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As a natural step towards my future career progression I was able to have a cv and portfolio crit with the Senior Graphic Designer at BD Network, London. As much as I do see myself in a Graphic Design studio I am also attracted to the larger branding companies that have a wider team than just designers so that a full package and experience can be delivered to a brand.
As I was unable to get to London at the time Hannah Nicholson was free to meet, a contact I have who works in the marketing part of the business took my printed CV and portfolio into the design department and Hannah very kindly went through and annotated the bits that instantly she saw to need changing. (see images below)
I then had a follow up email from Hannah summarising everything that she had seen on my portfolio and how it could be further developed. Some of the mistakes that I had made I was a little embarrassed about because it was simple grammar mistakes such as repetition of words or long sentences etc.
Email response:
Hi Hannah!
I'm so sorry this has taken me so long
to get back to you. Saunders has given me your CV and portfolio to have a look
through.
So generally it all looks great - looks
like you have loads of experience already!
As you're about to graduate I would
start sending out your portfolio to recruitment agencies asap but if you have
select agencies in mind that you want to work for then send something special
to them. This could be anything from a handwritten postcard with your work
printed on one side to a personalised bit of work made especially for them. You
want the design director to notice you so you need to stand out!
D&ad is a great place to go if your
course is going to any graduate shows then just make sure you're there with
your portfolio in hand and a clear business card.
So a couple of bits I would update on
your CV...
Get
your contact details near your name
Try
and get it all on one page
Don't need to repeat the reference
twice
When you say get involved as much as
possible what do you mean? Projects/ courses.
Leadership is a great skill but as a
junior designer I would shout more about enjoying working in a team environment
/ being a team player / being self motivated / keen to learn / want to gain new
skills.
I wouldn't have your reference in your
about me section.
It's great that you know what area of
design you want to work in - sounds like a branding agency is where you need to
be. Just have a Google and see what work you love, then contact them.
Just
check your sentence lengths in here when talking about the work you enjoy
doing. It
You can also talk about stuff you enjoy
doing a design director will want to know who you are what you do with your
time and if you'll fit in to their team.
Make sure you've got all the dates on
your work experience and include any other jobs not just design to show that
you've held a position somewhere.
Rate your level of skills things your
good at. Try and do like practical skills in one column personal skills in
another just to break it up.
Portfolio
I would be tempted to left align the
copy on your portfolio it's much easier to read.
Make sure you don't leave just one word
on a line.
I think the first two projects have the
same description?
You can make your descriptions more
concise or maybe add in an introduction page for a project if it does need an
explanation.
When you create something digital show
it on a device.
Ahhh hopefully that all sounds okay!
Sorry if it seems like loads but I think these tweaks will help overall it all
looks great already.
Let me know if you have any questions/
want me to look through anything again.
Thanks!
Hannah
Email reply 2
Hey Hannah
Yeah of course would love to see it, honestly don't rush it take your time and it will all pay off. You want to be really comfortable with what you're gonna be sending out. With recruitment agencies they will likely just want to have a chat and they'll let you know if they have any jobs on their books that match. They'll ask to see a CV/ portfolio.
I know it's a proper stressful time but don't worry if you don't get something immediately - I freelanced at a small agency until I got my first junior role in the October after I graduated.
Hannah
Reflection
This process has taught me that those higher up in the industry with experience should not be seen as a threat or to be intimidating as Hannah has shown to want to share her knowledge and make the graduation process as valuable as possible for me. I did not know abut recruitment agencies and how the could help me before this professional interaction/networking so that has now become part of my progression strategy for when I graduate. I plan to send my cv and portfolio to a recruitment agency so that I can start to understand the places in which I can look for available jobs and I will also find studios that I see to be the 'dream' to work in.
This will be an on-going point of contact now and when in London I plan to visit the studio and the design team just to build up my confidence in the industry by talking to as many people as possible and then also going to see what it would be like to work as part of a larger company than those I have already been apart of.
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