What’s the best way to handle career pressure after graduation?
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Are you from the LA film school?
Can you be more specific with your question or describe the situation you’re in that’s causing pressure? As it stands, the question is a bit vague.
It beats the alternative.
What type of pressures are you asking about: finding a job, how best to proceed with a career, or something else. Can you be a little more specific?
Take relax, make a impressive portfolio (most important) then apply for jobs.
Sure! I meant the pressure of finding a good job after graduation and not knowing where to start. It feels stressful trying to meet expectations while figuring out the right career path. I just want advice on how to stay calm and handle it better.
Didn’t your college provide internship opportunities?
Didn’t your college provide career services?
Didn’t your college graphic design course of study have a senior portfolio class that was all about how to apply for a job?
Got it. When you asked, in another thread, if a design degree was worth it, I had the mistaken impression a design degree was something you were considering. After some more of your posts, it seems like the design degree is either completed or nearly complete. So my response probably seemed pretty dark — not that it wasn’t accurate.
So how do you handle the pressure? You can lean on your school’s career services or placement office. You can network. You can use LinkedIn and Indeed. But those are all about getting a job not dealing with pressure.
So how do you deal with pressure? First, take care of yourself, eat right, and exercise. Get up every morning, make your bed, clean up, and get dressed. Don’t sit around a sloppy apartment in your pajamas. Do things to release endorphins. Stay away from drinking or drugs. I’d keep in touch with your classmates. Realize that you may need to take a job in a non-related field to get some income while you continue to look for a design-related job. Take a coffee / breakfast / lunch meeting with anyone that will give you an hour of their time. What industry are they in? What did their career path look like? Which of your skills could benefit that industry? What opportunities do they see that you could plug yourself into? Ask lots of questions and listen. Do not get on crowd sourcing or contest sites or any site where you’ll be competing against a global marketplace of designers willing to work for next to nothing. And do not compare yourself to others. Comparison is the thief of joy.
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