Placements! By Kat Dunbobbin & Francesca Critchley!
Identifying companies that will be interested in taking you on a placement! •
Look for a design company that does the kind of work you want to do.!
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Don’t send an empty e-mail. Give potential interviewers options to see your work.!
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Once you have identified your prospective placement, look for four things.! – Thinking: Are you eager to explore, to be curious, to know more? Have you been able to play with the rules, but still find ways to instill the work with a spirit of your own?! – A point of view: Have you figured out your place in the world, or are you still searching?! – Humor: Do you have genuine wit, or are you merely vulgar?! – Design: Do you possess the courage and the skills to fail in your attempts?!
Considering the Best Way to Make Contact with Companies! • Do not show up unannounced. ! – – – – –
Contact them via email/post.! Arrange a time and place to meet with the prospective employer.! Be punctual and prepared.! Appropriate amount of samples in a PDF is between 5-7.! Don’t exceed 10 MB in attachments.!
• Interviewers still like to receive things in the mail.! – Prototypes of design work.! – Sending a postal CV is more personal and more likely to be received than dismissed.!
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Assembling and Designing a Portfolio!
You should never consider your portfolio finished, and you should always be dissatisfied with it. The day you sit back and say, “My portfolio is great,” is the day you are dead in the water. Your portfolio requires endless work, and few things are more important than it. This never changes no matter how successful you have become. That’s really the only thing I’ve learned about portfolios.! !- Adrian Shaughnessy! ! The work should be current—ideally from the past year. It’s not a retrospective of your time in school, or proof of! all of the classes you attended. It’s good to think of the collection of work in the portfolio as evidence of your skills! and conceptual abilities.! !- Petrula Vrontikis!
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Question whether or not your prototypes are too much of a “gimmick”.! Get rid of the self-portraits, for these were a school requirement.! Experiment and be creative.! Include only work you’re proud of. The work should speak for itself.! No spelling errors or margin for mistakes.! Do not spend an extraordinary amount of time mulling over the size and the form of the portfolio itself.!
Presenting Your Portfolio to the Company! •
Be nice. Most people don’t want to work with talented assholes.!
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Good communication skills in the age of e-mail can’t be overemphasized.!
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Show your work to the person you are presenting to, and not to yourself. Don’t position your work in such a way that you have a clear view of it, but the interviewer has to crane his or her neck to see it.!
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No gimmicks whatsoever, unless the gimmicks are abso-fucking-lutely amazing. But keep in mind that they’re probably not.!
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The typical black portfolio with plastic sleeves was a bad idea because it was so overdone.!
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Always show it in person, don’t ever just drop off your portfolio, or even leave it behind.!
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Sell yourself and justify your designs.!
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Having too much work online will lead people to be disappointed when they meet me in person!
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Engage with the companies requirements/principles/ethics.!
Obtaining Useful Feedback and it’s Importance! • This is crucial to improve and grow, not only as a designer, but your portfolio and presentation skills. And continuously water and nourish these skills.! • Should you ever return to the same company, this feedback is vital to act upon.! • Always have questions to ask the interviewer! – – – – –
What stood out in the presentation?! Was there enough tactile material?! Did they stay engaged?! Were there any obvious weaknesses to the presentation/pitch?! Do they have any comments or suggestions?!
Contact with the Company! • E-mail first! – In todays society the easiest way to contact you back would be via e-mail, therefore most prospective employers would prefer this option.! – You could also e-mail them back in the hope of feedback or a response.! !
• Call second ! – In most cases, when an email is not responded to, the alternative is to phone the employer.! – This option does risk being unsuccessful due to assistants, they both prolong the time that you would have to wait for a response and if the employer even receives the message.!
• The unlikely third: wait for someone to call you.! – Be persistent, but don’t pester.!