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#1 2002-12-21 2:43 pm
- helix7
- Member
- From: Dirty Jersey
- Registered: 2001-04-29
- Posts: 963
Fresh out of college... is the job market hopeless?
So I finished up my BFA in Graphic Design last week. I've spent this week putting together a list of places I plan on looking into for work and quite honestly I'm a bit nervous about it. I have friends who graduated in May who are either still looking for design work or gave up and took jobs in other fields. Is the job market that bad right now? Any seasoned vets in the design world have some job hunting advice for a new guy in the business?
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#2 2002-12-21 9:51 pm
Re: Fresh out of college... is the job market hopeless?
When I got out of school about 2-3 years ago I thought the same thing. The first thing I can tell you to do is loose pride. You will live life much easier if you just go with the flow and not try to change the world of design. Find a job ANY JOB that will let you sit in front of a machine all day 5 days a week. The worst thing about gettting out of school is, you don't have any idea how green you are. It dosen't matter how many internships you have had and where you worked to get through school, if you aint doing it 40 hrs a week, then it don't mean s@#t.
I took a job that had me duplicate yellow page ads to place on a map publication. It was far from flashy, however you have to look at experience. That job was lame as hell and I hated it however, it made me fast as hell in Quark, Photoshop and Illustrator. When the "tech guy" left, I jumped on that opportunity to start fixing the machines. You have got to work DAMN HARD in this industry to make it at all, let alone get a good job.
I got through my "paying dues time" and now I work for a chamber of commerce, and it rules. Good luck!
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#3 2002-12-22 12:51 am
- TonyPrevite
- Slobbering Jester
- Royal Wombat
- From: Glendale, AZ
- Registered: 2002-04-14
- Posts: 3606
- Website
Re: Fresh out of college... is the job market hopeless?
Ditto.....Expect to spend 2-3 years of "job-hopping" getting experience, building your portfolio, all that good stuff.....that will eventually land you the job you really want.
Is it tough right now?.....In my experience it's always tough. What gets tougher in rough economic times however is finding the "good" jobs.
Lower level jobs can always be found no matter how tough the economy "seems" to be.
Things are on the upswing....ad revenue is coming back, and with that so goes the industry.
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#4 2002-12-22 10:36 pm
Re: Fresh out of college... is the job market hopeless?
I agree with what has been said already.
Also, read this article:
http://www.creativepro.com/story/feature/18378.html
The only thing I don't agree with is when he says
And we've all left great jobs because of strategy disagreements or differences in vision.
None of us below the rank of Executive get to do that. 
Another thing in Print related work is to never stop learning. Those who do stagnate. This is not just learning the programs, continue to educate yourself on type, design, history, etc... it all comes into play.
And though it's not always a good idea to jump into the newest programs and technologies, do keep an eye on them. InDesign was crap when it was first released, but those of us that learned it then hit the ground running when it matured into a great program.
And though you may be a Mac person, learn Windows, at least to the point of familiarity, so you don't look like a novice using it. I hate Windows, but it's a good idea to know the competition.
As far as looking for work, don't be afraid to apply for that job that doesn't quite sound like it's what you want to do. Sometimes the people that write ads don't word themselves correctly. I responded to an ad that was for a Mac Operator and that ended up being my first foray into Pre-Press. Check the marketing section of the paper, sometimes people are looking for someone to follow orders and just drive the computer - that helps gain experience and makes you quick on the keyboard (and mouse).
Hope we've all helped you.
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#5 2003-01-01 10:19 am
- Zonker
- Member
- From: Walden Puddle
- Registered: 2002-11-27
- Posts: 31
Re: Fresh out of college... is the job market hopeless?
I'm not a graphic designer....I'm a photographer, but my story is a bit similar to those posted before.
I graduated with a BFA in visual arts in 93. Afterward, I did whatever job paid reasonably well and offered benefits while I freelanced nights and weekends building my portfolio. Yes...I hauled bottled water by day, and photographed by night. Eventually, I landed a regular freelance gig with a local newspaper which enabled me to build quite an extensive portfolio in addition to teaching me quite a bit about the business of photography/graphics/media.
After a few years of this, I was able to land a job as a photographer for a State College. On my resume, I just left out all the "non-photographic" jobs, since all my freelance work was regular and completely filled in the time from my graduation.
In short, do whatever you need to to pay the bills, as long as you keep your hands in the design field. Offer to do work for non-profits, struggling artist friends....stuff to build the portfolio for later use...keep moving forward. Eventually, the right job will pop up.
Good Luck!
Z
When in doubt, duct tape it...
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#6 2003-01-01 4:06 pm
- registered_user
- bulletproof
- From: padding: zero-pixels;
- Registered: 2000-12-19
- Posts: 16026
- Website
Re: Fresh out of college... is the job market hopeless?
Well, the market sucks up here right now too. But as said, just get out there and get some experience in the meanwhile.
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#7 2003-01-04 9:21 pm
- BezierBoy
- Member
- From: New York City
- Registered: 2002-09-12
- Posts: 11
Re: Fresh out of college... is the job market hopeless?
A little story and advice from someone who was where you are not so long ago:
I went through a rapid series of low-level DTP jobs in my first three years in the field. The first one I got paid $8 an hour. I left after three weeks for $10 an hour, and then three months after that for $12 an hour, and then after a year I was laid off and wound up working on stipend (transportation money and lunch, basically) until I got a salaried job somewhere else. Two large raises and one promotion later, I am now a decently paid, over-30, all-day-Mac using Production Associate (Quark, Illustrator, and Photoshop).
I learned DTP/Prepress about 6 years ago, and have been on my current job for 2.5 years. It was time for me to move on at least 6 months ago, but there's currently no place for me to go. I figure any job I've applied for must have so many other applicants that I never get contacted back (not once in all of 2002). I think maybe the fact that I *do* have experience and refined skills is making it harder, due to the fact that I require more substantial pay and a midlevel position.
It seems most of the jobs out there ARE for entry-level, so you may have some luck. Even shift work as a "Mac Operator" beats, say, retail work (trust me, I was a Borders bookseller, Radio Shack drone, Babbage's salesdroid, etc. in the early 90s.) Don't give up on breaking into the field yet; with a degree, you're already more qualified than a lot of the low-level people out there.
______________<BR>BezierBoy
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#8 2003-01-05 7:45 am
Re: Fresh out of college... is the job market hopeless?
BezierBoy wrote:
A little story and advice from someone who was where you are not so long ago:
I went through a rapid series of low-level DTP jobs in my first three years in the field. The first one I got paid $8 an hour. I left after three weeks for $10 an hour, and then three months after that for $12 an hour, and then after a year I was laid off and wound up working on stipend (transportation money and lunch, basically) until I got a salaried job somewhere else.
Don't do this!!!! Job hopping is bad in any field. Anything you choose stick with it for at least a year. Another tip would be buy a Mac and start freelancing pronto. I did alot of stuff for free for skate teams for free.
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#9 2003-01-05 3:45 pm
- helix7
- Member
- From: Dirty Jersey
- Registered: 2001-04-29
- Posts: 963
Re: Fresh out of college... is the job market hopeless?
I've heard job hopping used to be considered bad until recently when it became so much more common for people to be laid off, get another job, move on to a better job, get back into the field, etc.... One of my teachers told me to expect to change jobs 4 or 5 times before I settle into something I really like and want to keep for more than a year or two.
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#10 2003-01-05 4:55 pm
Re: Fresh out of college... is the job market hopeless?
Being laid off is one thing, changing jobs is another.
Although it is much more common now, it's still not looked at as a good thing.
If you've been laid off, mention it during your interview when talking about that job. Otherwise, it does not tell the interveiwer that you've had a lot of commitment to employers. Why do they want to invest time in you if you're gonna leave in 6 months? They don't get much out of that.
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#11 2003-01-05 9:38 pm
Re: Fresh out of college... is the job market hopeless?
One of my teachers told me to expect to change jobs 4 or 5 times before I settle into something I really like and want to keep for more than a year or two.
Maybe thats why he/she sets thier ass behind a desk all day and teaches.
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#12 2003-01-05 9:39 pm
Re: Fresh out of college... is the job market hopeless?
Anyone have any advice on getting into video or film, namly, big budget moving making (my goal is to be a director but I am only 17 right now)? I am going to film school and want to make movies and commercials when I get older. I also want to write my own screenplays and books.
So long,
Larg0
Check out my site: http://www.evil-android.com
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#13 2003-01-08 7:49 pm
Re: Fresh out of college... is the job market hopeless?
I graduated from college for commercial imaging almost two years ago, I was absolutely flat broke after that. I worked in a kitchen at a fancy inn to make ends meet for six months after graduating. I hated that, so I put together a portfolio and landed myself a full time prodution/photography assistant buy the end of the year. I was putting the Sears catalog together, it was fun but hard work (70+ hour weeks plus 3hrs a day commuting). Eventually I burned out, I could not take another night of sleeping in my car just to get 4 hours of sleep. So I quit, what else could I do? I just recently found out that the studio in question had lost the Sears account and had laid off 90% of the staff, only several months after I had left.
Now I pay the bills by selling industrial supplies to red-necks and illiterates. This is driving me insane, the people I work with are a bunch of brain dead windows loving looser dropouts ! The little voice in the back of my mind screams at me to get the he11 out of there and soon. I still do work for one photographer and am in the process of building my own darkroom. No matter how frustrating the job market can seem especially in a creative field keep your foot in the water even if it's just the odd night or weekend. It will save your sanity, that's whats keeping me going right now.
Don't be affraid to look at non-traditional applications of your skills, thats what I'm working on right now. I am applying to the Police force to first become a constable and then use my credentials and experience to get into forensic imaging. My next round of tryouts are in the spring, wish me luck.
Onanum
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#14 2003-01-13 12:59 pm
- BadMrMojo
- Member
- Registered: 2002-04-03
- Posts: 171
Re: Fresh out of college... is the job market hopeless?
... long and sad story ...
Don't be affraid to look at non-traditional applications of your skills, thats what I'm working on right now. I am applying to the Police force to first become a constable and then use my credentials and experience to get into forensic imaging. My next round of tryouts are in the spring, wish me luck.
Onanum
I have a friend who did just that in Providence. Sounded like a sweet gig. Good luck and good advice, too.
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#15 2003-01-13 8:21 pm
- fuzzynormal
- Member
- Registered: 2001-03-26
- Posts: 1083
- Website
Re: Fresh out of college... is the job market hopeless?
work very hard a lousy gigs...people will notice and remember your effort the next time 'round. If you don't like to "pay your dues" by taking crap jobs now, expect to end up with 'em the rest of your career. who wants to hire anybody that gives a half-hearted effort? (regardless of the task) Only a bit of luck, super talent, and/or nepotism can avoid the low rungs of the career ladder.
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#16 2003-01-17 9:12 pm
- ame
- Human Pincushion
- Registered: 2002-04-04
- Posts: 3474
Re: Fresh out of college... is the job market hopeless?
Yes unfortunately the job market is a joke...and part of the bummer in Graphics is it stays that way...Don't jump jobs like the above poster said, you don't want to look unreliable. I know a guy really high up in the local AIGA chapters who switches jobs almost every 6 months.
I graduated two years ago...and its been a nightmare.
What you should do NOW is find A job ANY job, and one I actually recommend is calling the local newspapers to your city and trying to get into the production/advertising departments creating ads. It is great experience and you get familiar and really good with all the programs. And you learn the concept of a hard, fast deadline.
I actually lucked out, if you can call it that, bec my university (UMSL) sucked ASS with a course schedule. So I was in college for 5 years, and my final year was a one day a week senior seminar...which was portfolio building. I ended up getting an internship the second semester of my Junior year, and then took a fulltime job at a newspaper here, while still taking my class on Fridays. I worked there for a year and then took a job in the city my now-ex moved me to doing the same thing for another paper (took me 6 months to get it)...now that I am single and back in St. Louis, I am working at the first job I could get which SUCKS ASS but pays me 10.50 an hour for 40 hours a week of laying out really crappy ads.
I have had several interviews for what seems to be mid-level jobs--3+ years--but they end up going to kids with little or no experience bec they will accept anything as long as they get paid....and I have one on Monday, how they got my name I dont know but its a better job and god I hope..
Long story-with-lack-of-a-point short:
Take what you can, and stick to it for at least a year, 2 if you can handle it. If it comes down to it, do something else just to remain working. But check out ANY opportunity you find out about, keep looking and if you are an AIGA member ( YOU SHOULD BE!!!!! ) network all you can. It helps.
I figure if I don't get a decent job in this field by the end of this year, Im going to go finish my masters and try to find a teaching job.
bullsmurf! I can't hear you. Sound off like you got a pair.
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#17 2003-01-19 3:20 am
- fuzzynormal
- Member
- Registered: 2001-03-26
- Posts: 1083
- Website
Re: Fresh out of college... is the job market hopeless?
You folks struggling in print might want to consider motion graphics in the video world. I have corporate jobs I have to beat away with a stick. A lot of them are lame, but they're always around
A good motion video designer is hard to come by in the mid-market regions. If you have good design sense chances are, I've found, (and my design skills are marginal --at BEST) you'll get a gig somehow.
CD and DVD authoring seems like it's hot right now, at least from the corporate perspective. A couple of days with MacroMedia or DVDSP can give y'all a whole 'nother marketable skill...
ugh, dare I say it? "think *cringe* outside of the..." oh, nuts, I can't bring myself to type it...
*gasp*
"synergy"
*ack!*
*cough*
http://homepage.mac.com/mattguy/
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#18 2003-01-19 11:45 pm
- ame
- Human Pincushion
- Registered: 2002-04-04
- Posts: 3474
Re: Fresh out of college... is the job market hopeless?
I am pretty good with (i think) Director and such...I had to learn that to graduate. My big thing right now is to
1) finish my masters...start over anyway.
2) learn more about web. I have two really good friends who make a killing at it and I never really got to learn it bec no one was teaching that at my college. I am hoping to sign up for a class either over the summer or next fall. I hope.
But I know theres alot of web and other types of design jobs, I just prefer print for some reason. I feel like it has more permanence...yknow?
Thanks for the heads up though.
bullsmurf! I can't hear you. Sound off like you got a pair.
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#19 2003-01-20 11:33 am
Re: Fresh out of college... is the job market hopeless?
I live in eastern Pennsylvania where jobs are harder to come by than seeing the sun in January. I've been helping my girlfriend find a job, and having no luck because she's got a degree in communications, and there are no related jobs available. However, I'm trying to convince her to learn Quark and other graphics things because there are always 3 or 4 ads for jobs in this county alone.
Probably newspapers that will barely pay the rent, but as stated earlier, its training.
If you're interested in film, there are always a lot of filmmakers looking for free and cheap help. I recommend doing that with your spare time. Its great for connections and for resumes. It can also be what some people refer to as, "fun". Fun is my Chinese neighbor's middle name.
"Quotes are dumb."
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