Part 1 – 9 tips for creating a kick arse folio
Part 2 – A brief guide to writing a killer resume
Part 3 – Job Hunting, Research and the Cover Letter that sells. (Your Reading this right now.)
Part 4 – The Interview (Coming Soon)
You’ve just spent 3 to 5 years at university studying for that degree. You get up on that stage, collect your piece of paper and after getting over the traditional shock of finishing uni and confronting what I like to call “now what?” syndrome, you think “hmm I think maybe I should get a job”. Unfortunately for many design graduates this is a harder road than uni and many experience more than their fair share of job hunting pain. It is also tough for those who are changing jobs or returning to the industry after a bit of timeout. The following four part series is by no means a guarantee that you’ll get your dream job, but hopefully the advice, tips and tricks that follow will help.
Part 3 – Job Hunting, Research and the Cover Letter that sells.
After reading our articles, 9 tips for creating a kick arse folio and a brief guide to writing a killer resume, you will be ready to get out there and hunt for a job. In the third installment of the How to Land your dream design job we are going to look at job hunting and researching employers.
You have a kick arse folio and a killer resume, now all you need is a couple of sweet jobs to apply for. The are now many ways that you can find jobs to apply for, the internet of course, the newspaper and networking.
Online Job boards/sites.
This form of job advertising is probably now the most utilised and popular in the world today. Online Job sites not only provide employers with a quick and easy way to distribute their job adverts to thousands of people all over the world. They also provide people like yourself with many resources(how to write resumes and cover letters), features (use RSS Feeds to keep track of new jobs) and unprecedented access to jobs on a worldwide scale. The most brilliant thing about online jobs sites is that the days of missing a job opportunity because you didn’t see the advertisement are gone. You can now monitor the online job sites via RSS feeds or email updates, so as soon as a new job suited to your preferences comes out, you’ll know about it.
The newspaper
While online job sites now dominate the employment advertising landscape, they are not completely devoid of jobs that are available, depending on the paper you choose you will always usually be able to find job advertisements inside. However with the scarcity of design job advertisements and the nature of the type of people employers looking for designers want to employ, you are unlikely to regularly find an Industrial Design job advertised in them. Last year I had a friend who decided to check the employment section of The Age newspaper in Melbourne on a weekly basis. He only found one job for an Industrial Designer advertised! Over the period of a whole year!
Networking
While online job sites and newspaper have many advertisements in them for design related jobs, the amount of those jobs you are likely to get, even if you are the most talented designer, is relatively low. The most effective way to find a job in any part of the world is through your network (It may take a it more time though). Since this article is focused on job hunting, not the art of networking, we won’t go into it. However getting work through your network is one of the most sure fire ways to land a job.
In Melbourne almost 80% of jobs in the design industry are not advertised publicly. So the only way into these jobs is through word of mouth. And the way to be part of the word of mouth tree is to be talking with people and networking.
An excellent example of this occurred about a week ago. I recently attended a seminar on Branding. At the seminar I spent time meeting and greeting people – finding out what they do and telling the what I do. Through this I met a woman who is the marketing manager at a large toy company. We spoke and exchanged cards. About a week later I receive an email from her saying that they are looking for a graphic designer, could I please recommend someone.
In my head I run through my network of people and find two Graphic Designers who I know are currently searching for work. I email the marketing manager their details and my Graphic Design acquaintances the marketing managers details. They get in contact with each other, emails containing a cover letter, resume and folio are sent, an interview is setup and one of my Graphic Design acquaintances gets the job.
Once you have a few jobs lined up to apply for, you of course need to do two things. Firstly you need to do some research on the company offering the job you are going to apply for and secondly write a cover letter that sells you.
Research
Why do research? Why can I just apply for the job? I am hearing you ask.
Researching a company is important as it allows you to get a clear a picture of the sort of work they do, what they are currently doing, the types of people they employ and the culture of the company. All these things are important for you to find out as they will allow you to get a clearer picture of the company and whether you really do want to work there. And secondly when you do get that interview you can demonstrate that you have some knowledge of what they are doing and where they are heading. Thus showing that you have a genuine interest in the company and what it does.
The best place to begin researching these days is of course the web. Look up the companies website. Look to see if you can get any information off their clients sites. If the company is local or you have friends that work their ask around to see what the company is like. IF you can easily get hold of trade journals they are featured in or press releases and stories on the company in the newspaper then they may be of help. It all helps you form a stronger idea of what the company is like, where they are heading and where they have come from. As well as providing you with a bit of knowledge for the interview.
Cover Letters
Like putting together a kick arse folio and a killer resume, it is just as important to be able to write cover letters that sells you. They key reason for this is that this will be your first communication and impression on the person you are trying to convince to employ you.
Below are some quick tips on cover letter writing.
Make sure that the cover letter shows the reader that you have read the advertisement for the job carefully.
Make sure that it is positive and
Make sure it is clear and concise.
Make sure it is to the point.
Make sure it is short – three to four paragraphs maximum.
Each cover letter you send should be tailored to the advertisement and not just a uniform letter.
Hopefully you have found a small droplet of advice or information in this article that will help you get that dream job. If you did please be generous and share this article and/or subscribe to the design droplets RSS Feed to keep up to date on the following articles in the series and other free tips, tricks, articles or advice on design droplets.
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