Craft Articles

This is the generic name of a job that involves making objects including jewellery, watch cases, candlesticks, ornaments etc with precious metals.  When making jewellery precious stones are often incorporated and the process of selecting and preparing these is called gemmology.

• The Work
  This type of work involves a variety of skills such as casting, forging, beating and stamping, polishing and finishing and designing.  The work can usually be divided into 2 different categories:
  
  Manufacturing: Often working in a small factory or workshop most jobs involve specialist training either on site or at college.  The work can include creating a wide variety of items depending on the employer and can range from mass-produced items for the High Street trade through to expensive jewellery for specialist stores.
  
  Craftwork: This is usually on a small-scale, self-employed basis and the craftworker will usually find themselves involved in every stage of the process from initial designing through production and on to marketing and selling the work.

• Opportunities, Qualifications and Pay
  The industry for gold/silversmiths is mainly located in London, Sheffield, Birmingham. Glasgow and Edingborough.  Vacancies may be advertised in local papers and also specialist trade publications.

  Generally no academic qualifications are required for a trainee position.  Many craftworkers study for a HND or degree in gold & silversmithing or jewellery making before setting up their own workshop or joining a workshop with other artists.

  The Jewellery & Allied Industries Training Council (JAITC) have information about courses including both degrees and short courses.

  Salary figures are a general guide as actual pay will depend on the employer and location.
  Trainee £9000
  With experience £14000
  Supervisor/Manager £20000

• Useful Websites
  Jewellery & Allied Industries Training Council (JAITC) www.jaitc.org.uk
  British Jewellers’ Association www.bja.org.uk

A posting on the Craft Forum titled ‘No Craft Jobs’ really got me thinking about whether this is really the case and prompted me into doing a bit of research into this sector.  Obviously the biggest ‘qualification’ needed for this type of work is talent and perhaps unsurprisingly there is a large number of artists and ‘makers’ who are self-employed or portfolio workers.  Many of these supplement their income by other employment, often teaching their craft either in further or adult education classes.

However, if you wish to become employed in the creative sector, increasingly a degree is being deemed as necessary.  But how likely is it that an art and/or design degree will actually get you that dream job?

Initially the statistics don’t look that promising…the latest research conducted for www.prospects.ac.uk shows that only 63% of art students were in full-time employment 6mths after graduating.  Of these only 29% were working in the ‘Art, Design, Culture or Media’ industry with the greatest number of these employed as Commercial Artists closely followed by Graphic Designers.

Many art + design graduates initially work outside their chosen sector, encouragingly however as they gain experience only 20% remain outside art and design in the long term.  So, it appears in the long term the investment appears worth it.