What qualifications are needed for entry level GD positions?

[meccajos]

Hey,

I will graduage in May 2007 with a 2-year degree in advertising and graphic design.

Can anyone tell me what the qualifications are to get an entry level position? Just want to make sure I have everything before applying.

We did not learn web design. Is this necessary?

Thanks and hope everyone is having a great weekend.

[tZ]

internships- work experience.

portfolio- (10–20) pieces

[meccajos]

Where is the best place to get an internship?

[tZ]

Some were that will pay you.

Honestly… someplace(firm,agency,in-house) were you would like to work.

[Drazan]

Also start practicing on getting your speed up. I've learned from other people that the amount of time students spend on one project can be "weeks" when in the real world that same project may be in and out to print in a day or three.

As an entry level person, I'd expect them to know the software, how to layout things properly, and have a good eye. The "design decisions" and "speed" does come with experience. I'd also expect them to at least know the process of design. How to take a brief and complete the project - while learning from any questions.

The most common software is Adobe Illy, InDesign (or Quark), and photoshop (only for backgrounds), and CorelDraw.

GraphicDesign is a very overpopulated industry and there's a dozen designers applying . You'll get in to a place by your portfolio so make that shine. Don't just put in the "student" pieces, but put in other creative pieces that you have done. You also can tailor your portfolio to the place and position you are applying for. You'll also get in the door by selling yourself. Your personal presentation and conviction in what you do and what you want to do will also go far on and interview.

If you are looking for an internship or entry job, really anyplace that offers it to you is a good place. If there's something in prepress or printing, it would not be a bad thing to intern there. The things you will learn will greatly help when you move on to a design firm.

[CkretAjint]

Cold call around and ask. Have resumes ready and be ready for imprompt phone interviews! Also talk to the school and see what they offer. Most colleges that offer design also have assistance with interships and job placement. Just ask!

[tZ]

Drazan wrote:
If you are looking for an internship or entry job, really anyplace that offers it to you is a good place.

I'd have to disagree.

Then again… it depends on your definition of good…

If you have very little or no experience at all then you should probably take what you can get. Any experience is better then non.

For example, I hate the place I'm at right now but- its experience!…

Hopefully– experience that will help me in round two.

Take what you can get and if you don't like it or disagree with what they tell you to do – do it so you can get some references and what not. Then–move on.

correction: I hate the type of work not the people.

[sierng]

2 Year degree? Super fast track! Mines like friggin 4 ...friggin.

[Oldat29]

I was woundering the same thing.. Im a 2 year diploma student, I have a chance to go on and do my degree in NCAD, but iv 3 kids and its hard anuff now doing the diploma. Id have to work for a while after i finish before i even think of doing the degree.

[meccajos]

Thanks everyone for the great advice.

There is a possibility that I can get a job with a small sign making company but it kind of scares me because I can easily see this position including answering the phone and doing secretarial stuff...NOT. I mean, I don't mind doing my share but I didn't go to school for 2 years to be a secretary. On the other hand, it's a place to start, right?

No one mentioned web design. Is this a bonus to know or really not that important?

I also thought of continuing on to get the 4 year degree but with the field so saturated, would this be a waste of time?

Oh, and I'd love to teach...any jobs out there like that for 2 year degreers?

[PrintDriver]

First, lose the sense of entitlement. 2 years, 4 years, Masters program, etc., DOES NOT entitle you to a job in this field.

"Entry Level" is 2 years of on-the-job experience right now. Less than five years is Junior level. You won't even be able to apply to a placement agency like Aquent without at least 6-months to a year of experience. Your college should have placed you in an internship to get your feet wet in the industry. Check to see if they have a placement service.

You don't need to know web to succeed but not knowing it will limit your options as a Newb. I'd say 80% of the designers I know only have limited web experience, but they are good at what they do and I'm in a weird corner of the industry.

Teaching? What do you know about the practical aspects of Graphic Design? How much Real World experience do you have? How many clients have you worked with? Do you know what it takes to get a file from Design to Print? Trust me, a two year Graphic Arts program is not going to offer you a teaching career. At least I hope not. I would hope that any school or program would require at least a teaching degree and at least 5 years of real world experience for this field, though I know this is not always the case based on what I read here sometimes. <sigh>

This industry is harsh. Take the sign shop job even if you do have to answer the phone (you will learn how to talk to clients and/or vendors) or file the paperwork (a decent system of record keeping is always a good thing to learn.) A signshop that is both Print and Conventional signage could be an excellent place to start. You will learn things in a way that will make any other design job easy, and maddening, as many designers don't understand the concepts of proper Logo design and layout as it relates to the signage industry. Anything you learn in a sign shop carries over. It isn't necessarily true the other way around.

[Oldat29]

PRINTDRIVER. As a student thats some great advice right there. Id clean toilets in a studio just to get a look at how things work in the real world.

[budafist]

Your experience required to get a job depends on:

Local job market
If there is a design school/course in your area, this will put a strain on the job market as your fellow students will also be cold calling and applying for jobs. In my local, there are about 5 schools pumping out around 100 students per school per year. This makes it extremely hard for students looking for jobs right out of school. It also means that many employers refuse to hire anyone without experience. Around here, you don't get an interview without 2-5 years experience. If they decided to hire without experience, they might have 500 applicants for that position from that year's batch of graduates alone.

If you are in a town/city where there are hardly any or no design courses offered, I reckon it would be easier to find a job since you aren't competing with a bunch of others in the same situation as you.

If you have no experience, intern, freelance etc until you have some real life work under your belt.

Your long term goals
What do you want to do with your degree? Remember what you went into all this for? Working for a sign writing company could be good if this is what interests you. It wouldn't suit others in our industry.

You say you didn't learn web design in your degree. Why do you want to learn web design? Do you want to be a web designer? If yes, then it is neccessary to learn web design. If you don't want to do web design, then don't learn it. Yes, it is pretty simple.

Previous work experience
What previous work experience do you have? When I was studying, I found part time work in the industry. This will help you. It is much easier to convince someone to hire a part timer with little or no experience, than to hire that same person for a full time role. Why? Because it is no such a gamble.

I worked 2 days a week at a copy centre for a year while studying (paid). This gave me an insight into preparing files correctly for those printers, but I learned imposition, finishing and other bits and pieces that happen to a job after the design stage. I was also lucky enough to get free printing at my work so could print all my school assignments for free. That's a big $$$ saver if you don't have free printing at school.

[meccajos]

WOW....great information!

Ideally, it would be great to be with an advertising firm but now I'm understanding that with minimal experience in this field, it may be impossible. I did not realize that working for a sign maker would give me a better foot in the door for the future. I need to change my thinking on this now.

The reason I wanted to learn web design is that I heard it is absolutely necessary to get a good job in GD. I was surprised that our school didn't offer it if that were the case. If it's not necessary I don't have much interest in it.

I am 49 years old so I''m worried that this is also a negative? On a good note, I do have a lot of actual work experience from office management, accounting and assistant teaching as well as some sales and some experience in painting murals, doing newsletters on the side, etc.

Our instructor recommended to us to also work for a copy centre.

All of this information has shed a new light on things. I will share it all with the class and I appreciate any and all of your input.

THANKS!

[budafist]

Ideally, it would be great to be with an advertising firm but now I'm understanding that with minimal experience in this field, it may be impossible. I did not realize that working for a sign maker would give me a better foot in the door for the future. I need to change my thinking on this now.

I've never worked in advertising before, but from my understanding it is very cut-throat and crazy. Working as a sign maker will probably not get you into a advertising firm, but it can lead into a better GD position.

Getting your foot in the door is just that. While you have a foot in the door, you need to be continuously updating your portfolio and skills. It's not time to relax.

The reason I wanted to learn web design is that I heard it is absolutely necessary to get a good job in GD. I was surprised that our school didn't offer it if that were the case. If it's not necessary I don't have much interest in it.

No. It's not true. Web design is just one aspect of the GD industry. If you don't learn it, it means you don't do it. If you are not interested in web design, there is no reason you should become a web designer at all.


I am 49 years old so I''m worried that this is also a negative? On a good note, I do have a lot of actual work experience from office management, accounting and assistant teaching as well as some sales and some experience in painting murals, doing newsletters on the side, etc.

Our instructor recommended to us to also work for a copy centre.

All of this information has shed a new light on things. I will share it all with the class and I appreciate any and all of your input.

THANKS!

I can see the concern with your age. Getting your foot in the door can be a time consuming process. I'm not sure how many years it takes to go from foot in the door to a comfortable salary at a good advertising agency.

I guess if the journey to get to your goals will make you happy then it is enough. Perhaps it's time to contact someone in the advertising industry to mentor you.

[meccajos]

Yes, at my age the journey has been awesome already! I'll talk to the school and see what they offer me. If anything I can always freelance, right?

Thanks again!

[teniworks]

Well, I'm interning at an ad agency now and the whole experience has been worth its weight in gold with the knowledge I've gained. While it has been one of the most demanding, overwhelming and sometimes painful experiences ever, I wouldn't trade it for anything. So definitely look into internships. Sometimes things just fall into place.

[meccajos]

May I ask what the painful experiences were?

[tZ]

Probably would be wise to down play your age. Not lie… but down play it in your resume if you get my drift.

[captain spanky]

yeah, i know we're all not supposed to be ageist anymore but the truth of the matter is most younger designers will accept lower wages and that's what is in the fore of the minds of the hiring employers unfortunatley. I'm 31 and starting to see the issues already. i have noticed in certain places that people are starting to do the opposite and prefer a degree of wisdom and experience over blind, youthful exuberance... but not very often tbh.
Not knowing web is not a disadvantage if you are good at the other things you do... but the more you know, the better your chances. never pass up an opportunity to learn. I know of people who have worked a month for free with a company to a) get experience and b) just to get a foot in the door and make some contacts.
Freelancing is a very important aspect of a design career imo... it shows you can handle yourself, your workload, your time and importantly, your clients ...and that you have experience of taking a project from concept thru to print (something that a lot of designers round here are lacking it seems)

[PrintDriver]

Don't offer age information at all.
And not everyone is looking for the naive noob. There's that 1% out there somewhere that looks beyond 'cheap labor' and more at the skills and experience a person has. I know they are there. I work for one of them.