Alternative Saturday Jobs

Work experience that works

Curious Minds has been pioneering the Alternative Saturday Jobs (ASJ) paid work placement model for over a decade. It ‘s a key part of our commitment to finding practical ways of diversifying the future creative workforce and supporting young people into employment. And it works!

Too many creative young people face social and economic barriers to careers in the creative and cultural industries. Despite being one of the the fastest growing areas of the UK economy, this sector still shows entrenched inequality and exclusion¹.

How ASJ works

Alternative Saturday Jobs places young people into a wide range of fixed-term roles in the arts and cultural sector, giving them opportunity to learn about creative career paths and get a ‘foot in the door’. This can include creative and technical roles, back-office, front-of-house, hospitality and marketing.

A key objective is to target this support at young people facing challenging personal circumstances, and to provide a meaningful experience for the young people with a genuine role to for them to fulfil. We work closely with our host organisations to achieve this and support them through the process.

How we know it works

In 2015 an independent evaluation reported that the programme had consistently provided authentic work experience for young people in the arts and cultural sector. The evaluation evidenced that by the end of the twelve-week placement employers considered all of the young people ‘highly employable and work-ready’. On average, young people experienced:

36% rise in confidence and their ability to communicate
28% rise in their ability to self-organise and problem solve
26% increase in their ability to participate effectively in a team

I’ve had some really cool moments during my time [on placement] that have helped me feel more confident in what I can do.

Chloe, ASJ Trainee 2024

ASJ and Curious Works

Most recently, we worked with Greater Manchester Combined Authority and WEA to offer several positions in Wigan Borough through our Curious Works project.

Learn about Curious Works

This was an excellent learning experience for our organisation, showing what can be achieved with a placement in a limited timescale.

Rizwan Iqbal, MiF

You can make a difference

No organisation is too bit or too small to host an ASJ. If you do, you’ll be investing in the success and growth of our sector. These young people can add value through new skills and ideas, as well as being the future creative workforce.

Alternative Saturday Job placements are funded in tranches - usually based around a locality or social-economic need. We are always excited to explore new ideas and would love to hear from you if you think can support this model.