London, England-- (SBWIRE) -- 06/07/2010 -- Major Players, the UK’s leading creative recruiter, reports that the industry is currently experiencing a skills shortage for experienced talent to fill digital production and project management jobs.

Karine Lionnet, Major Players head of recruitment for creative services jobs (including production, project manager jobs and creative artworker jobs) said: “The market for creative services jobs has definitely changed over the last couple of years. With the digital explosion in full swing, the demand for tech savvy talent has led to the best candidates being snapped up, leaving traditional agencies and talent struggling to make the move into the digital job space.”

So how can the industry bridge the talent gap? Karine advises of a few options for both candidates and businesses working in a traditional space.

Remember what it was like to be hungry? Just starting out and willing to do anything for a chance? There are loads of talented digital natives coming out of uni who are bursting with enthusiasm and itching to put their skills to use in the digital job sphere. Investing in grad talent now could bring big dividends in future once you’re equipped with a team that sits on the cutting edge of the online space.

Look elsewhere Agencies should also be looking outside the industry for talent with transferable skills. How many potential candidates are out there working in project management jobs in a clientside environment that could bring great digital thinking to an agency with a small amount of re-training? People in producer jobs working in broadcast across a multitude of media platforms could also be an untapped area of resource for forward thinking agencies. Traditional project managers can bring a wealth of talent and experience to any role and making the leap to digital won’t be much of a stretch.

Digitise your skill set If you’re in a traditional production job or project manager role, now would be a great time to start investing in your digital skill set. Nothing is as valuable as on the job training, so if there’s already a digital team at your agency, perhaps spending a couple mornings a week shadowing one of them could help you add another string to your bow while giving your employer the leverage to take on ever more digital projects. If you’re thinking of looking into some courses, have a look around the web for Agile and Prince 2 training.