Richard Sant appointed as Head of Careers and Employability

We are delighted to announce that Richard Sant has been appointed as Head of Careers and Employability at UAL. Previously, Richard was Manager of Employability in the Curriculum at Southampton Solent University. His work there was preceded by nine years as Director of the Centre for Enterprise, Faculty of the Creative and Cultural Industries at the University of Portsmouth.

Richard will lead the development of careers, employability and enterprise across UAL. Professor Susan Orr commented:

‘UAL has a fantastic track record supporting students’ creative career development.  Richard will be building on this work and helping us to ensure that our enterprise and employability offer is fit for purpose for today’s students’

We caught up with Richard about the challenges creative graduates face today, and what attracted him to UAL:

Exchange: What advice would you give to help UAL’s creative graduates overcome key challenges in their careers?

Richard: I would say: Follow your own passion and vision whatever that may be. The University offers great resources to point you in the right direction and give you the information you need whether you are looking for a creative job, or you are freelancing. It is really important that you access all the help that is on offer, but the core driver will always be your own passion. The key questions to ask yourselves are “What am I passionate about?” “What is my unique selling point?” (i.e. what do I offer the world through my creative practice that is unique to me) and “How can I develop the self-belief and resourcefulness I need to stick to my goals, and the resilience to overcome the obstacles that will come my way?” If you can begin to answer those questions for yourself then you are on the way to overcoming many of the challenges that you will face as a creative graduate.

Exchange: What attracted you to working at UAL?

Richard: I am very passionate about valuing creativity as a key attribute in the workplace and I believe that creativity and innovation have an important contribution to make to the whole economy, extending way beyond the creative industries. Working at University of the Arts London will be a real opportunity to find ways to help creative graduates become more articulate about their creative capital and to help employers value this within their graduate recruitment.

To find out more about Careers and Employability at UAL visit the Careers and Employability webpages.