Job hunting: What's your process?

Jri

Member
I thought it'd be really interesting to see what the spread of different answers is to this question in the context of graphic design employment.

How do you all go about job searching? Assuming you wanted to move on, how would you approach it?

I go straight to google usually - sometimes I feel like this is too lazy and excludes a lot of potential job-hunting avenues but more and more I've been branching into social media too.

What's your process?
 
I tried that years ago, but haven't done any 'cold applying' for a while. Do you ever get any results that way?
 
I got my first job that way. Nobody was advertising, and I wanted to be in print. I printed off 50 CVs and 50 cover letters. I signed each cover letter individually, hand wrote every envelope and licked and applied 50 stamps.

I got roughly 15-20 call backs. And got offered 5 jobs. I was actually working in one job and got a call to do an apprenticeship and turned it down because I was working.

But I called them back and asked was it too late to accept and they were more than happy to let me have it.


I then tried the same approach after my apprenticeship - and got the same return. Ended up in a job for 9.5 years.

Now, people come looking for me, I was headhunted for 3 different jobs since.
 
Now that you mention it, I got my last job by getting in touch with someone who passed me up for another candidate a few months earlier to see if they were still expanding the design department I originally interviewed to join. Turns out the candidate they picked lied on their CV and wasn't up to the task so I interviewed the next day and took it.

Did you send any portfolio/work samples Hank?
 
I don't have a portfolio. I've been in the print/design industry since 1997.

If asked I send on some latest work that was interesting to work on - I only keep bits and bobs like that.
I don't have a presentation portfolio to speak of.
 
I'm not really in the job market but I do keep my eyes on things as you never know.

I tend to use indeed but I found this just now.
I know it's the same recycled advice with different stock images but I thought I'd post.
 
I've never once gotten a response from "cold applying", and my experience in job hunting is very very recent, not decades old haha. No offense, Scotty and Hank I'm not sure places really appreciate that type of thing anymore. If anything it's more of an annoyance. I got my first job from word of mouth, they were going to hire my friend, she turned it down because her place offered her more money to stay. It was a step up for me so I took it. The other I found through Indeed, threw my app in, and nailed both interviews. I start that job on the 18th. I'm really excited, it's a pretty big pay raise as well as more responsibility and more creative freedom.

Ultimately the market and the economy of the place you live in as well as your own marketable skills will dictate how easy it is for you to find a job.
 
I've never once gotten a response from "cold applying", and my experience in job hunting is very very recent, not decades old haha. No offense, Scotty and Hank I'm not sure places really appreciate that type of thing anymore. If anything it's more of an annoyance. I got my first job from word of mouth, they were going to hire my friend, she turned it down because her place offered her more money to stay. It was a step up for me so I took it. The other I found through Indeed, threw my app in, and nailed both interviews. I start that job on the 18th. I'm really excited, it's a pretty big pay raise as well as more responsibility and more creative freedom.

Ultimately the market and the economy of the place you live in as well as your own marketable skills will dictate how easy it is for you to find a job.

Hey, congrats on the job - delighted for you. I don't think I will personally ever apply for a job again in print. If someone wants me they contact me. I've turned down more offers than I have applied for in the past 5 years.

At the moment I'm looking to get out design and into something totally different, I recently applied to be a train driver and interviewing is ongoing, it's a long process but things seem to be going quite well.

My advice is send your CV to places you want to you work for, the design agencies that you are interested in, whether it's packaging design, or newspapers, or magazines, or lithographic printing - or whatever your interest is, find the best companies and send them your CV. They may not be looking now, but they might be in 2 months/6mth/a year from now. I have a pile of CVs in my email folder from designers who constantly apply for jobs here. I keep them on file because if we are looking for someone I'll go back through the CVs and contact them first to see if they are available for an interview.

That just saves me from having to advertise for the job and then interview 30-50 candidates to wittle it down.


Another thing I will say is that before my current job I was head hunted by 2 companies. 1 company was very interested in hiring me, and then the company I really wanted to work for. The 1 company offered me a job straightaway but I asked for time to think about it. Then the company I really wanted to for had it down between me and another person. They went with the other person.
I took the 1st company job offer. About 3 months later the company that went with the other designer rang me and told me that 'it didn't work out' and now they wanted me to come in.

It's not all a bed of roses out there, you don't always get what you want. But there's nothing stopping you going for things now, even if you feel it's unattainable at the moment.

That's what they say - reach for the moon, if you miss you land amongst the stars.
 
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