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- pillhead
If you have the time then please read, Need some advise please.
So I have been out of the design industry for about 5 years now, the reason for my leave was my father got diagnosed with terminal cancer and being his only son, and only family, I had the responsibility of looking after him which turned into a full time job, I had to leave London and move down to Kent where my dad lived, as you can understand there is not mush of an advertising industry down here, so design work can be hard to find, plus I could only do part time work due to me looking after my father most of the time.
So last year I have been trying to get back into web design which is where most of my experience is at, I have had lots of interviews but I am finding it really hard to nail down a full time position, I have been trying now for over six months with not mush luck. I'm thinking to myself maybe I just have not got what it takes anymore, five years is a long time after all. I suppose what I am asking is a review of my portfolio to see what the people on QBN have to say. The worst part of my portfolio is I have no live links to any websites at the moment which is not helping me find a job.
I am at a time in my life where I am not young anymore 38, maybe I should face facts and get on with something ells if my design work is not on pace with present web design.
What do you think.
- Hombre_Lobo0
man, thats an extremely tough thing to deal with.
ive only just graduated so im in no position to offer advice, ill let some of the pros chime in.
Keep your chin up though dude and good luck!
- ps, in my novice opinion your site design is perhaps a little cold (and maybe dated), but the work is good!Hombre_Lobo
- cheerspillhead
- marychain0
Your ports not bad...it does look a little dated, but you have the design skills.
In this market...I would say don't give up yet, I know a lot of people who are taking 9-10 months to find full-time....so you're not quite there yet.
Maybe you can work on some personal sites right now and get some live work out there...your site doesn't have a lot of work on it.
- Allot of my other work is just to out dated to put online.pillhead
- kona0
you have the eye
don't give up
your work is minimal and clean, and it definitely looks great. i think where some of your work falls down though is that even though it's supposed to be minimal, it seems unfinished and unpolished, like it could have been pushed just a bit further. richer gradients giving the work a better sense of space, more depth and vibrancy in colors, that sort of thing. you have the eye, but today the design trend is nike.com and apple-ish. (speaking generally of course)
don't give up though dude. you've got talent.
- THIS! bang on with the minimal / unfinished thing. but (as kona says) pillhead clearly has good design skills.Hombre_Lobo
- Having the eye is always good. Cheerspillhead
- dibec0
I don't think there is anything shameful for getting a temp job being whatever duties it may be. There are tough times upon us all, but dreams should not be shattered do to hardships. It should motivate us more to chase our dreams and goals.
The highest importance is your Father and his health. You are doing everything you can to be a great son. A lot of us applaud you for this. No easy task for sure. You have made a sacrifice and that is pure love. Really awesome and a total +1.
I think if you truly want to be a web designer, chase it. How aggressively you approach this goal is going to procure the outcome. Make a realistic plan, wake up ever morning and chase that goal. Put a post-it next to your bed, monitor, car, etc. Live it and breathe it.
as a wise man said " Light the fires, and kick the tires "
and remember ... don't ever give up.
- I feel like a bad son. I definetly applaud you for sacrificing 5 years.pinkfloyd
- Hombre_Lobo0
^well said dibec!
"You have made a sacrifice and that is pure love. Really awesome and a total +1."Think yourself proud pillhead! :)
- Horp0
You can get back in. Maybe you get back in in a different and unexpected area though. Perhaps you need to think about what your core skills as a person are, rather than what your web-based design skills are.
I took five years out too. Sort of. Stopped being a design industry creative director and strategy head, and became an illustrator so that I could leave London and start a family without a 5 day commitment.
After 5 years of being an illustrator and knowing I didn't want to carry on with that, I started applying for jobs at the start of 2010. I felt like I stood no chance. Really, it felt like the hardest thing ever. I knew I didn't want to go back into design, and I knew I didn't want to be an illustrator, and I knew that after 5 years of self-employment drawing pictures, I was going to be a hard sell to a company anyway.
But I got a freelance contract as a cultural analyst and its turned into an ongoing stream of work in a totally new, unexpected, and really rewarding area of work.
So don't worry about being out of it so long, and don't worry about your age (I'm 41), because the world is awash with green shoots who have no experience to draw on, and when times are tight, which they are, people would rather put their business in the hands of those who have had some previous experience to draw on.
You'll be okay. Don't worry about your work. You have a valid reason for a 5 year absence. Be open to new ideas and directions, and look for more flexible arrangements initially.... going from 5 years out to full time is harder than going from five years out to three days a week freelance, and after 12 months of 3 days a week freelance, going back full-time will be much easier.
- pillhead0
Thanks for the kind words people, cheers.
- canuck0
Try and get in with a recruitment company, getting some temporary work to build your portfolio back up.
- Haggerty0
Yeah, the odd gig doing a bit of banner production work, emails etc. just to get your foot back into the world of work shouldn't be too hard to find.
As something you could do for yourself, you could tidy up your portfolio a little, paying attention to the details. There is a fair bit of pixel shift moving between project pages that give away the fact that they were probably never finished. You could maybe refresh the site a little too, it is feeling a little dated.
But don't worry, there are hundreds of people working in London with less talent than you.
- identity0
plenty of jobs here in the states - NY alone has tons of offerings
- CALLES0
best of luck wish i could help
- SteveJobs0
wait, are you the NT'er who introduced us to choppy thing back in the day???
either way, best of luck to you :)
- akrokdesign0
hope things works out. don't give up.
- moldero0
pillhead, i was in the same situation in '03 my pops had a bad stroke, and I had to take a break from work for a couple of years to help him recover, i hear you with the it being a full time job, it really can be, the physical therapy at the VA was a bloody joke... hes still in bad shape today but he is stable enough where he can semi take care of his self, cant cook or prepare food for himself at all. the stroke was bad enough for him to leave him permanently in a codependent position, sucks because before his stroke he was a feisty little Filipino superintendent in construction helping build the new chain of bart stations in the bay area, now hes reduced to a super passive personality watching tv with occasional walks in the park when i can manage to drag him out. sucks. props/respect to you pilly ive known people to just say f'it leaving it to the system to take care of their parents when they were fully capable of doing it themselves but choosing not to.
as for your portfolio, check this out, I was a PC guy during this whole thing with my dad, so i designed my portfolio this one time with CSS instead of going my usual flash route and with a PC, didnt think to test my sites functionality with a mac or its browsers (i was a flash guy, didn't cross my mind), so i get an interview, land the job, oh crap they use macs here, gotta adjust, so few weeks in my new job I had a few minutes so i went to my site to check it out, the crap didn't even work on a mac, it did kinda, but it looked like complete and utter shit, and the entire company were using macs, so this whole time i thought my portfolio landed me the gig when it was just the interview. your portfolio is good, you do have the eye, maybe a bit dated with your logo but its cool, shows you've been in the game when pinning your pants was in style (jk) ive worked with people whos portfolios were complete shite, and they were also complete shite, 1 girl freelanced in house next to me making $90/hr everything about her work sucked. you can get a good gig with your folio as it is, just keep interviewing, its tough for a lot of people right now so dont take it personal, just take it slow and keep your chops up.
:)
- VikingKingEleven0
Offer to do a sample project. Code out a home page design or something.
You really have a leg up because you can do print and web.
How do you feel your interviews are going? Maybe thats where you weakness is.
- ghandolf0
How about trying a few non-profits, churches, social agencies that have no budgets, need newsletters, or ads, or whatever? Volunteering can sometimes lead to better things, either with those companies themselves, or with the folks you'd be working with or collaborating with. It would get you 'back in the saddle' without all the pressure, while you get comfortable and confident again.
Best of luck mate, and so sorry about your Dad!
