Represent’s Joe Cooper: from 118 junior briefs to 22 – someone has to give them experience

Joe Cooper, Head of Design at Represent

A decade ago, in 2016, we registered 118 active junior briefs at Represent by this point in the year. This year, we've had 22.

So, things will continue swimmingly, I’m sure. The end. Cheers.

Although, let's expand on that.

Obviously, those figures don't tell you everything about what's happening across the creative industries. But it's quite a difference, isn't it? And it does make you wonder where the next generation of creatives are going to find their way in.

And then, of course, there's AI. Because there always is (sorry). A lot of the production work that juniors would traditionally have cut their teeth on can now be done much more quickly and cheaply. Add tighter budgets and studios increasingly needing people who can hit the ground running, and you can see why those opportunities are becoming harder to come by.

But I'm not convinced the answer is for every graduate to become an AI expert, either. If anything, I think the things that'll really set young creatives apart are the more human qualities. Curiosity, original thinking, good judgement, knowing why something works rather than just how to make it, and being confident enough to question things.

I also think we'll continue to see a much less straightforward route into the industry. It used to be fairly simple (it wasn’t), at least in theory. You'd graduate, get a junior job, learn from the people around you and work your way up. That's not going away completely, but I suspect it'll continue to become less common.

Instead, I can see more young creatives piecing together experience through freelance work, their own projects, collaborations, maybe even jobs outside the usual agency or brand world. And actually, there's something really exciting about that. We could end up with people bringing much broader experiences and perspectives into our industry.

The bit that worries me, though, is who gets to take that route. Not everyone has the financial breathing room to spend months finding work, building connections and getting established.

And there's something you can't easily replace, about learning alongside experienced people. Making mistakes, getting feedback, having someone take the time to help you improve.

So yes, I think young creatives will increasingly have to make their own way in. I just hope we don't use that resourcefulness as an excuse to stop making room for them.

Because ultimately, everyone wants experienced creatives. Someone has to give them that experience in the first place.