I have found this session very useful and it has spurred me on to look at where I want to do work experience. I thought it was good discussing our ideas in groups, as we could help each other to answer our questions and find out what others think about industrial experience. For the upcoming tutorials, I will have a think about what I need to do next.
John & Jane's Advice - How to be professional
1// Be aware of the 'profession'
2// Experience the 'profession' in real time (visits / placements / skype)
3// Evaluate what you seek from your chosen profession
4// Experience real collaborations in professional terms
5// Communicate with professionals in a professional way
6// Add to your professional data base
7// Managing and learning from professional contact
8// Managing creative difference professionally
9// Expanding and compiling a professional network
10// Learning from other professionals
Why are we here? What do we want to learn?
Group: Me; Sophie; Kirsty; Kirsty; Lisa; Beth
1// Who am I as a designer? And what do I want to do?
2// How to contact companies about placements
3// What is it to be freelance? Is it possible to be freelance straight away?
4// How to creating a company/design practice - team collaborations
5// Learn what we're into - focus/ specialism
6// Find out how to be come independent
7// Improve networking and teamwork skills
8// Improve creative skills and software development
9// Learn how to be a designer in a professional practice
10// Gain confidence in self and work to be able to contact companies
Our expectations and concerns about industrial experience
Concerns
1// Where to start?
2// How do you gain experience to be able to gain placements
3// How do you approach companies - what do you say to ask for placements /help?
4// How do you prepare yourself for this experience - portfolio, c.v...
5// How do you know you're ready for placements?
Expectations of experience
1// Gain more knowledge about graphic design
2// Gives us a chance to experience different areas of design and see whether we like them as much as we thought we did, or maybe try new areas
3// Learn how professional relationships work
4// Network, make new contacts
5// Gain confidence in our own work
6// Want proper live work experiences, to take part on real briefs
7// Help us to discover who we want to work with and how we want to work
Pointers from John & Jane:
Gaining Experience
- Don't just email, send out mail shots, ring up, go in to the studio (emails can get lost in a load of junk mail, the companies are sent too many to go through all, they can be boring and impersonal)
- Keep asking! Send a creative/humorous beg so they won't forget who you are (such as a crying kitten, send them a postcard etc)
- Check spelling, find the persons name you are writing to, don't just write 'dear creative director'. Find the persons email address you want it to go to, don't just send it to an info@ email address as it may get lost
- Find out who you want to do work experience with - write a top ten list
- Don't leave you portfolio with someone as they won't have time to look at it
- Should select about 8-10 pieces of your work to show, with small amount of writing, leave them with the opportunity to ask any questions about things they may be unsure of
- Don't ask too much when asking questions as people don't have time to answer long questions, instead ask 2 simple questions and let them get back to you, then you can go on to ask more
At/ After Experience
- Be friendly, find a mentor at your work experience place 'creative flirting'
- Follow up your work experience email replies to make sure you have secured your place
- Keep in touch after experience, build on this creative relationship
- Use your contacts, build contacts around college, and if there is an opportunity that has arisen but is not suitable for you give it to someone else who may enjoy it
- Business cards allow people to keep in touch with you
- Don't write negative things about companies on your blog
- Evaluate after work experience, see what you have learnt and how useful it has been
- It is recommended to work with a company first rather than going straight into freelance work - social, learn from others, bounce ideas, let someone else pay for your mistakes you will no doubt make
- Build contacts with printers, other designers, photographers, other students
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