During my third year of studies as a Visual Communication and Media Design student, I had a module in which I had to present myself to my fellow students and show what I planned to do for the future and how I thought I would manage to get there.
It gave me a proverbial "kick up the backside" to say the least. I had to suddenly think of what specific avenue I wanted to take in terms of career path and also of all the things I needed to take in to consideration in order to get that job.
Competition.
After listening to my fellow students presentations as well as researching employment in my field, I realized that I'm not just going to get a degree and then BANG: JOB: sorted.
It is very meticulous at times as well as fiercely competitive because there are millions of people all over the world that use the same software to design things as me and the big difference between graphic design and for example plumbing, is that the plumber needs to move to where the work is where-as the designer can stay where he/she is.
This means that you can have a freelance designer producing work from China for a business in the U.K.
I realized that there just are not enough jobs for the amount of qualified designers out there. On the other hand there are a lot of jobs all over the world that anyone can argue I could go for. However, I have family ties and a 2 year old son which has limited my geographical choices.
I must try and present my perfectly to a potential employer in this country. I have to "sell myself" as is the common phrase used around University.
How do I get Noticed?
Portfolio
I need to create a detailed portfolio that showcases my work as a graphic designer/visual communicator. It must be set out so that it it is accessible but it also has to look the part.
A blog such as this can be a good way to showcase my work however, I feel that all the "scrolling down" is not the best way to keep a potential employers attention.
A website that showcases my work would be much better. See my current portfolio here:http://cboyle-design.daportfolio.com
After this study year is up, I plan to build my own website from scratch as I think that this would also showcase my talents for web design as well as graphic design.
Networking
This entails signing up to a load of different networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tagged etc.
I do feel that networking is a vital tool in getting yourself noticed, however, I strongly disagree with the use of the more social networking sites such as facebook and bebo. I believe that these sites are not designed in such a way that it would attract employers; I don't think they are specific enough. Plus, you have the added annoyance of your friends always trying to add you as a friend.
Sites like linkedIn are more appropriate in my opinion as these are trade-specific sites where you can connect with fellow designers.
I have a a deviantArt page that I think works pretty well and I also used their portfolio building service (see portfolio link above) which I think is quite effective in terms of accessibility.
C.V's and Covering Letters
Both are essential to gaining employment.
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