Preserved Topic: Job searchin...... *sigh*

Tough finding a job these days. I want to get into the Graphics Design field, but it seems not to be turnin up much. I have some small qualifications as I went to a good graphics field for about 2 years and when I got out several months later the net business crashed. Bad timing. How did some of you guys weather the downfall? Any good ideas on starting out in the graphics field? Portfolios and programming skills a requirement? I have computer sales experience, knowledge of hardware and software on both mac and pc sides but no formal training outside graphics work. I am just looking for a boost. I have confidence in my skills, but they are really rusty. I have been out of a job for 2 months now and searchin is getting depressing and most of my graphics work is several years old. arrgghhh. Any advice is appreciated.

Wolfen



'Me no here. Me go bye. Leave me message. Me reply.'
WolfenMedia

"no formal training outside graphics work"

What's this 'graphics work' your talkin about?

What do you mean by "Graphics"...???
- Graphic Design
- 3D Imagery
- Digital Illustration

Just being a PS junkie or a 3DS Max junkie isn't really gonna cut it nowadays. You need direction, skill and a formal qualification or a shite load of impressive work to back it up with.

" I have confidence in my skills, but they are really rusty."

Then sharpen em up!

"most of my graphics work is several years old"

Then get crackin on some new stuff. Create projects for yourself and be creative, have fun and build up a solid portfolio.


"Portfolios and programming skills a requirement?"

Portfolios are a must in any Arts industry. I'm talking about the flashy A3/A2 printed kind. A digital portfolio is also a must if your applying through email or aiming for a position that involves Digital media.

Programming? Well, that depends on what area you want to get into. Web Design, defiantly. No one will hire you because you can code HTML and use Photoshop though. Millions of people can do that. Chances are you'll need something else, a back-end language under your belt would be handy.

How about going back to school/colleges/university?

That's what I'm doing. I spent 2 years in Civil engineering with Graphics and Code as a side hobby. Then I got jack of engineering and tried to get a job in the web design industry. I got a couple of small contracts but nothing worth writing home about.. Ended up doing marketing at Uni because I was just sooo bloody bored. That sucked too. But it did up my OP enough to get into Comm Design, which is where I am now.

I'm fanning out my skills and building them up faster than I was before. I'm meeting the right people, working my way inside the right circles and having the time of my life. I spend stupid amounts of time in front of computers playing around with little bits of code or making strange images and it rocks!

It's also easier to see what the industry is like from inside the education system. The university I go to has thousands of ties to real world design companies. Many of the lecturers and tutors also make good professional contacts and coffee buddies!



Edit: Darn! I need a new gramma chip! Mine's be way off today. Maybe I just need more sleep. Narrrr, more coffee.

Also, if your having problems with "getting back into it" I recommend you try something new. Have you ever tried flash before? How about PHP programming? Something to get back that child like feeling of endless possibilties. You'll also find that things like this will push you back into a good photoshop mindest and you'll need PS to make your new creations look spiffy. Recently I've decided to start learning Java. Good stuff, usefull stuff but mostly I'm just kickin round ideas and having a jolly old time.

[This message has been edited by Dracusis (edited 05-21-2002).]

Dracusis is right. Find your weakness that someone could use against you in an interview and make it a strength.

As for the portfolio. Keep doing it. Never stop. Keep adding to it and keep growing.

As for your website. The link in your sig goes to a file structure page. BAD this is, hummm. Make a nice website, and post ALL your portfolio work in it.

Cheers.

Dracusis has I load of good points there (so read them)!!!!

"I have some small qualifications" and? Why do you need big qualifications? I think of it in this way (and hope most other people do to) is that qualifications are not worth the paper there printed on, why? Because it does not mean much, a part form that you have studied in an school/colleges/university on a course in design/art/etc. To me your portfolio (online or printed) is the main thing to really be concerned about, because it's what you can do that count more than what you got at school/colleges/university. Your portfolio must sell to the employers or future employers. It's the thing that you show to them in interviews and what they see what you can do. There not employing you because you went to school/colleges/university and got a qualifications (even tho is helps and shows that your interested in the area), they want to you create ideas that sell to clients or there products. Either way you?re a designer and they?re to sell things. So sell your self more than what you?re doing now.

First find what area you want to do first, then:-

You have no web site (well you do but its just directory), which is bad. What and where do people now these days go for information? It?s the web, so make something that can show your work, where ever, when ever. I can add to this, as it is good to have a web page as I can easily show people what I can do there and then (if where by a computer) which comes in handy a lot. When I changed course to a design, print and publishing course a few months back some people where interested in what I did and can do, so what could I show them? My web site. I don?t think you want to hug around a big leather portfolio case around all the time do you?

If you know about hardware and a lot of software that can help too, but concentrate on what you want to do more, which is graphics. So learn the software like, PS, dreamwaver, flash, HTLM, etc inside and out till you know a lot about them. It helps you work quickly and better in your work if you know your tools well.

But to top it all work hard on you portfolio even if you don?t want to, do!! Make little projects for you to do over a few weeks or so and add it. I have never had work yet , because I?m in collage still and most employers want you to work full time which I can?t do because of collage, but I still never give up working on my portfolio and other things which I can add to it. It in the end mount up to a lot of work which you can show in interviews, which looks good. Also if you keep working on little projects you always have resent work to show (rather than work form 7 years ago)

I do work a lot on my own projects these days as I love doing it and will never stop playing and creating things that I can add to my portfolio if I want to. Working in little project also sharpens those skills and lets you work on areas you have never worked on before with out the pressure of deadlines, clients changing things, as it?s your own project.

Hope all that helps

*arrgh my finger are sore now, hehe )

Hah! FWIW, I spent over 6 months effectively "unemployed", there was simply no work out there to be had at the end of last year. Now things are starting to turn around, and people are hiring again. Maybe not in the way they used to, with the big "Web Bureaus" hiring people with nearly no experience at great salaries and feeding them gourmet lunches while the company masseuse works you over, but work nonetheless.

YOU NEED A DAMN GOOD PORTFOLIO! Sorry for the bold and caps, but this was required, this shite is *important*! I landed my last job (a nice paying freelance gig, $90/hour, woo!) with not much more than a reference and my printed site list, which ran to over 15 pages. People want to see a list of work you've done, and they need to see it online. Your CV (resumé should also be online, with a nice sharp presentation and hopfully a downloadable version for people to grab. Being out there makes you more "real" to a potential employer.

Do you have former employers who would be willing to say nice things about you? If so, contact them, try and get a letter from them if you can, and get their approval to let people call them up and ask about you, this can count heavily in your favor. It doesn't always matter if they're in the same line of work or not, this is a "character reference", the best sort.

Do you have any old clients who will also say nice things about you? Do the same with them. If there's any work of yours there that's still online, all the better.

How *does* your resumé look nowadays? Is it complete? Is it well laid out? Is it printed on nice paper? Many times this piece of paper is all people will know about you, you've got to make them decide to talk to you in person, and this is the "first impression" 9 times out of 10.

If they do call you in, what do you have to show them that they haven't seen yet? If you have any printed works, even if they're old now, you need the extra impact they might provide, bring them along, even if you're not sure they will apply. Employers today want value for their money, if they think that maybe they could also use one of your older skills too, that can be a plus.

Here's an important one, possibly the most important, unfortunately. Who do you know? Do you know anyone in your area who's got a job anywhere near yours? Do they need anyone else? References from people currently employed there can be the bit that pushes you from the "outsider" category to the "potential employee" category.

Lastly, don't despair! Times are still rough all over, and breaking in can be rough. People are more worried about their *own* jobs than yours, sad to say. ;-) Persevere and you'll get work.

Your pal, -doc-

Do I smell FAQ or what?

Wow loads of good advice has been spread here Wolfen. I think the two most important are your portfolio and your contacts. As it's been said a good portfolio is a must. That goes without saying. The portfolio shows off your talents and experiences. The most important thing in my honest opinion is contacts though, it's all about who you know. Which is always why you carry your business cards with you, heres why.


As most of you probably already know I'm a college student who does some freelance work for local companies for spending money. Some of you also probably remember how I took a web design course. Well about a week into the course I realized it wasn't challanging enough and approached the professor in a respectful way and explained my situation. He wanted to see some of my work and I showed him a few of my designs. He explained a project he was working on and we worked out an agreement where I would help out in exchange for a grade, almost like an intern. Anyway, I was sitting in his office one day showing him my lastest design when a man walked in. Not to be rude, my professor introduced us. Did he say my student, James? No he said my colleague, James. As if it happened to be everyday I reached into my pocket pulled out my business card holder and gave the man a card, shook his hand, and smiled. I showed him what we were working on and off he went. A seemingly meaningless gesture. My dad has had me carrying around business cards since I was 17. Anyway, I get a call on my cell phone about two weeks later. The man owns a web design firm and had some extra business he was going to contract out to. He asked my professor about me, remembering the work I did, and so we had lunch the following weekend. Here I am, a 19 year old freshman, having a business lunch in some swank DC restaraunt. I've done a few projects for the man ever since. True story.

It's all in who you know.

-Jestah
Cell 277

[This message has been edited by Jestah (edited 05-21-2002).]

There are, of course, other ways, as well. First, there is the 'self-employment' way. I did that (unfortunately, I lost my business due to the 'internet-mafia').

At the moment, I work for SAP on the client side, with an eye out for the Web developement department. So how does that help? Well, get into a company that does graphic design through another means (you have other skills, right?). Then get noticed from within the company (most of the good jobs are to be had that way, within a company). This is a long-run view, with long term goals. I currently do web-design 'on the side' and am always up for a little bit of 'in-house' work (I help many of my collegues with this and that, the word has gotten around that if you need graphic/web-design done, I'm the man...). All this is of course extra work, however, it has gotten me noticed. Now I just have to wait until the position that I want comes open....

Here is what I did (and how I came to this point): I made a list of my strong points and a list of my weaknesses. Now, I sorted the list of my weaknesses out. Why? Because sometimes a weakness (b)is[/b] a strongpoint. In my case, I'm in Germany. Most jobs here require the ability to speak German. Since my German is good (but not that good), it seems to be a weakness. However, my English is very good. So I looked around for a job where my English would be important. Because SAP has many customers that speak English (and have a web-design department), that's where I started. It turned out that SAP needed client-side English speakers. That's how I got the job. I really had no previous experience in this job field. But I can sell myself well (comes from those many job interviews that one goes through).

Now, the second part - getting noticed. I started out by making it clear that any type of projects that invovled graphics and/or web-design that I could help. Got some little projects going, and delivered the goods. Then, as the word got slowly around, more and more porjects came my way. The last project involved some really old B&W photos from one of the bosses from another department. They were so old, that they were all 'yellow' with age. She wanted them 'cleaned-up'. She asked me if I could do it. Well, I've never done anything like that before, so I first looked through the Asylum archives, and what do you know...there is some advice on how to do this. So I did it, and learned something new in the process. She was very happy with the results. Just like the saying 'one thing, one small thing, leads to another...' My rep is becoming known within the company...

Of course, all of the above advice from the others is very good, and you should always continue to work on your skills and broaden your horizon. Keep us posted on what is happening, and how you are doing. Maybe we can help further...



[This message has been edited by WebShaman (edited 05-22-2002).]

Guys,

I would just like to say thank you for your advice out of my sincerest respect. Thank you! Now I have some idea what to do and to get workin on. I have a lot of respect for all of you who do the fun stuff that you guys do. hehe. Thanks Dracusis, Reitveld, Dark, Jestah, WS, and especially you Doc. I should have asked a LOOONG time back. I will continually ask for advice and keep you guys updated on what I am doing, showing my work. The recent passing of my grandfather made me realize the skills that I have. He was one of the few members of my family who loved to draw when he was young but he just never took up artist work professionally. Again, thank you all for your advice.





'Me no here. Me go bye. Leave me message. Me reply.'

Wolfen's Sig Site

oh, and don't forget to get an escape hobby.... i don't know, read something like discworld...
don't and you'll soon be so crystalized you will start saying stuff like "i don't have the spare time" while watching tv

yeap, it's all about headology