I wanted to bring this article from the Associated Press to everyone’s attention. The article basically covers the hardships that most Americans are now facing due to the global economic downturn and how they are trying to overcome. The part of the article I wanted to highlight is as follows:
“Places have hiring freezes. And they have cutbacks. And they have layoffs. There are a lot more people in the job market,” said 32-year-old Ana Arrendell, who has been searching for work since August.
At first, she was looking only for a job in her field, graphic design. But as the months have gone by, Arrendell has lowered her expectations. “Right now, I’ll take anything,” she said Friday as she left a New York City-run office that offers resume-writing assistance and interview training.
With companies laying off workers and slashing budgets the likes which haven’t been seen since the early 1980′s or the Great Depression, Graphic Designers are the first in line to take a hit as advertising and marketing budgets are cut as companies try to stay solvent.
With the field of Graphic Design already being one of the most competitive where nearly 40,000 design students enter the work force annually to compete for a position in an industry that only employs 260,000 workers according to the US Department of Labor, you need to do everything in your power to set yourself apart from the other 39,999 students who are doing everything in their power to get the job that you want. Also remember that those 260,000 are currently filled with employee’s who are very unlikely to change positions or open their own design firms until the economy recovers.
While the outlook is grim, there are steps you can take to ensure you don’t end up in a position like Ana Arrendell.
Step One:
Take a look at what your contemporaries are producing. Most design magazines like HOW, Creative Quarterly and Communication Arts just to name a few have annual student competitions where you can take a look at what other students are producing. These students are going to be the ones sought after regardless of location/region.
Step Two:
Take advantage of your only asset, time. Like Terry Marks mentioned at the iChat lecture, compress time. Now is the time to be producing as much work as you can: create self promotional pieces, polish resumes and create your own projects to fill the gaps in your portfolio so when a potential employer asks if you have ever done any multiple page design (think annual reports) you’re not stuck having to tell them “NO”!
Step Three:
Network, network, network. It can’t be stated enough! The more you get yourself out there, the more people you will meet and the more you will learn. As you depart Truman this spring (either for good or the summer) get involved with a local AIGA Chapter. No, you wont find a job volunteering with the AIGA, but you will learn from other designers who have weathered economic downturns and learn what it takes to succeed in such a demanding profession.
Step Four:
Be prepared, it’s more than a Boy Scouts motto. If your business card, resume, portfolio and web site aren’t ready to show potential employers at this exact MOMENT regardless if you are a senior or freshmen, get it ready! Right now 39,999 others students have theirs ready because you
never know when an opportunity is going to come your way to present your talents.
Step Five:
Pad that resume with knowledge and experience. You need to set yourself apart from 39,999 other students. Enter work in competitions, look for scholarship
opportunities like those at Worldstudio Foundation and go to as many workshops as you can afford. During tough economic times the more hats you can wear the better. A design firm is going to hire a students who has many talents that are tangible assets to the firm, so if you can program PHP/MySQL, are already a whiz at page layout and know some accounting, you are much better off than someone who can only do page layout.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg. There is so much you can and should be doing beyond what’s assigned in the classroom to make yourself standout from the crowd, create your own buzz and you’ll be the one with the job!