5 Important Tips To Land a Job in 2022 as a Young Designer

Finding your first job as a designer can be very challenging.

If you Google “How to get your first design job?” you will get +5 000 000 000 results to dive into. Among those, there are some really good resources for nailing your resume, cover letter and portfolio, and there are innumerable websites for design jobs.

However, today there is much more to finding your first design job than just going through those frequently practiced steps. Here is a list of 5 important tips that will help you stand out from your competition and land your first dream job as a designer.

KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO DO

It is okay not to know what exactly you want to do next upon completion of your studies, but having some idea will help you tailor your strategy for finding your first job. One way of understanding what you want to do as a designer is to simply take a look at what motivates you. Ask yourself,

“What motivates me most?” –

Is it nature? Travelling? Art exhibitions? Maybe a TV series?

Once you identify what motivates you, do not be afraid to think in that direction. At the end of the day, what motivates you is what is going to help you wake up every day and go to work. You may not be able to build your dream career in one day, but every step you make is going to bring you one step closer to it.   

DISTINGUISH YOURSELF FROM YOUR COMPETITORS BY KNOWING YOUR STRENGTHS

During your interview you will likely be asked “What are your greatest strengths as a designer?” In order to avoid common answers like “creative, curious and responsible”, take a deeper look into your strengths. There are many personality tests and strengths assessments online that will help you do that. I personally prefer HIGH5, which is a free strength finder that helps you find your top 5 strengths. Once you identify your top 5 strengths, use those during your interview to describe what kind of an employee and designer you are.

Having an awareness of your strengths is positively linked with self-esteem and self-confidence. Most people struggle to name their top 5 strengths, so knowing yours will help you embrace and leverage what makes you stand out from other designers. Moreover, any employer will appreciate a young designer who has managed to explore their own strengths.

KNOW WHO YOU ARE HAVING YOUR INTERVIEW WITH

Often designers do not have their first interviews with designers. People interviewing you could be from HR, Marketing and Sales, or IT Department. Before going to an interview, find out who you will be having your interview with. Then, do some research on the value that design could bring to that particular department and how you can help them achieve their objectives.

By doing so, you will not only be able to adapt your vocabulary to that of your interviewer, but you will also be able to show that you understand the value of your work in that particular company.

BE CONFIDENT IN YOUR VALUE – ANY EXPERIENCE COUNTS

Being a recent graduate you might not have all the extensive work experience recruiters require from a designer, but keep in mind that any experience counts. Think of all the internships, job shadowing, group projects and presentations you have done during your studies. Write those down, choose 2 or 3 that you liked most, and learn to talk about those experiences in a professional way.

One way to present your experience is the “objective-input-output-lessons learnt” model:  

• Start by telling the problem you had to solve with your design project
• Present them with the objective of that particular project
• Talk about all the resources you put into solving the problem
• Highlight the outputs and talk proudly about them  
• AND do not forget to talk about “lessons learnt”

If you talk about your experiences following this model, there is no way the interviewer will not appreciate your approach.

ASK QUESTIONS – YOU WILL FIND OUT A LOT MORE THAN YOU THINK

A lot of recent graduates are afraid of asking questions during an interview, but asking questions will only clarify your ambition of working for that company. After knowing your main responsibilities, ask, for example, about the company culture.

Working for a company that has values similar to yours will only motivate you more to get the job. A company that shares your values will only help you strive at your work in order to achieve common goals.

Also, do not forget to take notes. It only shows that you are interested.

All the tips listed above will only work if you have done all the basic requisites:

• Come up with a detailed yet concise resume ;
• Highlight both your hard skills (Adobe, InDesign, Quark) and soft skills ;
• Do not forget about keywords when building your CV and resume ;
• Have your cover letter and your resume proofread ;
• Update your portfolio ;  
• Create profiles on all the major websites for designer jobs ;  
• Do A LOT OF networking ;
• In case of an interview, get to know the company.  

What are you waiting for? Go land your first job in 2019!

In case you want to build on your confidence and find out more about setting goals based on your strengths, take a look at this article about strengths-based goal setting.