how to get your foot in the door
i left art college bang in the middle of a recession so i sympathise with those designers looking for their first job right now. my best advice in lieu of a job is to get as much experience as you can whilst design studios could probably use an extra [free] hand to see them through a rough patch. make a good impression and you’ll be well placed for when things brighten up – plus there could well be some freelance work that follows on from an initial couple of weeks you give for free.
so here’s how to stand out from the crowd and get those coveted placements:
- do your research. 10 minutes browsing this blog will give you all our names, just 10 seconds will give you mine. yet people ring up having seen us listed in the phone book not having a clue who we are. always get in touch with a specific person.
- do some more research. believe it or not, graduates ring us up not even knowing if we’re graphic designers, architects or kitchen fitters.
- do a bit more research. find out what your chosen design studio has been working on and remember which pieces of their work you really like. explain this is why you want experience of working with *them*.
- then ring [not email, not post - pick up a phone], use the name, use the info, state clearly that you’d like to work for free for a couple of weeks to gain experience and hope you’ll be of use. and that you love their work. you love them. and want, if at all possible, to have their babies too. designers are no less immune to flattery than anyone else.
- quick caveat: there’s no harm in sending something really nice in the post first [ie. something you've designed] and then ringing a couple of days later.
- and if you get a placement, seize the opportunity. be punctual. be enthusiastic. ask loads of intelligent questions. enjoy it. be yourself. and don’t listen to your ipod in the studio cos that’s just rude.
let me finish with an example. we had a couple of placements earlier in the year who were quietly enthusiastic, hard working and very competent. guess who we got in touch with when we needed freelancers to help us through summer…
best of luck.
also check out ‘giz a job‘. a blog post from two years ago.
[photo: our door. bit literal that one, although i'll use it as a reminder for graduates to actually find out where we are - you'd be surprised how many don't and turn up an hour late because they couldn't find us. oh c'mon!]
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