The following ‘tips’ may help fresh graduates to realign their expectations and make informed decisions about their immediate and long term career plans.
01. Money is Secondary
Assess the body of work, the general philosophy and studio environment when you decide on your place to work. Do not let ‘salary’ be the driving force. Make a mark and money will follow.
02. Be Ready
Be open to any kind of work that may be assigned to you. Initially it might seem small, irrelevant or merely assisting a senior designer, but will go a long way in helping you understand various element of the design process.
03. Be Proactive
Add value to where you work. Bring something new to the table. Don’t be afraid of voicing an opinion.
04. Interaction is Key
Interact with the people you work with. In a job scenario, you will never be working in isolation, and there is always a lot to learn from your peers.
05. Real vs School
The real world is commercial and you need to understand clients, their requirements, deadlines, people who you work with, different processes that lead to the final product. A lot more learning is in store apart from just your skill set.
06. Rejection Helps Growth
Do not be disheartened if your ideas are rejected. It only leads to introspection and improvement.
07. Ideate on Your Own
Start with fresh doodles and thoughts that come to mind. Do not be tempted to draw ideas from the likes of Google and Pinterest.
08. Think Lateral
Literal ideas are boring. Reinvent your thoughts and try expressing them differently and not in the most obvious way.
09. Work With Your Hands
Do not lose touch with drawing and creating by hand. Treat the computer only as an assistant.
10. Gain Experience First
Give some time before you set off on your own. It may be an attractive proposition to freelance, but it is also isolating too early in your career. Some experience on how things work, honing your design skills, understanding the nuts and bolts of seeing a design to completion just equips you with more confidence to work independently in the future.
11. 'Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish'- Steve Jobs
Be curious. Read. Ask questions.
12. Assess Your Work
Once you have designed something step back and see if there was a better, more interesting way of doing it.
13. Think Afresh
Don’t be afraid to think out of the box, explore new ideas and thoughts.
14. Be Updated
Softwares are reinventing themselves all the time. New technologies are introducing options for understanding the world of digital design and motion graphics – an area where design is headed today. Be aware so you can make informed choices of what aspect of design you would like to see yourself taking on in the future.
15. Attention to Detail
Small things matter. Take time to perfect your design.
16. Back It Up With Logic
Always have reason and logic in your designs. For example: Why have you chosen a particular font or colour?
17. Keep Practicing
Incase job search takes longer than expected, keep experimenting and be in touch with your design skills through constant practice.
18. Be Patient
To conclude, as a fresh graduate you will need to be patient at every stage of your growth as a professional. At time it will be smooth at times a it could be a struggle, but stick and enjoy the journey.
