Skillsbase deadline

31 December is the deadline for applications to BECTU's free careers advice service Skillsbase.

Piloting this year, Skillsbase offers confidential, client-focused advice and guidance to help freelances in the audiovisual sectors develop their skills and marketability.

Since October the service has expanded from London to include the English regions and Wales, and applications from these areas are particularly welcome.

Feedback from clients indicates the project so far has been a success. "It is incredibly useful and rare as a freelance to find someone professional who can assess your career in detail ... the fact that the advisor had worked in the industry and understood the pitfalls and problems made the quality and detail of the advise extremely high" comments one freelance.

Skillsbase is supported by Skillset, the European Social Fund, and the Department for Education and Employment's Union Learning Fund.