I was a stay-home mom for 10 years, then I worked as an administrative assistant for a while (bleah) before deciding that it was eating my soul and returning to school. I now have a BA (summa cum laude) in Art with a lot of experience in web and graphic design…
…so now we’re moving to Boston (well, not IN Boston–Dan’s residency is in Framingham) and I need to start looking for a job. I don’t want another soul-sucking job filing and typing up order forms, and I have a degree now, so I should have some sort of shot at something better, right?
So I’m trying to do my resume and all that, and it’s very intimidating. I don’t have a lot of experience with this and could use advice. Also, I’m not even sure what kind of jobs I should be looking for. I want it to be something art/design related…
I should add that in the long term, I want to be a studio artist (painting, mainly) working for myself–my husband is a doctor, and once he finishes his residency he should be able to make enough money that we won’t have to rely on me having a regular paycheck to get by (in fact I’ll probably go get my MFA at that point)… So I’m not looking at life-long career type thing here, just something I could deal with for 3 years that won’t kill me and actually utilizes my talents.
Advice? Both on the resume and on the job searching process itself?
Well, why not work in web/graphic design? Though honestly I don’t think the degree makes a real difference, aside from what you learned about art; it’s all your portfolio and the sites you worked on.
Ad agencies, PR firms, corporate communications divisions, newspapers, magazines all hire graphic artists. Your web design skills will most likely be sought after in any of these fields as well. People are moving away from printed communications as too costly and putting their stuff up on the web.
You could try the Boston area Ad club and see if you can get a list of their members. That’d be a start.
Ok, then. Perhaps the best way to address this isn’t with the “what I’ll accept” mindset, but more of the “what I want” one.
So, what is your list of jobs you “want”?
Your mileage may vary, but I’ve found it’s helpful to have several versions ready because each job one applies for will have slightly different needs. It’s nice to have a crafted version for that potential employer, tailored to his needs. Also, the usual stuff applies: avoid misspellings, malapropisms, strange fonts, vernacular. Since you’re an “artist” (?) I guess maybe the vernacular bit won’t really cut against you so much. But you’ll want to make sure the presentational quality is nice, refined and elegant, without being pretentious.
You’ll need a portfolio of all your best design work; 10 - 20 pieces. Have a nice printed copy in a spiffy portfolio binder, and bring printouts to all interviews to leave behind. Include a link to it in your resume. Show only the sorts of things you want to do, i.e., don’t show flash if you don’t want to do flash. For your resume, any basic skills-based resume type will do. You’ll want a skills-based resume since your previous fulltime jobs are not what you want to be doing now.
I’d suggest looking at companies that do design for small business, rather than the trendy ad agency/web startup sorts, at the usual job boards/craigslist. Freelance is always an option, too, and the hourly rate can make it worth the lack of health insurance and steady paycheck.
What is your discipline? Are you an illustrator? A graphic designer? A printmaker? A filmaker? An animator?
FWIW, Boston has three major art schools and is only an hour away from RISD. You’ll need an outstanding portfolio and a willingness to freelance in a market like that.
One thing I’m also nervous about is that I’m applying for jobs in another state, so I can’t go in tomorrow and interview if they ask, kind of thing. Even once I vacate Cleveland, we’re putting our stuff in storage and then I’m staying at my mom’s summer house in New Hampshire until we have a place to live. Dan is renting a room (only a room, and he isn’t allowed to have me stay there) in the Boston area until the end of August.
Can someone who has done the looking-for-jobs-in-other-states thing advise?
Interesting, but I’m hesitant to spend money to join a site when I can’t even see what kinds of things the site lists… plus it only has just over 300 jobs on it right now, and that’s nationwide. How many are in Boston? 5?
My roommate just graduated from Virginia Marti College of Art & Design in Lakewood (actually graduated in Sept, had the ceremony last week). When he was at the post-graduation reception, they told him there will be some sort of class coming up in the summer quarter that goes over very specifically how to do your resume and portfolio, and also offers some job placement help at the end of it all.
I’m not sure of the specifics - can’t find anything on their site - but you might be interested in checking this out if the timeline fits with your schedule. You’ll have to call them to figure out what the details are.
I don’t know how much graphic design you studied, but that’s where I suspect most of the jobs are going to be.
I’d recommend putting together some advertisement-looking things. Don’t just display your art as is, use your freehand paintings as sub-elements within the overall ad design. Try to hit a few styles, something more lush and sexy like a makeup ad, something with hard lines and muted tones like a bank advertisement, etc.
If you can make something that looks professional, that will be a good portfolio for any graphics design or webpage job.
I should clarify: I’ve been doing freelance graphic design and web design since about 1996 or so. I have done many advertisements for magazines, product brochures, advertising mailings (postcards) and so on, which are in my portfolio. When I started back at school, I was in school for graphic design, but I switched to painting after I took my first painting class. I also have what I would consider expert experience in Photoshop and Illustrator.
I also took a whole class in college on how to make a portfolio, so that isn’t my trouble.
My problem is A) what do employers look for in a resume? B) how the hell do I FIND a job? I mean I know the kinds of things I can do I just have no idea how to find them as jobs. C) other than “web design” and “graphic design” which are extremely generic, what other jobs out there fit my skill set so that I can broaden my job search parameters? and D) how the heck do you look for a job that is in another state?
There are some free sites, too. I don’t think you’re going to come up with a lot of non-web design gigs, particularly when you’re limited to one area. You’ll probably need to look at both the free and the for-a-fee sites to get as many opportunities as you possibly can.
In regards to looking for a job from NH – if you want a job in Boston/Framingham, use an address on your resume that is close to those locations. When we screen resumes, the first thing we do is eliminate the people who live too far away. We don’t pay relocation expenses, so if you live farther than 30 minutes away, you’re usually out. So my advice is to put Dan’s Boston address on your resume.
You are lucky to be within driving distance of Boston, so you can try to schedule interviews around the same time and make one trip down there.
The best place to find jobs right now is definitely the internet: Monster, Craigslist and Careerbuilder. Also, try networking on facebook, myspace, etc.
Wow, even if someone is moving there anyway, their spouse is already there, and they’re not looking for relocation expenses, you throw away their resume? Ouch.
I think I’ll return to my previous plan of spending the next 3 years in food-service hell
Kalhoun: You can’t teach art without a master’s degree.
