Learning to sell yourself

Todays class in contemporary design culture came away from the fun aspect and focused more on something more important and serious for us all and that was preparing for life in the real world.

First of all we were told to bring in our sheets from the first week where we recorded things about ourselves that we felt were accurate at the time, under the headings "Me, Myself & Design" and "My design philosophy". It was the first time I had looked back at this since writing it back in week 1. I can safely say myself that it really was inspiring. Reading back over what I had written back then and knowing the things I think now if I was to answer the same question again really shows how far I have come and how much I have improved this semester, I am beginning to learn who I am as a designer and this is helping a lot, but there is a lot more work to be done! I think it is a testament to the work we are doing this semester, it is a lot more free and it is allowing us all to improve as designers. There is something for everyone this semester and I think that this exposure to so many aspects of design is really broadening peoples thoughts with regards to how they would like to pursue their career.

We then brainstormed about how to prepare for an interview, the usual important things were spun out; dress well, be there on time, be polite and don't forget to shake the interviewers hand, all common knowledge however we were then shown a presentation produced by the design partners about what they look for when hiring a new employee. Simple things that we already knew were set in stone in our minds by the presentation however there were a few interesting facts like how quickly they would make up their mind about you after looking at your portfolio, this really hit it home for me and everything else was put in the background. The main objective now on the cv is to show how I'm different and why I should be the one that they hire for the job. If I can produce an excellent portfolio which draws in the person viewing it then I have an exceptional chance of succeeding well. This is inspiring to me and makes me want to get to work on my portfolio and put all my efforts into it as it is a portrayal of who I am as a designer and what I am capable of.

All in all I believe I have came away with a lot of knowledge from this weeks class and workshop. It has reiterated the importance of an exceptional portfolio and how much this means for my chances in getting a good career at the end of my studies. I feel like I am now more prepared for my interviews for co-op in the coming months, however there is a lot more work to be done between now and then!