Case study: ‘Trying to find a permanent job is like looking for gold’

Published on 13/09/2012 01:09

SINEAD McGinley is among the young Scots out of work, despite having widespread experience of working in her chosen field of the arts and culture.

The 24-year-old has spent most of the past few years working in museums, cinemas and running community arts projects, but has been unable to find a permanent job.

She has been unemployed after coming to the end of a six-month contract in administration with the Glasgow Film Theatre. She has also worked at Clydebank Museum, where her paid duties included work as a curator and helping to run school visits to exhibitions.

Ms McGinley, who lives in Glasgow, has also completed training courses in media awareness, oral history and personal development. She said: “Trying to find a permanent job is like looking for gold, because you do all this training and get all this experience, but still end up out of work.

“It’s very hard to just go from one temporary job to another. I’m sure the government has got the best of intentions by creating these jobs, but if people don’t get the opportunity to make a permanent career, it’s hard for them to progress.

“I’ve worked in the arts for four years now, but there just don’t seem to be the opportunities for something that’s permanent.”

She said she had applied for a number of posts in the arts, but had missed out at the interview stage. “It’s very competitive and the experience helps, but there are sometimes 200 or so people going for the same job,” she said. “It seems to be getting harder and harder. It would be nice if the government could create more career opportunities in the arts, which is a popular area in Scotland.”