Learn to hire and develop emerging talent.
A library of 15 practical guides covering everything from defining a genuine entry-level role to retaining junior creative talent.
Define a Genuine Entry-Level Creative Role
Help employers distinguish between internships, trainee roles, assistant roles and genuine junior positions, with realistic responsibilities and expectations.
The Experience Paradox
Why requiring previous experience can create a cycle that prevents emerging talent from entering the industry, and how to assess capability through other forms of evidence.
What to Actually Look For in Emerging Creative Talent
The Lab's framework for assessing emerging creative talent across six areas: creative ability, thinking, communication, adaptability, commercial awareness, and professionalism.
How to Read a Graduate Portfolio
Teach employers to assess the brief, process, creative thinking, technical execution, relevance and individual contribution, rather than simply judging how polished the final piece looks.
Are You Asking for Too Much?
Help employers identify when an entry-level role has accidentally become a mid-level role, by separating must-have, nice-to-have, and trainable skills.
How to Write a Creative Job That Actually Attracts Talent
Cover job title, responsibilities, salary, essential skills, desirable skills, team structure, reporting line, training, progression, application process, and what success looks like.
The Salary Question
Explain salary transparency, market positioning, responsibilities, progression and development, and The Lab's salary guarantee and the thinking behind it.
How to Interview Someone Who Has Never Had a Proper Job
Help employers assess potential rather than simply rewarding polished interview technique, with structured questions, portfolio questions, scenario questions, scoring criteria, and evidence-based assessment.
Portfolio vs CV: What Should Matter More?
Explain why different creative roles require different evidence, and why using one assessment method for every creative role leads to poor hiring decisions.
How to Assess Potential, Not Just Experience
Cover curiosity, learning ability, initiative, problem-solving, adaptability, resilience, response to feedback, and creative thinking to help employers ask what could this person become.
Hire Without Relying Too Heavily on Degrees
Show employers how to assess portfolios, personal projects, freelance work, voluntary experience, online learning, transferable skills, and demonstrated ability, without suggesting degrees are irrelevant.
Use AI Responsibly When Hiring Junior Creatives
Cover AI-assisted creative work, disclosure, originality, copyright/IP, confidentiality, fact-checking, human judgement, and quality control to help employers distinguish between AI operation and creative thinking.
Create a 30-60-90 Day Plan for a New Creative Hire
Provide a practical framework: 30 days to learn, 60 days to contribute, 90 days to own, with training, manager expectations, feedback, first projects, increasing responsibility, and progress reviews.
Retain and Develop Junior Creative Talent
Cover mentoring, feedback, progression, learning, recognition, meaningful creative responsibility, salary progression, and management quality. Getting someone hired is only half the job.
The Emerging Talent Employer Checklist
A master checklist covering role, experience, skills, salary, development, application, and retention, designed as a reusable resource that employers can bookmark or download.
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