How Do You Get A Design Gig?

What your professors should have told you… but didn’t.

Every semester I have a few students preparing to take the jump into the real world and need a good primer on how to do it. My particular campus doesn’t have a great career services department (as most colleges don’t), so I give them the famous Shuster 20 point “How to Get a Job” breakdown. Take a gander:

Pre-Search Items

You must have all of these set up before you start applying:

1. Portfolio (pdf or hard) — This is pretty antiquated, but a lot of old timers still like to see it. I always get a laugh when I see an old school hard (printed out) portfolio candidate. At the least have a pdf you can share easily that looks good, or bring your own device to show and discuss your process/solutions for a few of your favorite pieces. Contemporary tech has enabled people to search out your portfolio pieces way before they ever meet you in person.
2. Slick Business Cards — You’re a designer… this should be easy. A cool business card can get you places, trust me, I’ve landed gigs just because of past cards. Make a memorable leave behind!
3. Portfolio Site — This is more important than your hard portfolio. It serves to build SEO for you around the web. Your personal site is an important representation of you and often overlooked by many designers. If you’re being considered for a job, your potential interviewers are checking you out. Be easy to find!
4. Community Portfolio— As most people aren’t googling your name at first, they are more likely to find you on larger design communities. These are necessary jump off points for you to build your personal brand. Make sure you get on at least one or two to up your exposure. I recommend Behance, Dribbble, Coroflot, or Cargo.
5. Curated Social Media Accounts — The social web is huge, and definitely can overshadow your professional life. Make sure you’re geared to get gigs. Google yourself and assess see what comes up. This is how you’re seen. They are necessary in building a following for your personal brand.
6. LinkedIn — This is just the jobs site by design. Keep it up to date and relevant. Most potential employers will look you up here.
7. Resume — Make sure a consistent and up to date resume is available for download and populates all of your web entities. You’ll still need a Microsoft Word Document for sure as many online applications systems upload and form fill automatically. Save yourself some time and have a plain doc ready to submit in these cases. Have a more professional layout to apply with (via email) or a pdf that’s well designed to share or bring with you to the interview.

Before you move on get a peer or professional to review (or self review) all of these elements. Does any of it suck? If it does FIX IT! Everything must be designed - resumes, business cards, portfolio sites, etc.. Nothing public should be undesigned or poorly designed, nice and clean is the way to go.

Now… Let’s get the search started!

Whew! Got all that together? Great! Now let’s actually apply for some jobs:
(Not sure what to apply for? Check out this and this)

1. Job Boards — You are your own best promoter, get your resume out there. Be warned, a vast percentage of applications fly off into the internet ether… but never stop applying. Check out Indeed, Craigslist, LinkedIn’s Jobs section, Behance’s Jobs section, Authentic Jobs, Krop, Coroflot, AIGA, Creative Hotlist, or Remote Ok to get started.
2. Networking Events — Always seek out design culture near you! It never hurts to know people in the industry in your area. A good site to get started with is Meetup or find groups on your favorite social networks (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.). Get out there and rub elbows!
3. Recruiters— As with any industry there are good and bad Recruiters, it’s their job to push candidates, so be wary of what gigs they contact you for. They troll around boards on behalf of many employers. Make sure you’re clear with them about what you do and what you are looking for as they are just looking at you as a keyword cloud.
4. Craigslist Self Sell — Have an elevator pitch of what you can do and put it out there in the services (creative) section. Potential clients/employers are always looking for design help and you can also use these paid opportunities to build up your skill set. You can post for free every 7 days so make sure to set a calendar reminder for yourself.
5. Passive Income Streams — Don’t just sit there refreshing your inbox. Make a little cash and build your brand! Check out Creative Market or Envato and submit some items.
6. Personal Projects — Redesign the Facebook or a new UI for Pokemon Go, a rebrand of a popular company/band/group/team, or some cool ads that attract attention and show off you skill set. Anything to get some press your way. Learning to market and building a following will help you long term.

Prep/Post Interview

You landed an interview? Awesome! Get a few things ready before you show up:

1. Research Company — Never show up and not know what they do. You should have a few opinions on areas of need for them. Careful though! Calling someone’s baby ugly in this case only gets you the gig if you can demonstrate the value you would bring.
2. Prepare Your Questions — Make sure it’s right for you, not just for them. Many organizations do not value design and it could make for a hard road for you.
3. Leave Behinds — Remember those cool cards and well designed pdf resumes? Print ’em and don’t forget to have multiples. Never know when you’ll meet the CEO and not give them something to remember you by!
4. Punctuality — Google where the place is and give yourself enough time to get there. Be on time.
5. Dress — Business casual at the least, even if instructed otherwise.Being overdressed will feel weird, but it’s a better option than the latter.
6. Behavior — Have a concise elevator pitch about yourself. Make sure to listen more than you speak, most people like to hear themselves talk anyway, so this part isn’t hard. Only guide the interview if the space is left open to do so. Always ask about next steps and follow up on them.
7. Follow Up — A nice email or note is always courteous and appreciated. No one does this anymore (dang kids just don’t care *shakes fist*) and you will definitely stand out after you’ve left or gotten off the call. Always ask about next steps.

It seems like a lot, but once it’s all in place you’ll have it down like a machine! Happy hunting and make sure to comment with any questions.

*Bonus* ABI — Always Be Interviewing

You never know when your department will get shut down, your company closes, you move to another area, or some other disaster strikes. Not to mention you could be missing out on the opportunity of a lifetime!

Much like sales people need ABC (Always Be Closing) you need to not get caught with your pants down and have your shit ready to go at a moments notice. No matter how awkward the process may be; the only way you get good (or comfortable) with interviewing is by doing it.

Career advice and more can be found in my upcoming book DE$IGN — A guide to wealth & success in design. In putting together DE$IGN I’ve decided to share selections of content via Medium in the hopes of gaining interest as wells feedback while I’m writing the book. For more information check out the original post.