Finding a First Job

"Emerging into the job market is the most daunting moment in a young designers life. But although landing a first job is tough, there are many simple rules to make it easier, and its amazing to see how many designers don't bother with these basic strategies."

Adrian Shaughnessy

Students ask how they can get jobs when every advertised vacancy seems to demand at least two years' experience. Well, when studios say they want two years' experience they don't really mean it. What they mean is they want someone good. If you are good enough, two years doesn't mean two years; its code for no second-rate designers. So the first rule of job hunting is don't make yourself appear second-rate.

The second rule of job hunting is : spare a thought for the employers and give them a helping hand. At the point in the year when graduates start hitting the employment trail, letters start appearing in the design press from disgruntled job seekers complaining about the callous way studios and employers treat potential recruits. These letters are followed by letters from disgruntled employers complaining about the poor level of preparation they find among graduates. If an employer has to struggle to see the potential in a recruit, the recruit is falling a the first hurdle.

For most of the graduates who flood the market each year, finding a job is a daunting task. But the good new is that it needn't be. Doing it properly is easy. So easy, in fact, that its remarkable it is ever done badly. Conveniently, they all begin with the letter P - they are preparation, presentation and psychology.

Graphic Design: A User's Manual by Adrian Shaughnessy.