Isabel Sachs on how ChatGPT broke job applications – and revived the old boys’ club

It’s a tough time for people starting out in the creative industry right now. Together with Creative Lives in Progress we asked 27 people to predict what starting a creative career will look like over the next three years.

Words: It's Nice That
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Date: 9 November 2026
Tags: Career Predictions

Starting a creative career has rarely felt harder. Junior roles are disappearing, budgets are tightening and AI is taking over much of the work that new starters once learned on. So we asked studio founders, recruiters, educators, organisations and emerging creatives themselves to predict what they think starting a creative career will look like over the next three years. What skills will matter most? How will the pipeline work? And what can people do to take advantage of new opportunities? Their answers will help shape how Creative Lives in Progress can best support emerging talent through this period and beyond.

Contributor specific paragraph.

Isabel Sachs, Director at I LIKE NETWORKING

Every time I read job applications now, at least ten have the exact same answer, because someone copied and pasted from ChatGPT. Put that together with fewer junior roles and employers will stop trusting the application process, which was already broken.

So I think we will see more first jobs going to people someone has already met: on a course, at an event, through a freelance gig. Which is the old boys' club with extra steps, unless the industry builds more open ways in. I'm worried about unpaid work making a comeback because of this.

“In the short-term, my advice for emerging talent won't change much. It may just matter more: make your own work, be proactive, and go and meet people.”
Isabel Sachs, Director at I LIKE NETWORKING

One would hope (I sure do) that the industry will course-correct and change applications from CV and Cover Letter to something else and that we will see that without investing in new talent we are eroding our own futures. In the short-term, my advice for emerging talent won't change much. It may just matter more: make your own work, be proactive, and go and meet people.

This series has been put together in collaboration with It's Nice That's sister company Creative Lives in Progress; a creative careers resource, on a mission to transform the way emerging talent access, understand and connect with the industry. Find out more at creativelivesinprogress.com