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Tips On Being a Web Design Graduate

Posted on a web design blog by Jordan in Articles

Having recently been in the position of graduating from a University-based web design (related) course, I thought about how it may have been helpful hearing about graduates in a similar situation to mine when I left University.  Here are a few tips for students in their final year of University or those who have recently left and are starting the dreaded job hunt…

1. Agencies, Agencies, Agencies

A lot of people have bad things to say about job agencies, but for a graduate they can be extremely helpful.

In the last few years a lot of agencies specializing in creative jobs have emerged, these agencies (should) understand what both the advertising company require, and what the applying graduate is looking for.  Using these agencies will reduce the risk of a generic agency trying to put you forward for jobs you either don’t want or aren’t suited to.

Below are a few agencies to get you started…

http://www.altituderecruitment.co.uk/

http://www.kelsojones.co.uk/

http://www.creativematch.co.uk/

Also, designm.ag have just wrote a comprehensive list of where to find web design jobs, take a look here.

2. Have an online presence

Obviously this should go without saying for web designers, but a lot of students graduate from University without a collection of websites they have designed for real clients, including an online portfolio where they can display the whole body of their work.

Even if you’re a graphic designer, when you send your CV over to a company it’s very useful to have a website with your best work on it so someone can get a quick look at what you have done in the past.  If you don’t, then it could be that you don’t ever get to present your work to a potential employer.

Including the best work you’ve done at University in your portfolio is a good idea, but it shouldn’t be the focal point of your portfolio as it won’t display any kind of experience with clients or diversity in your work.

Here are a few examples of some great portfolio sites…

http://www.evaneckard.com

http://www.danlindop.co.uk/

http://digitalmash.com/

Which leads me nicely onto….

3. Do work for clients, even if it’s for free

Clients don’t have to be the owners of massive companies, they can be family friends who own coffee shops, boutiques or friends that run their own club nights.  Of course, having well known companies and names on your CV / portfolio will look good but at it’s the quality and quantity of work that will help you in the long run.

You’ll do well to find people who are willing to pay a substantial fee to an unproven and inexperienced designer, which is why it’s important that you are prepared to do work for next to nothing or indeed, absolutely nothing.

Doing work for free may seem like a lot of hassle for a student with examinations and assignments on the horizon, but building a portfolio whilst in University will save you time and stress post-graduation.

4. Have a ‘nice’  CV

When I first graduated I hadn’t thought about how my CV looked, it had my vital information on such as past works experience, personal skills etc but it was largely the same CV that had got me into several odd jobs during University.

A CV can sometimes be the first thing that lands on the desk of a potential employer / client so first impressions really do count.

Phil Thompson wrote a good piece on how not to write a CV, which you can check out here.  Creare design also speak about their first hand experience of reading student CV’s for a design role.

5. Don’t depend on University to teach you everything you need to know

A decent University course should teach you the basic building blocks of web design, depending on the course that could include PHP, CSS, XHTML, content management systems, elements of graphic design and a whole lot more.  However, you must keep in mind that what University teaches you isn’t the be all and end all of the industry.  The web design industry is constantly evolving and it seems the structure of the ‘average’ University does not accommodate the growth and expansion of the industry it is trying to teach.

A List Apart have just written a fantastic article on the failings of web design at the University level.  While I won’t try and dissect it too much, it pretty much hits the nail on the head when it comes to what I believe are the shortcomings of the Universities when teaching website design.

A lot of students (I hold my hands up here as well) leave University and expect, perhaps rightly so, that the skills they have gained in the 3+ years in higher education have readied them for their imminent career in web design, and it’s usually not the case.

I graduated with a basic knowledge of CSS which I thought was enough, I soon realised it wasn’t so I went out and bought Simon Collisons book ‘Beginning CSS web development‘ which taught me more than my University CSS module did.

The hard work doesn’t stop when you leave University, for web design graduates it is just beginning.

That’s it for my first self-written article, I hope I’ve given some half decent advice and you’ve picked up one or two useful links along the way!

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Tags: graduates