designed to equip participants with collaborative, practical, creative and business skills that will support them to make the shift from student to independent professional practitioner in the cultural and creative industries. Participants leave empowered with new ideas, new networks and an action plan for the next steps in their professional lives.
Contact careers@gsa.ac.uk for further advice about how SHIFT can support your plans.
