Advice on San Francisco
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- charity
Ugh, I am having a hard time finding work here as a graphic designer. The competition is tough and I'm still very early in my career. I'd really like to stay here for awhile but I'm beginning to worry that finding a job could take months.
Any advice or words of hope?
- fate_0
you should try harder
frankiefido
(Oct 26 05, 18:00
- prodigalslacker0
i've got a friend in sf who is having the same problem and he's got a crazy great portfolio, but i don't know how long he's been there. i know that there are a couple major firms in SF that usually want interns, i forget the names right now though. expensive as all hell place to live though, good luck finding something.
- Woolhouse0
i suggest you find the places you'd like to work even if they don't say that they're hiring.
Sometimes it's a matter of finding a good fit of experience and finding the right place.If you seem interested enough
they might see the truth behind your words in your cover letter.
Be sure to make the follow up call one week after they recieve it, that means 9 days after you send it. Makes you look less desperate but interested.It's a tough game to play.
Good luck.
- charity0
Thanks so much for the advice. It is a tough game to play and I'm not sure if I'm playing it right or not. I guess I will be finding out.
- ********0
Prodigalslacker, what is your friends portfolio?
Charity, after looking at your portfolio I can see why you are having trouble finding a bit of work. Most of your stuff is more on the Illustration side. Not much graphic design or design in general going on there, and you have no web design experience also. The companies that are hiring need somebody that can do great designs in photoshop, for print and web, illustration is always a plus, but I think they need more of real world type projects. Like cool posters for a real brand, or comps for websites. Even if you havnt worked on these brands you can still do fake ones to show a bigger bredth of talent.
Dont get me wrong, your stuff is pretty good, I just think you are going to find it hard finding a job as a Graphic Designer for bigger agencies. Your portfolio seems more suited for a Design Botique, but the problem with that is they dont hire very often. But keep hitting the bricks and working hard. you will catch a break, there is alot of work out there. Just expand your commercial abilities and actually design abilities.
Or maybe just become more of an illustrator?