How do I apply for a design job…? Tips from a designer, part 2.

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When you apply for a job there are many things that lead to a strong application. We have put together some tips to help students, grads or anyone trying to get themselves out there in the design industry. This is part 2 of my 3-part series which will cover your application!

You can recap on part one here

So you have your folio and your CV prepared and you are ready to go! You have seen a job ad and you wish to apply for a specific role. Here are some tips, some common knowledge and some things that people always seem to miss…

Your application

9 times out of 10 the studio will ask for an email application of your CV and PDF Portfolio. When you apply think of the email you send to the business as your first impression, you want to make it a good one. You can follow this structure to create content for your application.

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Tips:

  • Make sure you greet the studio appropriately, use the person’s name if you know who to address the application to. There is nothing worse that receiving an email from someone with the wrong studio’s name on it. If you don’t know, you can address it to the team, or do some research on who is managing the applicants.
  • Introduce yourself and say exactly what role you are applying for and mention where you have seen the role advertised, this provides clarity and is also important if the studio has more than one role advertised.
  • Highlight things about you and your personality, it’s a great way of summing up who you are and what you are about in a few sentences which will usually be what the studio will skim through first.
  • Keep it short, avoid long wordy emails at all cost. No one has the time to read your biography.
  • Make sure your PDF and CV are attached, and are labeled with your name clearly. Use a very simple filing system. We don’t need to see that your folio is Mspink_Folio_Part3.5aBC.
  • Try not to repeat or copy and paste the information from your CV, it already has its place. Let the email be where who you really are shine.
  • If the job says to send a PDF, SEND A PDF. It is so much easier to click through pages curated by you rather than going onto a site, clicking into individual projects. If you don’t like the look of the cover image you might miss the whole project. You are not doing yourself any favours. Force us to view your work with ease. You can still have your link to your site in the email, but it should always be accompanied with a PDF Portfolio.
  • After you have applied you can follow up. This shows your interest but also gives you a good idea of wether you have been successful or not, every studio is different but I have always had the most success calling. Be polite. Introduce yourself and say you’re enquiring on the application process. You will normally find out more information about the role and their process when you get to speak to someone in person. Keep it to one call, you should be able to gauge pretty quickly wether this is something they don’t mind.
  • Don’t call on a Monday or Friday they are normally busy.

That’s the second round of tips to get those applications going….Now get applying!

Read part one here

Merren Spink
Design Creative

Merren is a member of the design team with Truly Deeply, a  brand agency with 25 years experience working with brands to position them for growth. Her expertise lies in creating strategically driven, beautiful and memorable brands that attract the attention of their audience. Merren has extensive experience working with corporate, retail, food & beverage and business clients. Find out more at…

 

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