How to find a job in graphic design Pt 1

Tuesday, February 26th, 2008

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To find a job in graphic design is not difficult. But it not the same as filling out an application at McDonald's. Just letting someone in a management position know that you 'really, really, want this job' is not normally going to be enough. You will need to provide a clearer picture of what you can bring to an organization than what a list of your former employers can provide.

• resume
  
  This element is required as 'part of the process'. It's more than a list of former positions you've held. It's a binding 'documentation' on your part of your work history and your past. As such most HR depts require the document as a condition of hiring you. As to whether the document does you any good? Well that depends on the individual interviewing you at the time. I've seen it both ways. Some managers go through it bullet point by bullet point, using it as a guide for the interview, some just use it to confirm your name, where you're from, and sometimes your schooling before tossing it to the side. Most use it as a kind of filing system, forming resume piles generally named, 'good', 'bad', and 'if no one else is qualified'. If you can get your resume into two of those three piles on a consistent basis, work shouldn't be too far behind. Realistically though, there are a couple of areas that most managers concerned with producing documents will find more important.
  
  
• portfolio
  
  this is also a required piece, or part of the process but for different reasons. Document creation is, most of the time, a visual endeavor. As such, most managers will ask to see samples of actual work. No matter how impressive your resume and skill set, you can expect hiring decision makers to ask to see your portfolio. Traditionally this would have been some leather bound behemoth that you try to find a safe spot for as you ride the train in to your interview. And some managers will still ask to see a 'hard copy' version of your portfolio. But for a modern job search, you will need an electronic portfolio. This can be as simple as some pdf's burned to a disk. Much preferred though would be an online portfolio of your work. An online portfolio gives you two advantages: one, more people in a position to make hiring decisions can see your work in a shorter amount of time, and with less effort and expense on your part. It will also allow you to interview remotely opening up more opportunities to find the position you want.
  
  
• skill set
  
  Each document, no matter the medium, requires some certain set of skills if it's going to be created in both a professional and a profitable manner. I mean, it's great that if you give a thousand monkeys a thousand typewriters, they will recreate the complete works of shakespeare in a thousand years, but who works on those types of deadlines? No, a hiring manager is going to be for a certain set of skills that pertain explicitly to the types of documents their looking to build. You should make sure both your resume and your portfolio explicitly reflect each of the skills that you possess that you would want to be hired for.

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