Top Tips from a Recent Graduate
Approaching the end of your creative degree can cause all manner of emotions, from relief and pride that you overcame your challenges, to the fear and anticipation of what the future holds. There is no doubt that you have been bombarded with advice from family members, friends and professionals, much of which can be conflicting or simply doesn’t apply anymore in todays competitive working environment. I however, have very recently been navigating this tricky stage of life, and through many highs and lows have acquired some interesting insights that may just help you in making that initial step to your first job.
University of Plymouth Degree Show 2022 - Graphic Communication with Typography
Nobody is above you,
nobody is below you.
This one is simple. It is easy to believe that you don’t deserve advice from the professionals you look up to, but thanks to LinkedIn we now have the ability to approach those who inspire us. Of course you can make up plenty of excuses not to, but there is nothing stopping you from reaching out! The worst case scenario (and often most common) is that you get no response at all, but for every ten messages or invitations you send, you may just get one that creates an opportunity that you otherwise would not have had. Conversely, you may be of the belief that those outside of the creative industry cannot be of much benefit to you and your career, but it is important to respect all opinions and be open to advice from everyone regardless of their background. Remember that opportunities can often appear from unlikely places or connections.
No experience is bad experience.
Explore the options that may be available to you; your University’s careers service will have advice and potential opportunities for you to get involved with. Whilst this might not lead to a long term position, a day, week or month of experience not only looks great on your CV for any future roles you apply to, but also allows you to socialise with other creatives, which in itself is a great opportunity to explore and influence what you might wish to do later in your career.
This work for YMCA Plymouth (opposite) was completed as part of a micro internship scheme offered by my university. It was a great chance to gain experience working in a new environment, as well as being given the opportunity to make a difference to a local organisation with my design work.
You don’t have to be good at everything.
We have all been there; sitting in a studio feeling like everyone around you is full of talent that you don’t have. Imposter syndrome is very real at all stages of your career, so it’s important to take the time to reflect on your journey and the skills you have acquired along the way, allowing yourself the recognition you deserve. It is also important to recognise that all creatives have their strengths and weaknesses, so what you feel you lack is in fact offset by the strengths you have in other skills. Don’t let your weaknesses put you off; acknowledging them can be great in inspiring you to learn a new skill. All of my motion graphics and video editing knowledge has come from online resources; the hours of watching Youtube videos does pay off!
Don’t panic! Take some time.
If your lecturers, friends and family are telling you this, they are correct. However, if you are anything like I was, you likely are not following that advice. Wether its your desire to be the first in your class to get a job or you just can’t bare the thought of moving back in with your family at the end of studying, your hunger for a job is completely justified. However, in relentlessly pursuing every career option possible, not only do you risk missing out on a really fun final few weeks with friends, it is also easy to lose sight of what you are aiming for. Of course, putting in the hard work to make sure you have a great portfolio and CV is important, but equally important is allowing yourself time to decide what is right for you. Your first job certainly doesn’t have to be your dream job, but rather than apply to every position you find on LinkedIn, allow yourself time to craft a more detailed application to the ones that you are genuinely passionate and excited about.
For me, a key interest is aviation. Exploring this industry further gave me valuable information about the creative roles within the sector.
Immerse yourself in your interests:
Through studying as well as the early stages of my career, I have met people with all manner of passionate and often obscure interests, and we as creatives are fortunate in that our jobs can touch on almost any subject matter. Wether it is fashion, sport, technology or something really outside of the box that you are passionate about, there is almost certainly a company out there that specialises in content of that variety. It is a great time for you to explore what is out there and how further down the line you could potentially reach that perfect position you have in mind. Even if your initial exploration shows no job opportunities, reach out to people for advice on how they achieved their goals and share your passion; its a fantastic way to introduce yourself to people who may be in a position to offer you the chance to pursue you dream career in the future.
One of my post studying side projects was to design minimalistic airport maps. Not only was this a fun project for me that kept my illustrator skills in check, it also gained me valuable connections on LinkedIn, one of which resulted in me being offered a behind the scenes tour of Bristol Airport (opposite). This may seem rather random or unrelated to my career, but my point here is that people want to help, encourage and inspire you, and those relationships can last a long time.
Keep creating!:
After three years of non-stop projects you need a break; there is no doubt about that! But it is also important to build on and nurture the skills that you have spent so much time developing during your time at university. Getting stuck into a creative project outside of such a structured environment can be difficult though, especially if you are running low on ideas or simply need a brief to follow. There are many ways that you can approach this, so here are a just a few that can be helpful in getting the creative juices flowing.
Reach Out!
I may be less than a year into my career, and I certainly have lots more to learn along my journey, maybe I can be of some help. If you would like to know anymore about my experiences, share your work or just simply say hi, feel free to contact me using the form below!
