Advice & Guidance
Our Clinics, Workshops, and Industry Guest Days are open to all RCS staff, students, and alumni. Explore the advice & guidance opportunities below to see what’s coming up and book your place.
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1:1 Clinics
Clinics are one-to-one sessions where you can meet with an industry expert to talk about your projects, your career, and your professional development. Our advisors have years of experience in their respective fields. Most clinics take place online, so you can join from anywhere in the world, and each meeting will be tailored to your needs and situation.
Please note, clinics are released on a rolling basis. If there are no slots left on the online booking system, please check back later. To get the latest updates and clinic availabilities delivered straight to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter
Freelancer & Founder Clinics
Led by our Entrepreneur in Residence, Rachael Arnold, these clinics provide a space to talk about anything related to life as a freelancer, starting a company, or managing creative projects. Speak to Rachael about:
- Knowing your audience or customer
- Understanding your value
- Planning your projects
- Strategies for success
- Making the right connections
Career Clinics
Knowing better than most that a creative career can take many twists and turns, Briana Pegado’s clinics focus on balancing your creative practice with other work you may need to take on to become and stay financially sustainable. Speak to Briana about:
- Understanding your transferable skills
- Creating a skills bank
- Tailoring your CV for different roles
- Balancing part-time, full-time and freelance work
- Aligning work with your values and needs
These sessions are neurodivergent friendly, queer friendly, and BPOC friendly.
Legal Clinics
In this half-hour-long online clinic, you can ask Philip Hannay of Cloch Solicitors general legal questions directly related to your creative career and practice, such as:
- Legal and employment contracts – Are you contracting other freelancers or employing a small team to make your work with you? Have you been presented with a freelance contract that you are uncertain about signing?
- Intellectual property – Have you considered protecting your creative work? Do you have work that you’d like to patent, take out trademarks, design rights, or copyright?
- Company structures – What kind of company structure best fits the kind of work you want to make?
- Simple procedural actions – Do you need to defend a court action related to your business? Are you thinking about going to the Civil Court to claim money you’re owed by a person or a business?
In this clinic you cannot:
- Discuss things unrelated to your creative practice – For example, a parking ticket, dispute with your landlord, etc.
- Make confidential disclosures to Philip – A confidential disclosure is private information that is shared with another party, either orally or in writing, with the expectation that it will not be made public or shared with third parties.
Finance Clinics
In this half-hour-long clinic, you can ask David Nicholls of Brett Nicholls Associates general finance or accounting questions directly related to your creative career and practice, such as:
- UK taxes for freelancers and small companies – How the UK tax system might impact you and HMRC related topics.
- Business structures – What business structure will ensure effective financial processes without burdens?
- Self-employment – Best practice and use of systems available to you.
- Effective financial planning – Projections for your freelance work or company.
- General money management
In this clinic you cannot:
- Discuss things unrelated to your creative practice – For example, your mortgage, investment tips, etc.
- Make confidential disclosures to David – A confidential disclosure is private information that is shared with another party, either orally or in writing, with the expectation that it will not be made public or shared with third parties.
Please ensure you read this disclaimer before attending.
CEDOxSU Workshops
Throughout the academic year, we deliver a series of hands-on workshops that will help you develop practical skills and methods to manage life as a creative professional.
Workshops are co-designed with the RCS Students’ Union to tackle the most vital topics for your career in the arts and creative industries.
Our sessions are friendly, warm and casual – no previous experience needed! Just come along and our speakers will guide you through the topic, leaving plenty of space for questions and conversation.
Industry Guest Days
We regularly invite a range of practitioners to host guest clinics that provide specialist advice and guidance from a particular industry, discipline, or practice.
Theatre Clinic with Julia Taudevin
In Term 1, we welcome award-winning theatre artist Julia Taudevin as our industry guest. In this 45-minute online clinic, you can speak to Julia about:
- Managing a career across stage and screen
- Leading projects as a multi-role artist (writer/director/performer)
- Finding alternative ways to use the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to work for your show
- Self-starting and managing projects as a lead artist when you’re not a producer
- Centring well-being and a nurturing style in your creative process and leadership
Music Clinic with Paul Tracey
Coming soon!
Film Clinic
Coming soon!
