Getting a graphic design job

[wac]

I've written an article/guide to getting a job in a design studio/agency.

I would be interested to know if anyone thinks the guide is missing something crucial, or if you straight up disagree with some/all of my advice

http://thebig.co/get-design-studio-job/

 

[scotty]

Wac.

I've read literally LOADS of these kinds of articles offering advice and to be honest, they pretty much seem to a copy > paste of each other and tick the main boxes and nothing more.
I think you've managed to do this a little differently and seem a bit more human and realistic.
Lots of common sense in there which many starting out would over look.

I really like the suggestion about getting a book made which is surprisingly cheap.
Cheap enough to not get back but also a good reason to visit the company again as you said.
This is also a good way to demonstrate layout, artwork and other skills.

Also like how you say about being patient, using the time to improve and sticking at it.

Maybe one thing I would add is regarding addressing an e-mail to the right person and not "Sir/Madame".
(BTW, I've done that before )
Many sites don't mention personal contact details or have "meet the team" pages.
Possibly in this case it may be worth calling the company just to ask for the persons name?

Personally, I think this should be added to the "Starting Out As A Designer" thread.

Nice work!

 

[Paul Murray]

Some good advice. I agree with Scotty that a lot of articles are just plain wrong, and obviously written by someone who's never applied or had a design job.

There are a couple of things I'd mention. I too like the idea of dropping off a book you have to collect, but it might be worth stressing in your article that you shouldn't just turn up unannounced with your portfolio expecting to get seen. This is a great way to piss someone off and guarantee you never get a job with a particular studio.

The same could be said for calling a studio. Direct email is generally the preferred method of contact because it doesn't require the CD/AD, etc to drop what they're doing and deal with you. If someone rang me, I'd simply tell them to email something over because I'm absolutely not in a position to set a date with them over the phone, then probably be annoyed that they've interrupted my work. It's not that I'm ungrateful or anything like that, I just have other priorities, and I know the same is true of other industry professionals. They will get around to viewing your work, and if they like what they see, they will get in touch (this is also true for freelancers).

Also, if you're a student, you should be working on getting a job before you've even graduated. If you wait until you've finished your course you're at a massive disadvantage. Get as many placements as you can during your time on your course. Your work will be better for it, and you'll have a handful of contacts to keep in touch with. I've said it many times here before, but you have a much greater chance of getting a job in a studio that you've previously done internships with. This happened to every single one of my friends who gained design employment. It was with studios they'd already worked with and had gotten to know the team.

 

[scotty]

Good points Paul.

Things keep coming to me regarding applying for jobs but I guess this could go on for ages and Wac would be able to write a book at the end.

A couple of things that I've heard people remark about CV's an applications is spelling and grammar. (already in Wac's article).
Another is a well laid out and composed CV that is not too long.
I once heard someone say. "How do they think we're going to employ them if they can't even do a decent job of their CV?"

 

[wac]

Thanks, Scotty. I think in the "Sir/Madame" situation, the required information will almost always be available with a bit of digging on sites like LinkedIn even when there isn't a 'Meet the Team' page, and that extra effort won't go unnoticed. But yes, in the event that you can't find the name of the relevant person, a less specific salutation is better than nothing, although, I think I would opt for something like 'Hi' rather than the aforementioned 'Sir/Madame'

Paul, you're right I should emphasise the importance of looking before graduating and obtaining placements during your course. I will update the article accordingly. I don't agree with emails being a more effective approach than face-to-face. I understand that turning up unannounced has the potential to be inconvenient, especially if this happens to coincide with a particularly hectic time, but, just 'popping your head around the door' so to speak to introduce yourself, shake a hand and drop off a book shows that the person is proactive and has a much greater chance of actually getting their work seen as opposed to email.

I wonder what people think about including a photo with a CV (a photo of the applicant, that is). I think it's a nice touch but I've spoken to others who say that those CVs go straight in the bin, which I think is a little harsh.

 

[scotty]

If someone dropped a book which could also incorporate their CV the I'd deffo give it a look.
You could really go to town making a CV, portfolio book.
Be cool to have the CV on the back of the book, a bit like an authors bio and in that case a picture would work well.

Sorry. I'm treating this like a brief now.

STOP SCOTTY!

 

[Paul Murray]

Paul, you're right I should emphasise the importance of looking before graduating and obtaining placements during your course. I will update the article accordingly. I don't agree with emails being a more effective approach than face-to-face. I understand that turning up unannounced has the potential to be inconvenient, especially if this happens to coincide with a particularly hectic time, but, just 'popping your head around the door' so to speak to introduce yourself, shake a hand and drop off a book shows that the person is proactive and has a much greater chance of actually getting their work seen as opposed to email.

I wasn't saying emails are more effective as such, but rather that they are the preferred method of contact in most cases for most busy people. I guess it really depends on the studio, though. Smaller and/or younger studios are normally more open to people popping in. For my graduate show, I actually designed and created invites that were fruit salads you could eat with the intention of getting myself and my friends physically into the studios so we could meet the teams, and get our faces shown. Most studios loved the buzz of an impromptu food delivery and images of our delivery went up on their social media, some made us just leave a few invites at reception and wouldn't let us meet the design/creative people, a couple wouldn't even answer the intercom and requested we leave an invite outside (this was a small studio that works on really BIG projects who obviously just weren't concerned with us).

But there's a difference between creating a buzz around yourself and getting the right information to the right person. One studio I was at received a cake from a graduate. Unfortunately, the creative team they were targeting was on a team-building thingy that day, so they didn't even see it. The cake was swiftly devoured by everyone else – the account execs, finance team, IT guys, etc. A few people inquired what the cake was for but just shrugged it off when told it was from a graduate looking for a job. I felt pretty bad for the guy, he clearly put a lot of effort into making this thing and was probably expecting a call or something, but sadly the people he was targeting didn't even get to see it.

It was just a case of bad timing really, but from my own experience, most Creative Directors are keen to look at everything creative and engaging they can, so a short well-written email to the right person with a small selection of solid work in a PDF attachment can be just as effective as a 'gimmick' approach (for lack of a better term). If you're away for a day the email will still be there when you get to your desk in the morning.

I wonder what people think about including a photo with a CV (a photo of the applicant, that is). I think it's a nice touch but I've spoken to others who say that those CVs go straight in the bin, which I think is a little harsh.

I've heard this is a big no-no. Subconsciously people make assumptions and judgements based on first impressions. We both have profile pictures that feature our faces (I assume that's you, anyway!). I wonder what assumptions the hundreds or thousands of people that view our pictures and read our posts will make about us simply based on those factors alone? I think this falls into the same category as having a 'personal brand' that you plaster all over your student portfolio. I see this a lot from advice articles about how you should have your own branding and such like when applying for jobs. You don't need a personal brand, complete with personal logo (how do you design a logo for a person anyway!?), you just need to demonstrate your ability. Drop the ego bullshit, just let your portfolio speak for itself.

 

[wac]

I've heard this is a big no-no.

I actually used to find an attached photo very handy when I was hiring apprentices because it showed how attractive the person was. That's not as shallow as it sounds. You see, my wife wouldn't let me hire them if they were too attractive!