February 19, 2012

I won’t pretend I can offer an easy out here. There is no sure way for a young designer to land their first job. The truth is, employers are seeing almost 5x as many applications as 3 years ago – I can’t quite recall where I read that, but I’m fairly certain it wasn’t in the daily mail so I’m pretty sure it’s a fairly credible statistic. So now, more than ever, getting yourself noticed is harder than it ever has been – but that’s exactly what you have to do. Get yourself noticed.

Once again I’d just like to say, I offer no sure fire method, at the heart of it, I’m just a designer – at the moment one with the responsibility of giving others their first big break. The following are some things I’ve learnt from the employers side and may help you or someone you know.

The application

Do exactly what the advert says

It seems so obvious, but you would not believe how few applicants tick all the boxes when submitting their application. If the advert says include a cover letter and CV – then that’s what you need to do. The cover letter is fine as – if submitting by email – the body of the email, with the CV as a pdf attachment. Make it easy for your potential employer to find it.

I put all my genius into my life; I put only my talent into my works.

Oscar Wilde

It also creates a nice impression on whoever gets this first contact as they can see you’ve taken the time to write your cover letter. The opposite of this would be to include your cover letter in the CV pdf – although not awful, potential pit falls could include your employer not finding it and rejecting the application all together. Or being rejected because your email has a one liner with a pdf attachment. Although not spam, that is sure as hell what it looks like if your employer receives a high volume of mail a day – especially during an application process!

Don’t send word docs. Just don’t. The likelihood you both have the same version is slight. The chance layout quirks in different versions of word that might make your employer think you are a buffoon, higher. You’re not a buffoon – right?

Your cover letter

Always make your cover letter as personal to the company you are applying to as possible. Employers who regularly recruit can spot a generic application a mile off, straight away they’re questioning your commitment to their organisation. Find the name of the person doing the hiring. Send it to them as well as any generic mailto address. If this information isn’t available on their site, call them.

Be friendly, introduce yourself as a person (not a robot) and fulfil the requirements of the advert you’ve seen. If they ask for salary expectations, do this. You may want to add subtext, possibly that this is what you were on at your last job for instance. But there is nothing worse than spending an eternity agonising over what we, as employers, put in our adverts for them to then be ignored. Keep it light. This is a short cover letter, not an extension of your dissertation. Cover the de-facto points; Who you are, where you saw the ad, where you live, why you’re applying, any links to work and end on something memorable. Maybe you’ve won a design award recently, maybe you’ve just got back from a life changing trip – anything. If you think it might stick in the employers mind, it can only help.

Your CV

This is where opinion in the design industry differs hugely, and I can only go on my own experience and the experience of my friends here.

BE DIFFERENT! Viva la revolution! DO NOT include a word document, or worse still, do not paste your CV into an email. Yuk. You’re a designer – this is the first opportunity your employer gets to see your awesome skills, bust em lose! This message does however come with a proviso – make sure its legible. Design your CV, don’t decorate it. The purpose of this document is give your employer an overview of your past history and qualifications and this should be in your head when you design your CV.

If David Carson is your hero, this is NOT the time to pay homage. Keep the Bauhaus ideology on repeat in your mind, form follows function. Use space, typography and solid layout principals to design something that does its job and looks great. I would also advise you to do this with a largely white background – some employers (me for one) like to print out (enviro-what?!?) CV’s etc when refining the hiring process, nothing worse than a sodden black page with lovely thin type you can no longer read!

I honestly believe this is such a huge plus when applying for a designer role, and in our latest designer position i’d say less than 20% of applicants designed their CV, so straight away you’ve improved your odds of getting noticed and landing that invitation to an interview.

More on getting hired, soon.

Post ended. L8rs.

Tags: designer, employment, job, work