So, you’re looking for art jobs, keeping up with the visual arts scene, and generally trying to make it from art school status to art career. As a worst case scenario - what am I likely going to be in for - 3 months, 6 months, 2 years?

They’ll probably leave you alone, besides having to put in your fortnightly forms. Just like art school, eh? Of course you aren’t allowed to only look for art jobs or things in the visual arts.

After 3 Months

You’ll probably get regularly bugged by your Job Network provider (“Intensive Customised Assistance” in Centrespeak). Their types of bugging include one to one interviews (perhaps on a fortnightly basis) signing things they put in front of you, and perhaps a three week course (see “How do I get out of Intensive Job Support Training”). How much they bother you is dependent on the place, a bit on the person, and what they personally feel is the value of the visual arts.

At Month 6

You’ll probably have to do work for the dole by now. (Info on that is in the Mutual Obligation link, to the left). People have gone back to art schools and had their art courses count for this!

12 Months

They call it “Intensive Support Customised Assistance”, which is a heavier version of the above. You can lose the “luxury” of choosing what jobs you’ll go for (you never had the luxury to chose only art jobs anyway), they can put you through three days a week work preparation, and you can have weekly meetings with them. One week is something (very sadly) called “Job Club” (another a one-on-one). They don’t ask artists if they feel like joining this particular club.

After 2 Years

And if they think you’re a “serial avoider” (you can argue this) they can put you into full time work for the dole, which is basically eternal slavery. Unless you managed to organise some mutual obligation in the visual arts somewhere. That way, if you wanted to look for a job in your (art) field, you don’t have to run away or something.

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