The problem has become increasingly acute. I'm eager to hire the next great class of designers, but to my dismay--and the dismay of many young hopefuls who've often spent many years and thousands of dollars preparing to enter the industry--I'm finding that the impressive academic credentials of most students don't add up to the basic skills I require in a junior designer.
I snagged this from a recent article from fast company design. The author is lamenting the quality of junior designers portfolios and talking about how tough it is to find a suitable candidate for a job.
It should go without saying, but I'll say it any way, you do not want to be one of these people. There are fantastic job opportunities out there but if you can't deliver the bare minimums for what employers are expecting you simply won't get hired. I've heard from numberous people that there are jobs out there just not the talent to fill them.
The article makes it pretty clear that schools aren't quite doing their jobs giving students a proper education - one of the reasons I started this blog. So it's important to be cognizant that you need to do more than what your school demands.
The trouble becomes figuring out how to put together a quality portfolio. For this I recommend reaching out to any creative you respect who is willing to help you work on it. I know it helped me out tremendously and hope it does the same for you. the opportunities are out there it's up to you to show you're worth it. Don't act entitled, never be content with your work and maybe you'll get hired.
Well that was rather bleak. Sorry, but you come here for reality not saccharine. I hope at the very least this post can inspire people to up the quality of their books.
Link via @branddna