10 Tips for Landing an Interactive Design Job
In today’s extremely difficult economy, the job market is getting more competitive with each passing day.
That’s why it’s vital to make sure you stand out and rise above the competition. Below are ten tips that will help you get your foot in the door.
1. Resume Design
Just because you are applying for a design job doesn’t mean your resume has to be over-designed. Too many colors, extreme patterns and background images in your resume can make it look gaudy and unpolished. A resume should not stand out for the wrong reasons.
Employers care about seeing where you have come from and where you want to go. If your resume is visually distracting, potential employers may not notice your work history and achievements. Going with a clean, traditional format that makes the copy the hero is best practice.
2. Have an Online Portfolio
When job hunting for an interactive design position, be sure to keep your personal portfolio up to date and have it available on the web. Not having an online portfolio can throw up red-flags for employers. If you want to work in web design, it’s important to show that you know how to maintain your own site. Without a portfolio, it is unlikely you will even get a call for an interview. At the very least, have a PDF linking to your work available.
Additionally, make sure your online portfolio is easy to get around. Again, it’s about the work… not the portfolio design. A simple, clean portfolio format will show off your skills and past design achievements.
3. List Your Role (in your portfolio)
When showing projects in your portfolio, it’s a good idea to list what your role was in each. Did you build, design, or direct the project? This helps potential employers get a handle on your true skill-set.
4. Proofread
Poor grammar and spelling mistakes might not completely ruin your chances, but simple mistakes might show that you have poor attention to detail – a vital skill when it comes to design.
5. Do Your Homework
Make sure you research the company you are interviewing with. It’s good to know what type of work they do, and who their clients are so that you know how to best sell your skill-set. A company wants to know that you are passionate about work and taking the time to learn about the company indicates that you are self-motivated.
6. First Impressions
Don’t be late or miss your interview. If it’s a scheduled phone interview, it’s a good idea to keep the line clear and plan to be in a quiet place so you can focus on the conversation. Clear communication is important. An interview is about selling your skills and passion for the medium. Use it as an opportunity to showcase your professionalism and sell yourself.
7. Have Patience
Given the current economic conditions, employers are taking their time finding just the right candidates. The over-saturated job-seekers market might mean a longer interview process. Reaching out to check the status of the hiring process is a good idea, but don’t do it every day.
8. Don’t Undersell Yourself
Be confident in yourself. Interviews can be intimidating but selling yourself short by being too humble may cheat you out of a second interview. Know how your skills stack up and focus on what you can do well, not what you can’t. That said, don’t over-sell yourself either, it may come off as if you’re stretching the truth.
9. Honey Gets More Flies than Vinegar
It’s a small world. Little white lies can come back to haunt you. Also, don’t bash your past clients or employers, you never know when the 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon rule might apply so you don’t want to burn any bridges. It’s always a good idea to be diplomatic and focused on providing solutions when talking about challenging work experiences.
10. Exceed Expectations
In other industries, candidates are often asked to take personality tests or evaluations to see if they qualify. In the design field, some employers may ask you to complete a design test. These tests are not considered spec work but allow employers to gauge your design style, speed, strategic insights, and interaction design knowledge. It also gives you an opportunity to show how you handle pitches and selling ideas to clients.
Have fun with it and treat it as if it’s a real project. If given a design test, go above and beyond what is asked. For example, try to finish before the deadline or create more than one design direction. This will blow away potential employers and help you stand out from the crowd. Providing additional documentation to explain your design-test concepts also shows that you think about strategy and not just a pretty picture.
It’s a tough market out there now, but some agencies are actually hiring. Put as much effort into your application as you do into your designs and you’re sure to stand out from the competition. Great talent should stand out in any environment.
Follow the author: @larissameek Follow AgencyNet: @agencynet
Gary Aston…
Great post Larissa, sensible advice (particularly no. 9) and well put.
Stephen Kiers…
I actually jut landed a job as senior graphics designer for an it firm and it is funny because my online portfolio was down during the huron process. I knew it was down, but it wasn’t till the hirer mentioned it did I realize the potential problem. Thankfully I got the job!
Dave…
Totally true. I was asked to do a web CSS build test for my current job. I was given 1 hr to get “as far as possible”. I didn’t manage to finish within the time limit, but I did go on and finish the whole design. I then send through both and explained I didn’t like to leave it unfinished.
This wasn’t a pre planned “suck up” routine, it was just what came naturally but I’ve since learned it landed me the role above some other guys. So it does pay!
Kyle Boyd…
Great post and some great tips, particularly the first about your resume, going for a design job I thought it would have to be uber designed but obviously not!
Marie Poulin…
Re #5:
We had SO many people apply for a job at our studio (Thinkhouse) when we put up a job posting. And if you check out our about page (which has illustrations of us in our underwear) you would see that we were a small studio with a sense of humour.
That being said, we got SO many applications that were addressed “Dear sir or madam” “Human Resources Department” and even “to whom it may concerned”, (yes, with the grammatical error) all of which felt like they hadn’t done their research. (We specifically requested that job postings be addressed to the Thinkhouse Team)
Another mistake was NOT including a PDF or link to some work. One person sent an email with NO subject, NO content, with just an attached word document with his resume, stating “portfolio available upon request.” Well… in case he didn’t read the job posting, we specifically requested to see samples of work as a PDF or a website. When you receive 40+ applications, you aren’t going to go out of your way to ask the one person who didn’t include their portfolio to send you their work.
On a lighter note, a few people had read into our blogs, and made an effort to make a little comment that would have indicated they did their research. One person addressed their email to all of us by first name, and even said “Woof to Cider,” the office dog. It’s little things like that that get you remembered.
Larissa…
@ Marie – Great points! I couldn’t agree more.
Bernard Bonomo…
Great article. In fact, just yesterday I sent an email to jobs@agencynet regarding a posting I found for “Video/Editor Specialist”. As the owner of prod. company here in South Beach, I get tons of emails & resumes of people looking for jobs.. I just hope that the right person at your company takes 10 mins. to browse through my various portfolios, so we can setup an interview. take a look for yourself & let’s get started! http://www.beanovision.com
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Video Production Florida…
Hey this is 10+ . Great list, I would love to use it on my site?
Thanks
s.
Mark Carter…
The last two interviews I’ve had have required design tests. This is the first year I’ve ever encountered this. Seems like it’s becoming more popular as you say. And doing more than was asked for certainly helped with the application