What are occupational standards for journalism and advertising sales?

Before christmas we announced an industry consultation on a major overhaul of occupational standards for advertising sales and journalism.

Don’t forget that you can still feedback: the deadline is Friday 8th January.

Both sets of standards have an online questionnaire where you can fill in as much – or as little – detail as you want. You can find the links here for journalism and advertising sales.

Here at Skillset Towers we are always looking to develop standards to best reflect current industry needs, but it is sometimes easy to forget that not everyone will have used standards or know what they are. So here’s a brief explanation of why they are useful for businesses and individuals working in creative media.

Standards provide a framework of tried and tested good practise that tells you what needs to be done to effectively perform a job. They offer a list of the skills and knowledge you need to undertake a role, but without being prescriptive by trying to tell you how you do it. They are used by individuals and companies for a range of activity including:

For individuals and freelancers

• evaluate and demonstrate skills, knowledge and competence in a competitive employment market
• identify your training needs to ensure your skills remain up-to-date
• identify non-specialist skills that enhance employability e.g. problem solving, health and safety, team working, etc.

For employers

• draw up a list of skills and knowledge required for a role via job descriptions, job profiles etc
• communicate their needs for a particular role to staff
• use as a basis for selection and recruitment of staff
• identify training or continuing professional development (CPD) needs
• job role design
• measuring staff performance and a tool for appraisals

They can also be used by Careers advisers as a tool to assist with applications and to ensure they demonstrate industry knowledge, and we also encourage training and learning providers to map their provision to the standards where possible.

If you have an interest in advertising sales or journalism, make sure you take part in the consultation, but don’t be put off by the number of them. This is intended to be a comprehensive shopping list of skills that you can browse and select only the items that work for your particular role.

The finished standards will be published this spring. If you need further information in the meantime, email me at suzannek@skillset.org or have a look at our website.