What to Actually Look For in Emerging Creative Talent
5 min readThe Lab's framework for assessing emerging creative talent across six areas: creative ability, thinking, communication, adaptability, commercial awareness, and professionalism.
The problem
When assessing someone with little or no professional experience, employers often default to judging polish rather than potential. This misses candidates who have the thinking and adaptability to grow into exceptional creatives.
What good looks like
Employers assess emerging talent across six areas, looking at potential as well as what has already been produced. The goal is to ask not only "What have they already done?" but "What could this person become?"
The Lab framework
The Lab's six assessment areas:
- Creative ability: Can they produce strong work?
- Thinking: Can they solve problems and interpret a brief?
- Communication: Can they explain their ideas?
- Adaptability: Can they learn and respond to change?
- Commercial awareness: Can they understand the purpose and audience of the work?
- Professionalism: Can they collaborate, take responsibility, and respond to feedback?
Example
A candidate's portfolio may not be the most polished, but their case studies reveal clear thinking, willingness to iterate based on feedback, and an understanding of who the work is for. That combination often predicts growth better than visual finish alone.
Employer checklist
- Have I assessed creative ability beyond visual polish?
- Can I see evidence of problem-solving and brief interpretation?
- Can the candidate explain their decisions clearly?
- Is there evidence of adaptability and response to feedback?
- Do they understand the audience and purpose of their work?
More from Portfolio & Skills
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Teach employers to assess the brief, process, creative thinking, technical execution, relevance and individual contribution, rather than simply judging how polished the final piece looks.
Portfolio vs CV: What Should Matter More?
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