The junior designer’s guide to getting your first job.
5 tips on how to get your first design job.
First things first, you’ve come to the right place.
There I was, a few months away from graduating design school. Keen as a bean, with my well-designed CV in one hand and a very polished portfolio in the other — I was ready to take on the design world and find my first job. But, as prepared as I thought I was, I never knew that I was expected to have like 20 years of experience (minimum, even) to be considered for these junior roles.
So, don’t worry, you’re not alone. Many designers have once upon a time found themselves in the exact same spot as you are in right now.
As a designer who’s been in the industry for the better part of 5 years now, I can confidently tell you that I still haven’t figured out why you need all those years of experience to get your first job. However, I have picked up helpful tips and tricks that I hope will help you in your journey to finding your first job.
Tip #1: Understand the different spaces in the industry
In college I dreamed about how cool it would be to one day work for the biggest advertising agency and to get to work on the coolest brands, because that’s what being a “good designer” meant to me and that was all I had known. But, over the years I’ve come to realise that there are other spaces you could find yourself in and it’d be beneficial for you to understand these different spaces, as well as their pros and cons, so that you can decide which is a better fit for you.
The industry is made up of 4 spaces and therefore you could end up working:
- As a freelancer
- In an agency
- In a corporate space
- As a consultant
Here is a brief overview of what they entail and how they work:
1. Working as a freelancer:
Working as a freelancer means that you basically become a one (wo)man business. Here’s what you could expect as a freelancer:
Pros:
- You’ll be your own boss, so you’d get to define your own working hours and fees.
- You get to design your own brand for your company.
- You’ll be employed as a specialist, and this comes with the perception that you need to be taken more seriously because you were brought in for a specific reason.
Cons:
- In the beginning, you’ll have to do a lot of networking in order to find yourself clients.
- Since you’ll have to find your own work and your own clients, there might be times when you don’t have work.
- Since you move around a lot, you don’t always get to see projects through to the end.
2. Working in an agency:
From the branding on your toothpaste tube to the adverts you see about your toothpaste, agencies are largely responsible for the design you experience in your daily life. Large companies and brands hire agencies to take care of their design-related needs because they’re likely to have a range of creative expertise and experience in their toolbox. Here’s what you can expect from working for an agency:
Pros:
- You get to do work for both smaller and larger brands.
- You gain knowledge about the process behind advertising campaigns.
- Agency meetups and award ceremonies allow you the opportunity to meet influential people in the industry.
Cons:
- When you start off as a junior, the work you will be given is less likely to be super exciting as you will have to start off at the bottom of the food chain and you will have to work your way up to being given the opportunities you dream of.
- Brands need to stay relevant in their spaces and this often requires a lot of work from their agencies. So unfortunately, over time, this has given the agency space a bad reputation for promoting a bad work/life balance. However, this is changing as companies realise the importance of mental health.
3. Working in a corporate space:
As I mentioned above, large companies usually hire agencies to handle their creative work but some corporate companies choose to have in-house designers instead. This is largely due to the proven success rate of using design thinking methodology to solve problems. This of course, is the way designers think and so companies find it beneficial to have an in-house team.
Pros:
- Since corporate companies are well established, they’re likely able to offer you more than just a salary every month. These benefits could include pension funds, medical aid and maybe even a 13th cheque.
Cons:
- Since you’ll be working for the company, you will rarely get the opportunity to work outside of the brands identity.
- Corporate companies, especially banks, tend to have a lot of red tape and rules and regulations in place due to the nature of the business.
4. Working as a consultant
Consultancy firms are like a hybrid between working as a freelancer and working in an agency. As a permanently employed consultant in an agency, you would be listed with the consulting agency, and the agency would place you in a company based on your skill set and their needs. An independent consultant, however, is someone that a company hires on a work/project basis.
Pros:
- You have job security through your consultancy. So even when you’re no longer contracted to a specific company, you’ll still be employed.
- You’ll get to work for both big and small companies, and because of this you’re exposed to a large network of people.
- You’ll be employed as a specialist, and this comes with the perception that you need to be taken more seriously because you were brought in for a specific reason.
Cons:
- Since you move around a lot, you don’t always get to see projects through to the end.
- You’ll have to abide by the same rules that the companies’ actual employees do. But then when it comes to bonuses, training, overtime and social events, it’s likely that you wouldn’t be included and this can make you feel like you aren’t a part of the organisation.
- Leave and public holidays usually count as unpaid leave.
- As a consultant, you wouldn’t get access to benefits like medical aid, unless you’re permanently employed, and the consultancy agency is able to provide this for you.
Tip #2: Polish your CV & work on your portfolio again
Whilst the amount of experience is likely the first thing you look at when you’re reading through job specifications & requirements, you could also use the rest of the information to help you design your CV and portfolio accordingly.
There is an assumption that having a lot of information on your CV will help you get the job. But this isn’t always the case, for example, if you’re applying for a role as a motion designer then it wouldn’t make sense to include that one time you worked at that restaurant over the holidays. Rather add content that would help match you to the job you’re applying for.
If there are items in the job spec that you aren’t too confident about, but you know the basics of it, you could look at doing online courses related to the subject through Udemy and Shaw academy. This is a cheaper and easier way for you to up-skill yourself.
You can also use the technical requirements in the job specification to design your portfolio. Use these to make sure that when someone looks at your portfolio, they’ll be able to clearly see that you have the skills required for the job. For example, say you’re applying for a role as a UX/UI designer, you could add in prototypes and screen shots of your prototype file to showcase that you not only know how to prototype but that you also know how to use the software.
If you feel like the work that you’ve got in your portfolio isn’t enough to showcase the skills needed for the role you want then you could give online challenges like DailyUI, 36 Days of Type and One Minute Briefs a shot. This will allow you to create more work for your portfolio.
However, don’t feel too pressured if you feel like the work in your portfolio doesn’t meet the requirements of the role. If the company or hiring manager can see that you have the skill, they will often ask you to complete a design task that will test you and show them that you have what it takes to get the work done. For example, I didn’t have the work experience in UX to apply at Absa but by completing the design task successfully, I was able to get the job that I was interested in.
Tip #3: Apply for internships and graduate programmes
As a designer starting out your career, it is very likely that you’ll come to the realisation that most junior roles require 1–2 years of experience. But how are you supposed to get that experience if you can’t get a job, right? Wrong.
Companies often offer internships and graduate programmes to students. These are great opportunities for you to test the waters of the working world, to get a feel for where you want to go and to build some solid experience for your CV.
In the past people would say that as an intern you’re probably going to spend your time taking coffee orders, but this isn’t true for many companies. As an intern/graduate you get exposed to what the daily life of a designer in that company is like.
Applying for an internship can be as simple as emailing companies and agencies that you’d like to work for and asking them if they’d be able to offer you an internship so that you can gain some experience. Alternatively, you could look for graduate programmes.
Absa has a great graduate programme that allows you to rotate between different teams within the UX/UI space so that you can get a better feel for where you fit in best. If you’re interested in applying for this, you can send an e-mail to designadmin@absa.co.za.
Tip #4: Talent acquisition firms and recruitment agencies are your friend
Imagine you were able to give someone your CV and portfolio and they went off and found you a job. Stop imagining! That’s actually a real thing and there are people waiting for you right now.
Much like companies approach design agencies for their creative work, if a company is growing and they are looking to increase the size of their team but don’t have the capacity to find the right candidates, they often reach out to talent acquisition firms and recruitment agencies to assist them.
A set of requirements will be given to the agency and the agency will then look for a candidate who suits the role. If this is you, a recruiter from the agency will then let you know that you’ve been chosen as a candidate and they’ll set up an interview with you. This interview will be used to get to know a little more about you and to see if you’re what the company is looking for. If you are then you’re probably an email away from confirming your availability for your next interview!
When I was looking for my first job, I was contacted by a recruiter at Salt (previously “Recruit Digital”) and they actually helped me find my first job.
Tip #5: Prepare for your interview(s)
Now that you know how to get your foot in the door and you’ve managed to get an interview, all you need to do is prepare for the interview. Interviews can be nerve wrecking and that’s normal for all of us, but you’ve already sold them with the skills showcased in your CV and your portfolio, now they want to know who the person is behind it all.
You should also do research on the company before your interview. By doing this you will be able to get a feel for what the company does, and you can come up with some questions and talking points that you can use in your interview. This will also show the interviewer that you’re interested in the company and the role that you’ve applied for.
Go forth and conquer!
You’ve got all the tips and tricks to get your foot in the door for your first job. I hope that this information helps you make a decision around the type of space you want to see yourself in. Know that the cool thing about our industry is that you can always go from one space to another and it won’t have a negative impact in your career.
The one thing that I can’t stress enough though is that when you’re looking for a job you just need to apply, apply, and apply again. The more you put yourself out there, the better your chances will be and there really is no harm in applying.
All the best on the hunt for your first job.
