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by Andrew Lam-Po-Tang
Following on from How To Get A Job - Part 1...
This article is intended to give you an overview of the entire job-landing
process. It is easy to forget that an interview is only one step in that
process. The process also includes the following sequence of steps:
1. Finding the studios
2. Setting up the interview
3. Preparing for the interview
4. Doing the interview
5. Following up
The other important thing to understand about getting a job is that it is a
two-way process. It's important to remember that while, from your
perspective, studios may have a god-like ability to make you a 'real'
designer by offering you a job, on the flipside, you will (hopefully) be
making money for them. Therefore, YOU should be evaluating the real benefits
of each prospective job (and studio) just as they will be doing the same to
you. Make sure you form your own view about whether each opportunity is a
fair and reasonable exchange of value - you give them your time and creative
ouput, they give you a salary and design experience.
For example, when I graduated (way back when) I had two job offers: one in
Sydney for $25K, with an additional $3K contingent on a 3 mth performance
review, and another in Melbourne for $18K, no relocation expenses or 3 mth
review. I took the Melbourne position because it was one of the best run and
most consistently creative studios in the country, and had been for some
time, and I REALLY wanted to learn not just about great design, but also
about what it took to run a great design BUSINESS. What I gave up was an
extra $7-$10K per year for two years, but the knowledge and experience I
gained made it more than worthwhile.
Key Points
- This is the most important next step in your career, so it is worth
doing some research - by comparison, how much time would you spend finding
a new apartment?
- This is as much about you finding out about them as it is them finding
out about you
1. Finding the studios to interview with
This is definitely not rocket science - it's all about finding your way
through the industry network. An interesting factoid that highlights this
point: only 20% of jobs are advertised in newspapers or handled by placement
companies ("Outsourced employment agency has a big job ahead of it," 30
Mar 1998, Business Review Weekly) Remarkable, huh? So what about the
remaining 80% - where does that come from? Word of mouth and other
'informal' channels, probably. In other words, 4 out of every 5 successful
applicants (regardless of industry) get their job through some sort of
network, so hone your network & knowledge by...
Looking through local annuals (Design Down Under, AGDA Awards Book, AWARD,
MADC Annual, etc.)
Speaking to designers you meet (eg. at AGDA functions)
Asking your friends who are now working
Asking your lecturers
2. Setting up the interview
When you are trying to set up interviews, be persistent and be flattering -
both tricks work. Tell them that you "have admired their work / heard them
talked about / blah, blah." Tell them that you "don't know if they are
looking for anyone at the moment, but just want an opportunity to find about
a bit more about them, and let them decide whether or not you should be on
the "possible hire" list.
Like telemarketing, setting up interviews can be a real 'numbers' game -
that is, your success rate is going to be a low and fixed percentage of the
total number of calls you make. If that is the case, then be prepared to
deal with a few rejections, and don't take it personally. At the end of your
first 10 calls, work out how many interviews you managed to score. Say it
was 1, that means your hit rate was 10%. Therefore, if you want to do 3
interviews, you probably need to make another 20 calls.
Make the calls
Ask to show them your portfolio rather than ask for a job - even if they are
not looking for someone right away it helps if they find out who you are and
how good you are.
Things to set up during the call:
time & duration (ask for an hour, settle for half if necessary)
place
interviewer
The hardest thing I think about this part of process is building up
momentum, so take a deep breath and just start dialing - set yourself a
morning or afternoon to do that.
3. Preparing for the interview
Most people think that preparing for interviews is like preparing for exams - wrong! The problem with that analogy is that there is only one exam per
subject, whereas each interview is going to be different - so the trick is
to understand what will make interview different and prepare for it on that
basis. Of course, what make each interview different is not you, but the
studio, so...
Find out more about the studio (friends, AGDA contacts, etc.)
Portfolio - select carefully and judiciously, just enough to demonstrate
your range of skills, but not so much that it becomes a page flicking
exercise.
Portfolio - designers are interested in complete design solutions much more
than demonstrations of technical skill, don't put in a pure illustration if
you can show a design which uses that illustration.
Rehearse! Focus on the folio items that you know will be of interest to that
particular studio.
Rehearse! Or at least think about the non-folio stuff the studio will be
looking for.
Tip: take turns rehearsing with a friend. Go one step further and see if
your lecturers are available to be "studio owners." Take the ultimate
challenge and see if you can sell yourself to your mum or dad - yeah, I know
that they may not know much about graphic design, but you will learn SO much
about how to articulate why design is important, and how you can create
compelling design.
4. Doing the interview
Don't be nervous (or at least, too nervous). Everyone who is anyone has been
in the same position as you at least once before. Think about putting them
at ease. Have a script in your head. Think about the things that make you
great to have around (I can make money for you, I can work in a very small
team, I will not bite the client's head off) and essential (here is how my
spin makes our design different and great)....
Portfolio review - don't forget the 'tell' in 'show and tell,' have a small
story about each piece to make your passion and effort come alive for
them.
There is a bunch of other stuff that the studio will want to understand
about you - so make sure you give them a chance to find out.
Ask the studio questions too
5. Following Up - the bit that a lot of people forget
There is one essential step in this part of the process - following up the
interview - and three possible outcomes - get asked to come back for another
interview, get a job offer, get rejected. It's important to manage what you
can in this phase, so basically that means being proactive about it. Don't
wait for them to take the next step. Sure, you don't want to be pushy about
it, but you can get around that with something in writing, either a letter
or an e-mail...
Post interview
- send out a letter (can be a 'form letter') saying thank you and 'I'll
be contacting you soon'
If they ask you back for another interview
- they are interested in hiring you
- ask them what they would like to focus on in the next interview
- prepare!
If they make you an offer
- jump up and down, have a drink, celebrate...
- organise a final meeting to discuss the terms of employment (salary,
holidays, etc.)
- ask for a formal letter of appointment (it is professional to request
this)
If they reject you
- don't take it personally, after all there are many things that need to
line up before there is a good match between a studio and a prospective employee.
- ask for some feedback so that you get better (this is professional and
will gain their respect
- write a letter saying thanks for the opportunity
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In the last article in the series, I write about what studios are
specifically looking for, and what they are prepared to pay graduates - this
is accessible by members only, so if you haven't yet joined, now is a
good time to check out AGDA Membership. The article includes the
unexpurgated comments that studio owners made in response to the question,
"what the characteristics that distinguish a 'forget it' from a 'gotta
have'?" Here is article 3!
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