This is a difficult question to answer because cartooning is a job without, for the most part, obvious qualifications.

So, how do we choose our members after they have applied to join the Professional Cartoonists’ Organisation?

You can read the basic details here, but the key part is the review by peers. This is where existing PCO members, who serve on the committee (I’m one of them), vote on applications. It takes at least seven votes from the nine possible to be invited to join. This is a tough ask, although many applicants are voted in unanimously.

We all like to think we know a good thing when we see it.

Of course some applicants do not make it. We offer advice to the not-quite-this-time cartoonists and urge them all to participate in the public forums run by the Cartoonists’ Club of Great Britain. Many cartoonists, including some of our members who belong to both organisations, offer free advice there.

Oh, and you know we said  “cartooning is a job without obvious qualifications”? Well, I was wrong and we will be reporting back on this university course soon.