How do I apply for a design job…? Tips from a designer, part 3.

interview-applicaiton

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 the final installment of my 3-part series which will cover the interview!

You can recap on part 1 here and part 2 here.

So you have applied for a role and have been lucky to get an interview. Here are some tips and common knowledge for how you can approach your interview.

What do I take

  • Your folio, either in printed or electronic form. Ideally present digital work digitally and printed through physical samples if you have good quality examples.
  • A printed copy of your CV, 2 copies doesn’t hurt.
  • Business card
  • Any leave behind of self promotional pieces you might have. Eg if you recently have had a piece in an exhibition take them a print or something to remind them of you, you never know they might put it in the studio.

How to prepare

  • Make sure you thoroughly go through the job description
  • Familiarise yourself with where the studio is and how long it will take you to get there etc
  • In the creative industry we are lucky it is acceptable to let fashion be an extension of your creative flare. Just make sure you are comfortable, clean and looking smart. Choose something to wear that will align with the studio (more corporate, larger businesses you want to dress more professionally, smaller creative studios you might want to have a bit more of a fashionable edge.)  Nothing OTT.

interview-outfit

Do your research

  • Go through their website and take in as much information as you can
  • Who works there? What is there culture like? Who might be interviewing you, what is there role? How many people are interviewing you?
  • View their work and read their case studies. Try and find work that you like and think of reasons why it resonates with you so if they ask you, you can answer confidently. Or you can align similarities with your work and style.
  • Do they have side projects, links with other businesses, strong believes if certain areas?
  • Look on linkedin to gauge the people who work there and any social media or interviews that might provide you additional insight
  • Prepare some questions you might have about the studio, role or culture, have a few up your sleeve

How to present yourself

  • Talk through your folio, your conceptual ideas and how that impacted the brief or client
  • Share your experience, what your looking for and how you align with the role and studio
  • Take your time to listen and answer all questions as best you can
  • Make eye contact and be friendly and approachable
  • Be humble
  • Enquire on timeline of when the role starts, when they are aiming to make a decision and what the studios process is when it comes to hiring etc.

interview-attitude

The aftermath

  • Send a follow up email to reinforce your enthusiasm and interest in the role

Hopefully you land your dream Job!

For unsuccessful candidates – ask for feedback on your interview and see if there are things you can improve on, practice makes perfect and industry constrictive criticism can be very valuable. But also don’t take it to much to heart, the right fit is just as much for the studio as it is for yourself.

I hope this 3 part series has been helpful and will assist you or confirm some good points you already know. You can recap on part 1 here and part 2 here.

Images are from Google and Pinterest 

Merren Spink
Graphic Designer

Post a comment

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,