Getting a job in design

You get out what you put in

If you're really interested in becoming a professional designer and want to give yourself the very best chance of getting a job in a quality design business, then I have some tips for you from my own experience. You won't read this in a text book and some may disagree with me. But it is firmly what I believe.

Firstly demonstrate your commitment to design. Thousands of students graduate every year with a design degree. What makes you so special? Make yourself special! Put in more! Whilst studying get unpaid or low paid work experiences in your holidays with design firms. Use any spare time to design some extra projects or develop your skills. You'll look back on university and think... ''What did I spend my time doing - I do in a week now what took me twelve back then.''

The next thing is to talk to some professionals and ask what skills they would be looking for in a graduate. Don't be passive. Don't follow the advice purely of your university course. The design world moves fast, university curriculum's don't! Why learn AutoCAD when everyone uses Solidworks, don't become a master of photoshop to the expense of learning a vector drawing package also. Talk to a good design firm, a member of the DBA (Design Business Association) is a good start, and ask them what they want out of a graduate.

Here's some more shock news. You've graduated and you're full of ideas and creativity. You're ready to take on the design world. But to land your first job, guess what, your ideas are not that important in the short term. Yes you need to demonstrate you're smart and creative, but the thing that gets you in the door are skills. If you can help an established design team turn their ideas into presentations and reality using your skills, then you're useful.

Get used to taking a creative back seat for while. In fact let's get things in perspective, you have very little experience, so take time to listen and learn from the experienced people around you. Soak it all in. But realise you are the hired help for while.

So bring skills to the table - be able to make models, cut out presentation boards neatly, take a good photograph for reference, use the right software tools, be able to work fast and accurately. Take pride in the simple little jobs. You may not enjoy some of it, but a badly mounted presentation ruins the perceived quality of the work. It's important to get everything right. Once you get the skills in place, you can go anywhere with them. Once your skills are respected, only then will your ideas be taken more seriously too.

Be patient and work hard. Design often requires long hours but is a highly rewarding profession where you can glow with pride and say - it created that!