Alumnus Josh Domm graduated the University of Greenwich this year with a 2:1 BA (Hons) in Event Management. He is now living in London and working as an Event Production Assistant working with big clients such as Dior, Netflix and Spotify.
Why did you choose All Saints’ Academy Sixth Form?
I chose All Saints’ Academy against other options as it felt like home to me. I felt safe there and had a good relationship with my teachers and a good group of friends. I knew All Saints’ would be able to support me, they knew me, knew how I learnt, knew what I wanted to do and were able to push me.
What were your Sixth Form highlights?
One of my biggest highlights was choreographing the school musical of Loserville with my friends Poppy and Beth. It was such a fun thing to do whilst in such a high-pressured time of school. From a more academic side being made a Head Student was a real highlight as it really pushed me in my drive to achieve outside of school, I learnt to be confident, network, stand in front of a large group of people and I also had the opportunity to lead some assemblies on things personal to me.
What did you do after A Levels?
I applied for a deferred university place at the University of Greenwich to study Events Management as I wanted to go on a gap year. I travelled to Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Bali which was a really fun and amazing experience.
What did you enjoy at university?
I had a great time at university, my course was fun and practical. A practical course was important as that’s the way I learnt best. I did a lot of work experience at university which had come from the help of All Saints’ back in Sixth Form. All Saints’ had helped me get on the Talent Tap programme which I would not have got at any other school. I was able to work on some amazing events such as London Fashion Week, big parties and London Film Festival. These all really helped me to move forward into my career post uni.
What have you been up to since graduating?
Since graduating university I am now a freelance Event Production Assistant, which means I work for myself which has its pros and cons. You have to work very hard; you have to network which are all skills I learnt from work experience. I work for lots of different production companies with some very big clients such as Netflix, Spotify, Jo Malone. I’ve just completed my 8th London Fashion week, worked on the London Film Festival and Dior’s menswear runway.
What advice would you give to Sixth Form students?
Get work experience. The thing that makes the difference in jobs now is work experience. Lots of people have degrees but don’t always have the work experience. Start early, it’s never too late if you haven’t already. I started just after Sixth Form and during my first year at uni. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic my univerisity life was cut short on campus and if I hadn’t of got that work experience in the first year and first part of second year I wouldn’t have been able to gain any work experience if I had waited until the third year.
What’s been your biggest highlight since university?
On a personal level is staying in London after my degree. From a professional perspective having a career related to my degree straight out of university and last month working on Dior’s menswear collection at Olympia. It was a huge job and one of the most amazing things I’ve ever done. It was a dream job for me and to get that so early at 22, I’m very proud of myself.
Can you tell us a little about freelance work?
It means you are self-employed, I don’t work for one single company, I work for myself. I work on lots of different projects, with lots of different people for short periods of time. The pros of working as freelance is every month is completely different. Every time I go to work, I’m doing something completely new, I get to choose who I work for and who I work for. I have flexibility of when I work and what I work on. The cons are it is a lot of hard work with networking, you have to do your own tax return. You invoice, they pay you and then you submit your tax return at the end of the tax year. You have to be confident and put yourself out there and make a really good impression every single time. You only get one chance to make a first impression and if you make a good one you might be lucky and stay on with these companies and they will always call you back. For example with me lots of work I’ve had is because I’ve made a good impression on one person and they have passed my details on to another company when they are looking for freelancers and they’ve got in contact, so every impression counts.
How did All Saints’ help you reach your full potential?
I genuinely feel like I wouldn’t be where I am in my career without the help of All Saints’ and that’s because of the experiences that were given to me both in lower school and Sixth. It was due to teachers that genuinely cared about me achieving and wanted me to achieve they nurtured me and helped me grow as an individual. They worked with me during a time when I had no idea what I wanted to do, I changed my mind several times of where I wanted to go. Working in events that was shown to me by teachers in this Academy that I didn’t even know was a possibility. I was able to have experiences such as Africa in lower school and be Head Boy in Sixth Form. And like I mentioned previously I also had the opportunity to take part in the Talent Tap programme which helps students get work experience opportunities that they wouldn’t normally be offered which is something that I will be forever grateful for as I would not be where I am without that.
