Today we had a talk with Jo Carter from Concept Personnel.
She started a recruitment agency for creatives 12 years ago.
She gave us a scenario where we were given 24 CV's, with an outline for a job that they had all applied for.
She then gave us half an hour to decide 6 that would be taken forward to interview, as the manager of the company looking for the job would be a very busy.
Afterwards she went through everyones groups to see which ones had been chosen the same etc and then showed us why certain ones wouldn't be chosen and why certain ones would.
She then gave us tips. Our CV needs to stand out - be in the yes pile not the no. As employers are very quick to say no.
Don't need our age on it any more, because of discrimination against younger people etc.
As people form opinions about you from what they see.
The CV also needs to remind them of you, after you have an interview.
Consider what it looks like visually as well as printed.
Consider it's layout, typography etc, not to bright on colors. Don't make them hunt for the main information.
Put key words in such as illustrator, branding, etc so that if they type it into a big database such as CV library it will come back in a shortlist.
Make sure your social networks aren't gonna give you a bad reputation or get you fired.
Today I finished and handed in my final Work Based Learning briefs. I liked this project, it helped me understand what employers look for in a portfolio, and helped me understand how quick a working environment moves.
Here are my finals for this project:
STI Awareness finals:
And here are my finals for the c card brief:
I enjoyed completing these. I just wanted them to be very simple, but still get the message across.
This week I have completed the Snug By Design brief. This brief was quite restricted because the client gave us the kind of thing she wanted and she gave us the font we had to use and the colors she wanted.
I tried researching the company but as it's up and coming I couldn't find anything.
I did the first part of my logo on illustrator using the path finder and shapes tools and finished it in photoshop with brushes, using the pastel colors she asked for.
These are my finals: I also put them in situ
Today we had a talk with Dave. I'm not sure what his last name was though. He has worked/ works with companies around the UK and is a freelance designer now.
He gave us some tips for our portfolio which were:
Name it (not just your name)
It should show opportunities and ideas
Be confident
Show a range of thinking (versatility)
It's a competition against others - not who's better, they look for passion, personality, creativity, so demonstrate them
Remember that ideas mean selection process - type, color, layout etc
Every employer is different, so don't take it personally if you don't get the job, you might just not be what they needed
Show integrity, you've got show that you want the job so research them first
They also look for Promise.
He also mentioned a good way to remember things.
Don't panic - they're just looking for someone to help make them some money
Prepare and Perform - Make sure you're ready for it, make sure you understand the briefs you did
Follow up - say thanks for your time etc - be curteous, polite, they look for the little touches
NEXT! - If it doesn't work out
Don't always talk about the design, they might not understand this, talk about the business side of things
Aim high, contact employers - don't know if you've not tried.
Good employers will give you creative feedback because they care
He also gave us a timeline of progression.
Starting - Agency - Learn and Grow - Freelance
Make you spend a lot of time on your portfolio for final show. Be around all the the incase potential employers/ clients show up.
Be there everyday of your show.
Be honest with your portfolio, show works that's yours and ONLY yours!
What I think is my best work might not be what the employer thinks is your best work.
Know what's coming next in it.
Put sketch books etc in not just outcomes.
Put inspirations in
Introduce yourself subtly - might waste your time if you just turn up out the blue.
It's not personal!
Do self initiated work, broaden it first.
I learned quite a lot from this talk.
Today I finished my finals for the first brief I chose to do out of portfolio building. The outcome for the brief is a poster that advertises The Americans tv program me, which would be shown on buses and billboard.
I first did some quick research into poster layout for tv programs with similar genres and I also looked at colors used, typography etc. I also did research into The Americans and watched the trailer for it so that I could get a better feel.
These are the finals I came up with:
Again I was going for a simple approach for these. I like them but I think the middle one could be better. I think the top one and bottom one are most likely to go in my portfolio.
Today we were introduced to our final module - scary! - portfolio production. The point and aim of this module is so that we have a professional standard portfolio to take to industry or level 6.
We have been given 12 briefs to choose from. We don't have to do them all, but as many as possible.
This week I am going to do the 2nd Keltie Cochrane brief of the year and created a poster for the Americans.
This week has been focused on work based learning. We were given two briefs from a company called Keltie Cochrane.
Brief 1 is about STI awareness, and raising the issue that Gonorrhoea and Syphilis is on the rise in Newcastle, particularly among women.
Brief 2 is about raising awareness of the C-Card and how 13-24 year old men and women can get free condoms, and therefore they have no reason not have safe sex.
We have to do a weeks worth of a project, and final outcomes for both.
