Got skills, but not experience?
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- AssassinAve
Has anyone else noticed that the jobs being offered out there seem to be at odds with the actual skills and experience level of graduates out there?
The web is barely mature enough to have fundamentally changed programs at most schools, so I often wonder when agencies are chasing interactive people with 4-6 years of experience, they're looking for 02-04 graduates who actually were in a progressive program despite an even more exponential leap in web design and tech over the four years following the minimum requirements.
I mean I know of very few schools and even the good ones, that still don't have an excellent interactive program that produces top quality designers that can bust it out in Flash and AF at the least. Sure there are those who can, but is or was your education appropriate enough to come out of school looking valuable to an employer in this respect?
Anyone been shot down because of lack of experience, but with promise and good skills?
- 3point141590
There are plenty of designers that have just graduated school that have good interactive skills, they learned them on their own with out the school. I personally blame the schools for not preparing the student designers for the real world. It is a crying shame and waste of their parents money!
- epete220
my whole first year looking for a job. "we like your work but you dont have agency experience." "well i am trying to get agency experience, I just graduated." "Come back when you get agency experience."
- jfletcher0
I actually got hired despite moderate skills and worked my ass off like none other to catch up. Now I'm doing well and have solid skills, but the first 3-4 years were really rough.
I agree, there aren't many good school programs. I've found so many programs teach the tools and not the craft. They teach the flashy and not the basics. I've actually thought a lot about getting involved with some schools around here (WA State), but just haven't had the time.
I have a hard as hell finding good people to hire. I could care less about experinece. I look for work, skills, and potential... but I do believe I'm rare from what I've seen. Not to mention potential usually means squat in an agency because they don't care to grow people...
- Tungsten0
I went to school for Photography at probably the most highly regarded commercial program in Canada, when I graduated I realized that I had just wasted 2 years of my life and a shit load of money. Everything I've learned over the last few years has re-enforced my opinion that a good portfolio is the most important thing you can have. Talent will always trump education or experience.
- Great talent can win for sure. Average talents needs to be cultivated through education. Experience is almost always equal to talent in realityAssassinAve
- Experience is almost always equal to talent
AssassinAve
- a_iver0
Ha I went to century college here in MN—biggest mistake ever. They taught us the tools (which i could have figured out on my own, thanks), but as far as direction.. concepts.. examination of well executed design.. almost ZERO. I brought myself up on the internet, because the only opportunities my school had to offer were awful life-wrecking opportunities. I'm talking logos for our schools prosthetic department, free designs for dental hygenists.. it was horrible. And then they would ridicule us for not be proactive. I mean, I'll give a little... but seriously?
- a_iver0
"potential usually means squat in an agency because they don't care to grow people..."
and i'm starting to find this to be very true
- fusionpixel0
how can get skills without experience? is like, I know how to lay bricks but i dont have experience. I know how to fix the sewer but never have done it..
- see thats a good response for when they tell you you don't have any experienceKwesiJ
- NONEIS0
Frankly, you have no excuse if you want to do interactive and you graduate with zero experience. The opportunities surround you, the info is freely available, and the tools to practice are cheap and viable. What those employers are looking for (the ones you mention), are students who realized this from the get go, and who chose to seek those opportunities out.
Fact of the matter is, most of the jobs out there that you might want, or that you might fantasize about having while a student, those jobs usually require settling for a crappy one out the gate - unless you self-motivate and track down said opportunities beforehand. Trust me, the average client is far less prejudicial than the average employer.
You cant really blame a given employer for not wanting to hire someone with zero hands on deck experience, especially a place that refers to itself as an "Agency", they are looking for someone with a track record of teamwork, and proven repeated success in an environment similar to theirs. Try seeking out smaller shops that have a larger, more vested interest in their clients, the same is usually the case with their employees.
- +!3point14159
- I should add that, if you have the skills, then you REALLY have no excuse...NONEIS
- whodovoodoo0
on the teaching the tools not the craft bit; that is a good assessment of a lot of schools, especially the trade/vocational schools.
- wordsinyourmouth0
schools generally suck at preparing students, however if a student graduates with no agency experience.... i'd blame the student for not having enough ambition to go out and get agency experience while she or he is in school. this may sound harsh, but that's just how it is. i had plenty of friends in the same program as me that just expected to come out and have jobs handed to them, whilst they did nothing other than the class assignments. now they don't have jobs in the field... and frankly, i don't have much sympathy for them. ambition, ambition, ambition, hard hard work, humility, and perhaps a little talent is what you need to break through. school was pretty much a total waste for me as well.
- honest0
I have ham, but I'm not a hamster
- studderine0
i had some experience, but i also worked as a student worker IV for 3 years at my university <--- that helped a lot.
- nocomply0
Haven't read any of the responses but....
I graduated in 04 with a degree in "Interdisciplinary Computing & the Arts," which was basically a fancy way for UCSD to say "digital art" or "graphic design" or something like that.
At the time I graduated, I was very upset with the schooling I received. I had been taught very little in terms of real-world skills. Most of the courses were theory based, and the emphasis was heavy on conceptual art rather than design. Back then and even now, these things don't really interest me.
To compensate, I worked hard on my own time to develop skills in HTML, Photoshop, Flash, etc.... I did this mostly because I enjoyed it, but also because I knew it was these skills I would use to get a job when I graduated. Once I graduated and got a job, I started to learn all about CSS. Coworkers helped me out a lot with the stuff that was new to me.
So yeah, it kind of sucked that school didn't prepare me for the real job market, but honestly I think the best way to learn this stuff is either on your own or on the job. I don't think universities are really meant to teach these types of skills. Things like HTML and actionscript are better suited for a trade school. I can say that now, being out of school for nearly 5 years, but I remember how frustrated I was when I graduated and I feel your pain.
So my advice would be to pursue what you enjoy, no matter if it's in school or outside of school. That's basically what I did and it's worked out so far.
- n8w0
yeah .. its the catch 22 of starting out in most fields .. persistence will get you experience
- mtgentry0
Intern somewhere good. When I graduated I had a crappy insurance job 3 days a week and I interned the other 2 days for free. I got my first real job because the design firm I interned at was respectable.
- GeorgesII0
You educated still don't get it,
the only reason you don't find work is because
- jfletcher0
I'm watching the start of the Helvetica movie, and something interesting hit me... I starting thinking about the old time methods of typography and how poeple now argue about using a Mac or PC or which tool is the best between Photoshop and Fireworks... but they argue less about the design itself.
It seems we've lost something beautiful. I know this doesn't nessisarily fit into this thread, but I thought the people reading the thread could appriciate the thought...
- ukit0
Among the pool of talented designers out there, I bet there are not very many who want to go into teaching, especially when most are max 10 years into their careers. Who can blame them, they would rather be designing! But I think that's why so many of the interactive programs are so poor.
- Meeklo0
Well, I think if the company is looking for an experienced person, they are looking for just that, someone that has been in the game for a few years because they want that person to take on a job with more responsibilities. That's all no recent grad should expect to get a sr designer position right away, the "Sr" comes with experience, not talent.
There are companies out there looking for jr designer positions, or internships, those are the ones reserved for fresh out of school people, talented or not.
Everyone can learn a software on the job, its a tool and with practice we all get a little better everyday.
- drgss0
lie on your CV