Low blow from a job agency

[graphicbreeze]

So I have been contacting job agencies all around the UK, especially ones that specialize in our field of work. And today I got quite the low blow to my self esteem in regards to my ability as a graphic designer.

I don't know whether it would be in your interest to contact us again when you are in the UK
the level of work you have produced (seen on your online links) means we unfortunately won't assist you.

Especially coming from a job agency, as job agencies here in Canada won't hesitate to add more job seekers to their pool for the employers to pick from. So when a job agency tells you your work is unacceptable then there must be some serious problems to address. Which now has me second guessing the positive feedback I have received from my instructors and that makes me quite mad.

But at the same time this has been a nice little wake up call and I am happy it happened. Till this point I have only been told positive about my portfolio with the odd comment on how to improve something. Now I am starting to wonder if people have just been giving false positive feedback to avoid confrontation fearing I may get mad and upset or just to be friendly. I am also starting to wonder if the intern I have lined up are just another company looking for a monkey to make them tea and do clerical work for free.

I still have 4 months before I plan on leaving, so there still is time to fix my portfolio to some level of graphical proficiency that is acceptable in the UK working world.

If anyone could please check out my portfolio's and honestly tell me why you feel, of all people a job agency, professionally told me to get lost, your input would be extremely appreciated.

thx in advance

here is my portfolio
Andrew Cameron on the Behance Network

Also here is my freelance site
www.graphicbreeze.com

and for kicks I have a 3rd one
www.worldresotvacation.com (dont mind the off subject url)

[bigdave]

Firstly, most recruitment agencies are elitist. They only take on very well qualified, highly experienced candidates so if you've been knocked back by a few then don't take it personally.

There's some great stuff in your portfolio but theres also a lot that says inexperience and the fact that you don't mention any formal training or agency based experience means that most recruitment agencies won't touch you.

I have to say that your site doesn't work for me, It feels like you've thought about what you want to do and then been distracted by animated GIFs and bright colours. Spelling mistakes don't help either. Don't get me wrong, I'm not being snobby or anything, I am genuinely awful at building websites (ask anyone theyve all seen my efforts) but you could probably do with droping the animated gifs, bright blue background, and those massive blue buttons (which are aggravated by the fact that they're not aligned).

Something I was told at Uni while compiling my portfolio was that a portfolio with a few really well polished projects is better that one bursting at the seems with average work.

Why not look at the websites and portfolios of established designers already working in the UK and see if there are any ideas you can take from them to inspire your own site.

I Hope some of this helps.

Dave

[TheNoone]

I imagine that is hard for anyone to hear.
I'd suggest look at what people are doing and how design is produced these days.

On looking at your logos, it seems like they have been produced on Photoshop.
This is a big no-no in most cases. Get your Illustrator handy kit out and do some theory
into design on logos.

A good task for you could be do a bit of brainstorming, come up with a fictitious company,
something that is exciting to you. Point out what you perceive that company to be, look
at some logos on say LogoPond - Identity Inspiration - and take some of the elements of some logos on
there and produce something really nice, this should give you an idea on the guidelines of
creating a logo and should help for future practice.

Remember K.I.S.S
Keep it simple stupid. A phrase most designer know!

Hope this helps,
and good luck in the U.K it's a dog eat dog world in this industry!

[Dave L]

Professional recruitment agencies (commonly known as headhunters) make their money by placing highly desirable candidates into high earning jobs so you really need to be somewhere near the top of your game to be of any interest to these sorts of people.

[sthomas]

Sorry to hear about your feedback from the recruitment company...while their comments may seem harsh, it doesn't mean that you won't be able to get a job in the UK.

I think the first thing you need to address is your website - it my opinion, I would completely scrap the design and start again. It's not doing your work (or chances of getting a job) any favours.

To save time, I would look at using a CMS platform like WordPress or Joomla and then choosing a portfolio theme that give you the chance to present your work in the best light.

The second thing I would do is to be extremely critical of your folio content and stop using any pieces of work that are not up to the standard of your best work. Even though it might leave you with only 7 or 8 pieces of work, it's best to have them on show than sub-standard work.

You must also be aware of spelling mistakes, typo's and other things on your website and folio that demonstrate a lack of attention to detail.

Good luck

[graphicbreeze]

thk you all for your useful input :)

[James Barnes 77]

I would suggest only uploading your best work to a portfolio, don't let people see stuff you're not 100% happy with yourself

[SparkCreative]

Not being funny, but do you have any design training?

[graphicbreeze]

Hmmmm I truly hope you didn't look at my links in the original thread before your post or that means I wasted a lot of time & money on my schooling.

[linziloop]

Hmmmm I truly hope you didn't look at my links in the original thread before your post or that means I wasted a lot of time & money on my schooling.

Honestly, I was going to ask the same question. To what level are you trained, or would you mind me asking what age you are at? Because (and I feel terrible for saying this but someone needs to), the design of your website looks amateurish and although no design agency has the right to be rude to anyone, I can see why you were turned down.

I ask to what level as it would help us to know where exactly you are at in your training, as this doesn't seem anywhere near the standard of work that would come from a recent graduate of a degree for example.