How to Get your First Salaried Job as a Real Graphic Designer
It can take time to land a job. When I graduated, I interviewed like it was a full time job and kept mailing out resumes with examples of my work. I was on what is now Monster.com, which is the place to be. That is where I kept searching and found the position I got, open.
After 2 months of interviewing like it was my full time job, I entered the beautiful Franklin Covey Building and fell in love. I wanted this job like I'd never wanted any job before in my life. They had a cafeteria just for employees, a beautiful building, product discounts, and if I worked there, I'd have a beautiful office. Everyone was dressed in business clothes. Everyone was so nice and professional. I wanted it bad.
I was so nervous when I went in to interview. He told me what salary I'd be paid if hired and it was a good starting salary in any industry at the time. He was very nice. He seemed unsure that I would be capable of doing the job. I promised him I could, and told him I would come in on Monday and work all day for him FOR FREE. He said, "You WILL?"
After the interview, I asked if I could see the office I would be working in should I get the job. I chatted with my "potential co-worker and the worker I'd replace" for one and a half hours, and they showed me what they did and talked in detail about every aspect of the job. Now I was not only pumped—I was so excited that I wanted to work for free on Monday—BAD! This was going to be a FUN JOB! Besides that, my potential co-worker and the one I'd replace were excited about me. They ended up telling the man who'd interviewed me, my potential boss, how easy to work with I'd be, how much I knew, how smart I seemed, and how I was cool as a cucumber.
When I came Monday, my potential boss was gone. As a matter of fact, he wasn't there until the afternoon, and was too busy for the likes of me. But my potential co-worker introduced me to everything. I worked all day, hard. I took a break with my potential co-worker and met lots of other employees.
At the end of the afternoon, my potential boss set up a second interview, which was really just to fill out official government forms. I was hired.
You will get a job if you want it bad enough. If you fall in love with it, you'll do anything within your personal standards to get it.
1- Get on Monster.com
2- Get 3 business pant suits (be ready to work & to interview).
3- Get nice looking cover letters, resumes, thank you letters, and manila folders ready. Spelling & grammar come in handy. Spell check your cover letter & resume. Get postage ready. Know where the post office is and how to get there.
4- Don't limit yourself to graphic design studios. You can be an in-house designer for any company that needs one, even if you'll be the only one that is creative and does design work. You can also work at a printshop.
5- Set up interviews and company tours.
6- Before your interview, mail your resume & cover letter. Bring a copy to the interview, also, and assume they haven't and won't read it. During the interview, keep mentioning your skills and abilities.
7- Take lunch or money to buy lunch (take a little cash in case your lunch is from a vending machine) on interview days.
Good Luck! Don't give up!