Five tips for a designer to find their first job
If you ask any designer, you’ll find they had very different journeys to finding their first jobs. You may also find what worked for one designer did not work for another. For some, it was so effortless that they had a full-time job before they graduated. And, for some, unfortunately, they had to change their career paths because it was taking just too long to find a job as a designer. I have been on both sides of the fence, from struggling to find a job to becoming a hiring manager. I am sharing my experience as a hiring manager to point out a few things that would have helped my younger self find a job sooner than I did. I hope some of these tips help a few others make their path to their first job shorter.
1. Job applications are a number game
Your chance of winning a lottery is as good as how many tickets you bought. If you purchased only one ticket, you have only once chance to win. But your chances increase if you have bought many tickets. Finding a job is not the same as winning a lottery, but I could say getting a call from a recruiter is. One of the things I now realize I did wrong was being selective. When I look back now, I realize I was quite particular about the positions I was applying for, whether intentionally or unintentionally. Sometimes I was picky about the company and the title or other times; I was not confident I qualified for that position.
Get multiple offers and be selective of what you take rather than selective of what positions you apply to.
If I have to do it all over again, I will apply to every position that I see, instead of being selective and judging myself. I will apply, and I will leave it on the hiring manager to decide if I deserve the job or have the potential to do it.
2. Apply to a job position everywhere its posted
Just like how you may be desperate to find a job, a company may be desperate to find the right talent. Just like how you visit different job sourcing websites and portals, a company may post its opening on various sites. So if you see a position listed on a company’s website and then you see it again on LinkedIn, Glassdoor, Jobvite, and some other places apply every single place you see the job listed. Some of these listings are smart and will redirect you to the same application point. Whereas some listings are not very smart, and everywhere that job opening is posted, it may have its own little portal. And if you are not there, it reduces the chance of your resume being looked at by recruiters. Another reason I brought this point up for your attention is that I will be referring to it below in my other aspects.
3. Recruiters and hiring managers are two different people and roles
A recruiter is a person who sources talent based on the needs of the hiring manager. A hiring manager is a person whom you will report to and will delegate your tasks. A recruiter will reach out to you when they find your resume to be a close match to the hiring manager’s requirements. Many times a recruiter does not understand your work and its details. So you need to help them understand why you will be the best fit for this position, and you have the skills and experience they are looking for.
4. Your resume is the gateway to your portfolio
A designer is never happy with their portfolio, and sometimes the desire to create a perfect portfolio has no end. Building a portfolio is a whole different topic, which I will leave for another time. But for this point let’s have a look at the definition of a portfolio first —
An artist’s portfolio is an edited collection of an artist’s best artwork intended to showcase their style or method of work. A portfolio is used by artists to show employers their versatility by showing different samples of current work. — Wikipedia
According to the general definition, if you are looking for a job assumption, you have at least a few pieces of work that you can put out in at least a pdf within a few hours. Your portfolio may not be the best portfolio or the work out there, but it may be the best first version of yours. Instead of judging your portfolio and spending time on it, start applying. Let the hiring manager judge it. Get feedback and then change if you feel so.
But to get this feedback, you need a resume. Spend a generous amount of time on your resume. Make it attractive not just with the design but with words. Write it so that recruiters forward it to hiring managers. If your resume doesn’t make its way to a recruiter, your portfolio will never make its way to the hiring manager. Remember what I said above about recruiters, they know what they have to look for in a resume, but they do not always know what to look for in the portfolio. Once the resume satisfies them, they pass on your resume and portfolio link to the hiring managers. So, in a nutshell, put as much effort on your resume as you will on your portfolio.
5. Your resume may be judged by an algorithm first
You may have heard of machine learning and algorithms, and if not, Google it and read a few pages on it to have some context. Machine learning and algorithms have now also entered in the recruiting world. So, as I mentioned about how recruiters are different people from the hiring managers, they take the information of the skills, qualifications, and experience the hiring manager is looking for and enter it as listings. So when you apply to a position first, these algorithms read it and see what matches the requirement and rank your resume. And if your resume is not a match, it won’t be on the top for recruiters to look at, or it may get ignored. So what can you do about it? What you can do it tailor your resume to each position. Include all the keywords that you see in the posting to your resume. For example, a position has mentioned candidates must know MS Word, PowerPoint, Photoshop, and a few more tools. Now in this simple case, you may overlook MS Word unintentionally as yes, it’s almost given everyone knows word why to mention it. But the system could assess it differently if MS Word is marked as a keyword.
Hence, for every position read the requirement carefully, look for keywords. Compare it with your resume, see what’s missing, and then add them. To test this theory, you can try LinkedIn’s paid membership if you haven’t already used 30 days of a free trial, signup to test it. When you are applying for a job on LinkedIn, it shows your application rank in comparison to other candidates and job requirements. To check this, go to a position that you like, LinkedIn shows a summary of your rank. If it is lower, then go back to your profile, add some more keywords from the job description and see the difference yourself.
Now what you see on LinkedIn may be right for other portals and job sites, which makes it very important to tailor your resume.
Amongst many more things, these were few things I did not know, and I believe knowing it would have made my journey a little easier to find my first job.
