What is Arts Intelligence? What are the items included in it?
Arts Intelligence is a small company which offers services to the arts sector. Its main activities are the publication of ArtsProfessional magazine (www.artsprofessional.co.uk), a senior management recruitment service (www.artsintelligence.co.uk), and two recruitment websites – one (www.ArtsJobFinder.co.uk) which is UK- based and the other, which is still at the testing stage (www.CultureJobsInternational.org), which aims to offer an international job-search facility.

What can be read at ArtsProfessional magazine? Who are the recipients?
The magazine covers news, advice and features that are of interest to professionals working in the management, development, funding and administration of the arts sector. Its articles are primarily based on UK experiences, but they are relevant to those working in the arts across the world – we have many subscribers in Europe and beyond.  

Arts Professional magazine is completely financially self-sufficient thank to commercials and paid subscription. Which of these contributes more in your budget? Do you have some additional funding sources?
Editorial independence is very precious to us. We want to be able to reveal news and information that is of value to those working in the arts sector. Sometimes that news is political in nature; and sometimes those who fund the arts sector do not appreciate the stand we take in revealing information that we believe is in the interests of arts practitioners. Sometimes they would prefer it if their own activities and decision-making processes were kept quiet. For this reason we strive to retain our independence – we neither seek nor receive any public funding. All our income comes from advertising and subscription, in roughly equal measures.

 

You offer a possibility of non-paid cooperation through preparing articles for you or supporting you with ideas. How often do you use these resources?
All our articles are written by those who work in the arts sector – as these are the people who have first-hand knowledge of the arts sector and are in the best position to share information, good practice and new ideas with others in a similar position as themselves. We prepare news material ourselves, but in general, ArtsProfessional is written by arts professionals for arts professional, and the magazine acts as a channel and a filter, enabling their ideas and experiences to circulate around the sector.

Do you think that if the subscription was free of charge, you would have bigger group of readers?
Probably yes, but that would not be financially viable – as we do not accept public subsidy we rely on income from subscriptions for our survival. We have recent done a readership survey, which has indicated how much our readers appreciate the printed magazine – so while we have considered publishing online only, instead of in print and on the web, this would not be popular.

Do you carry surveys? If yes, in which areas?
We have recently conducted a readership survey, a survey of ticketing and box office practices, and an assessment of ‘confidence’ in the sector (there have recently been big cuts to public funding in the UK, and this has undermined staff confidence and led to many closures and redundancies). In the past we have published a salary survey (and will do so again next year) and will do other surveys if the interest is there.

Which branch of cultural professions is dominant among your readers?
It is probably the performing arts, and probably theatre  - but we tend to publish material that will be relevant to all our readers regardless of what artform they practice. We try to publish around general themes that are relevant to all arts professional involved in the management and administration of the sector – such as audiences, marketing, law, finance, income generation, policy etc.  

Let's switch to Arts Jobs Finder and Culture Jobs International. Which profession in area of culture is being advertised most often in UK especially at Arts Jobs Finder?
Probably senior management roles, but we actually carry a wide range of vacancies at all levels – with all sorts of job titles.

 

How does the ‘Salary Calculator’ work? What is the data on which it’s based?

The Salary Calculator will tell you the average salary paid for a chosen job title over the three previous years. The data is based on the published salary details given by employers when they book an advert on the ArtsJobFinder website or in ArtsProfessional magazine.

How long does Culture Jobs International exist? Who are the recipients?

Culture Jobs International was launched about a year ago, and is still very much a project in development. It aims to create an online space place for cultural professionals across the world to search for international opportunities, outside their own countries. In our experience, a lot of people would like to work in other countries, and have the skills to do so very successfully, but it is difficult to find the vacancies advertised, because there are so many different media and so many websites across the world that carry country-specific recruitment vacancies. We hope to spend more time developing the site and building web traffic next year.

Where did the idea about starting international cultural job search engine come from?

We realized that cultural exchange was an important European Union objective, but that the mechanism for facilitating the employment of foreign nationals in the cultural sector was often a problem.

Did you carry any survey before starting Culture Jobs International?

We spoke at length with many of the ‘umbrella bodies’ working in international exchange, especially in Europe. It became clear very quickly that the process of recruiting staff to the cultural sector varies a lot between countries, but those we spoke to were generally positive about the concept of a central website where international opportunities could be promoted.

Is each institution or a firm in cultural sector allowed to post a job offer at Culture Jobs International?

Yes, at the moment the4 site is free to anyone who wants to post a job – the site is still in development, so we’re keen that people use it and give us feedback on how well it works, so that we can complete the development. But just at the moment, we are very busy developing social media opportunities through our ArtsProfessional website, and our Web Manager is too busy to dedicate much time to it before next year.

Are you kind of head hunters in culture?

Sort of… our senior management recruitment service will give organizations personalized help to find the very best staff to fill their top jobs. But we don’t just rely on our ‘contacts’ – it’s a service that advertises vacancies widely to reach as many possible candidates as possible, and then uses professional recruitment processes to generate the best possible shortlist and help organizations to select the candidate that is most suited to their vacancy. Our support aims to help organizations avoid the disappointing scenario that a vacancy will attract the wrong calibre of applicant or that they will appoint someone inappropriate for the role.

Liz Hill, the president of Arts Intelligence, was interviewed by Agnieszka Furmańczyk