Kickstarting Your Design Career
Janna Hagan
Lesson 46
Formal design education is lacking in many areas, which means being proactive about your education in the beginning stages of your career will greatly benefit you when you step out into the real world. A solid body of work in your portfolio will get you noticed, but it's your soft skills, the aspects that are often pushed aside in favour of technical mastery, that will get you hired. This lesson focuses on what will really make you successful once you enter the design industry.
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Learn the Secret Handshake
This is a good resource for young designers to learn from seasoned designers about smoothly navigating and transitioning from student to employee. Take note of some of your favourite quotes and write them down.
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A Comprehensive Guide to Starting Your Freelance Career
Although working for an agency and freelancing are two totally different beasts, familiarizing yourself with the basics of successful freelancing will help you become knowledgeable in other aspects of the business, like marketing, client and project management, etc. which is desirable by employers.
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Why Paid Internships Are the Best Way Forward
Internships are the best way for young designers to gain invaluable experience and knowledge in a real-world, real-project environment. Think about your position on the paid vs. unpaid interns debate. Internships will greatly affect the starting point for your career and where you get your first job.
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Design Professionalism
Andy Rutledge provides a no-fluff overview of the pros and cons of different career paths, such as, working at an agency, going freelance or starting your own business. Think about which direction would be most beneficial for you at this stage in your career with the amount of experience you have.
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Success is Just a Word
Success is a loosely defined word and is relative to your personal circumstance. As you grow as a creative individual, we sometimes get caught up in everyday life and fail to have a vision of what we'd like to achieve in the future. Write down 1 or 2 short-term and long-term goals you have for yourself so you can begin to track your career progression.
Janna Hagan
Designer, MyPlanetDigital
I am a user interface designer currently living in Toronto and working at MyPlanet Digital. I'm the founder and editor of A Student's Guide to Web Design, a resource I started in college out of frustration with my design education, which is a place for students or beginners to learn more about what working in the design industry is actually like.
