job searching...
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- jkosoy
question:
is it smarter to e-mail or send printed material to design firms if all of your work is digital anyway?
i'm more of a creative programmer than anything...i've been sending lots of e-mails out to a variety of firms.
i just wonder whether it'd be wiser to send them something tangible. like a cd and an actual printed copy of my resume (rather than a pdf). what do you think?
- jevad0
no offence because I find your site fun...but a lot of employers might not...if you're working mostly digital stuff then I would say it was imperative to get a solid portfolio up that has really good and decent sized images of your work, along with descriptions of exactly what you did on the job...
- jkosoy0
constructive criticism = good. You're def. right...the site needs a little facelift.
Still, my initial q remains... :)
- jevad0
Sorry - to answer your Q - I don't think you need to send printed stuff...
When I have hired people in the past they've sent me cd-roms in the post and brought printed stuff to the interviews, but at the end of the day, hiring for a web design position, I wanted to see how the sites they have worked on in the past were..design and code-wise...
- ********0
i say both
- industry730
just a thought.
"I have pop-ups blocked and i can't view your site! oh well no job for you!"
obviously you turn off your pop-up blocker but not everyone is that smart, they will just see there browser window resized and that is all. (thats what happened to me)
- jkosoy0
actually, that's my personal site anyway. :)
didn't realize what my profile said.
- CyBrainX0
I like the site a lot. I think pdf and a link to that site should be fine. I'm thinking of one person I know who might hire someone like you but would prefer paper, but that is the strongest case for digital only. You also have to think of the people you DON"T want to work for. My art director is one of them. I will be searching soon as well.
- rh0
Kudos to you on your personal site. It's probably the freshest design I've seen in awhile.
- Dolan0
Just from me --- my studio gets about 5-10 unsolicited contacts a week: Email, without attachments, is preferable. Don't attach some 300K pdf just because you want your fonts to look lovely. Link me to an URL --- if you must send me something, keep it simple and send a postcard or resume and cover letter. CDRs go straight into the trash.
- sexypixel0
I got one of those cdrom business card things in the post today from someone looking for a job, i stuck into my machine and was looking forward to something nice and interactive.
alls that was on it was a pdf.
- ********0
offtopic mista dolan can u tell me what teh lalah hathaway typeface is :D! allbeyobessfreint!
- gavinnosler0
i created a printed portfolio to go with my online portfolio. whenever i went in for an interview, they would always have my printed portfolio in hand and say "now THIS is very cool." my printed portfolio contained my contact info on the front page, a mini-resume on the 2nd page, and then the following pages were screenshots of my work with short descriptions. it matched the design of my website. during that interview period, i never interviewed with someone who didn't offer me the job. the place i work for now is one of those places, and they still have my printed portfolio. btw, i kept my e-mails short and mentioned i would be mailing a printed portfolio. the most important thing is to be creative with your portfolio. don't just send a folder with sheets of paper. i made a notecard sized portfolio held together by a ring...
here's the printed portfolio
here's the website
- gavinnosler0
i think the target=_blank screwed up my anchor tag...
web portfolio:
http://www.pixeldigital.com/old_…printed portfolio:
- jevad0
getting missing image links from all your portfolio links on teh site mate...
- jox0
I would
1) Call, and say that you'll be sending a CD with some stuff on. That way it won't get lost in the mail and they will get something they expect. And don't forget to include your contact info along with the CD!
I've received a few things meant as work samples from I-dunno-who.
2) Actually send the CD
3) Follow-up. Be it snailmail, email or phone.
- Dolan0
Tara: Lalah type is hand drawn, never made it into a full font, sorry.
- jkosoy0
Wow, lots of great feedback. Thanks so much all. :)
My best bet seems to be creating something print worthy and having it availible, and to stop sending out the PDF resume with the e-mail (though my PDF is only 12k). Maybe I mention in my "cover letter/e-mail" that I can send the printed/CD-R thing on request.
I'll make an HTML only version of my resume and link to that in the e-mail instead.
BTW, thanks to everyone who posted positive feedback on my personal site too. I 'preciate. Anyone who inflates my ego is a good person. :)
- gavinnosler0
jeved,
that's my old portfolio. i disabled all the old work. go to the root site if you want to see some stuff.