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As students or newly graduated designers, you represent the future of design. You are embarking on a career which is oversubscribed, underpaid and often with long hours of unpaid overtime. If you don't live for design, take up another career.
If however, you succeed in design, the rewards can be enormous. You could be working in a funky design studio, alongside fellow creatives, producing new and fresh ideas and converting them into reality. Seeing your first building/interior being built provides job satisfaction which is hard to find elsewhere. Designers would not put up with the long hours without some rewards.
Having said all that, agencies are not a particularly good starting point for new design graduates. The bottom line is that Design consultancies don't want to pay an agency for a graduate when all they have to do is open their post in the morning.
There are of course, exceptions to this rule. For example,if a consultancy needs a number of students at short notice, an agency would be able to service that requirement. Equally if they need an exceptionally talented trainee but cannot face advertising the role (and wading through the 2000 consequent CVs) they would come to us.
Send us your CV using the online application to ensure it goes straight onto the database. You might be lucky.
We would suggest you also apply to targeted companies directly. Here are a few pointers:
- Dear Sir/Madam letters go straight in the bin, if you can't be bothered to find the name of the person dealing with recruitment, they won't be bothered to read it.
- Don't apply to advertisements for senior roles if you are grossly under qualified.
- After you have read the vacancies pages of Design Week, BD Magazine etc, go to the News section and find out which companies are busy. Research those companies and write to them directly. The cover letter should show knowledge of the company you are applying to, and reasons why you specifically want to work for them.
- Mass mailings are expensive and of limited use, apply to ten selected companies a week and make a point of following them up individually.
- If you have little work experience to write about, enclose examples of your drawing/design work, preferably on a separate sheet.
- CAD is an unavoidable tool in today's design offices. If you do not have any CAD training get some and convert some of your portfolio drawings into CAD drawings. The most common systems are AutoCAD, Vector works and Micro station.
- Do not turn your nose up at 'work experience' for no pay, yes we know you have student debts to pay, but think long term.
- If you are still a student, this is the best time to think about getting a job. Many student placements are made through the colleges or from New Designers exhibitions. Your degree show is not the end of your course; it's the start of your career.
- Don't give up, it's worth it!
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