From Chris Lowe, Freelance Recruiter at Microsoft

Good questions and ones I deal with on a daily basis.
 
—How do you think students should contact design firms?
E-mail really is the best method. It allows the recipient to return the message – and take more time in doing so – than an out of the blue phone call. Also be direct and upfront in why you’re contacting them and use a concise and to the point subject line.
 
—What resources or forms do design firms want to be contacted with first? (Ie mailed vs emailed resume’s, pdf sample books or website)
E-mail is better because it’s much easier to forward along to multiple people. PDF is nice because it’s usually quicker to flip through the work than most websites. Also you don’t have to worry about a connection problem rendering the work impossible to view. That said, at our firm we now expect people to be able to design for both print and web mediums so it’s good to have a site in addition to a PDF and physical book. Also you can show more work on a site than you can in a PDF which can be limited by network file size issues.
 

—Do you think students should show all their work in electronic forms (ie pdfs/websites) or should they save some for their portfolio review?
In general, more is better than less but only if the work is good. Don’t add material for the sake of padding the portfolio.
 
In most places I’ve worked a candidate’s work will need to be reviewed by several people and electronic formats make this much easier. We will still want to see the actual work in a book should we decide to bring the person in for an interview.
 
I wouldn’t hold out on showing work. Design jobs are super competitive so you need to present your best work first.

 
Web specific tips:
1)       Make it easy to quickly go through the work.
2)       Keep the interface simple. Finding your work shouldn’t be the online equivalent of an Easter egg hunt.
3)       Make sure the samples you show are large enough to actually see in detail. A lot of web portfolios get this wrong.
4)       Include a link to your resume and also some means to contact you. You’d be surprised how often people forget this!
5)       Don’t forget the fundamentals – layout, color and typography still count on the web.
 
 
Do you respond to gimmicking promotional material?? What stands out to you?

No, if anything it tends to make me think they’re doing it to compensate for a lack of great work! I’ve been recruiting for 10 years so I’ve seen more than my share of gimmicks. I really look for clean, simple and honest work.

Additional Resources

Linkedin

SPU-Center for Career and Calling

Aquent

Filter (Creative Placement Service)

The Creative Group (Creative Placement Service)

24/7 (Creative Placement Service)

Craigslist

design agency.com (International Creative Placement Service)


Feedback from SPU vcd alumni

Elizabeth Dolhanyk 09

• Use SPU Career Center.
  

• Email is an EASY way to apply for jobs. However, it is NOT the only way to apply for jobs. In my experience, it’s probably the least effective method. Try informational interviews, delivering your application in-person, or making a phone call before you resort to email (if you can).

• Be patient. Be prepared to wait, but don’t “waste your time waiting”. Use your “waiting time” to develop contacts and communication with other companies.
  

• If at first you are rejected... ask for an informational interview or office tour. Don’t take the initial “no” for an answer and humble yourself so that you might show your eagerness to learn.
  

• Let go of your pride. Even if you don’t find a design-related job within 3-6 months after graduation, don’t hesitate to look in other areas for jobs to keep you “afloat” while you’re searching for that “dream job”. Taking a barista job, for example, isn’t necessarily a “step backward” or a “cowardly” thing to do.
  

• Keep an open perspective. Don’t limit yourself to your “Visual Communication Degree”. It’s an outstanding achievement, don’t get me wrong! However, it would behoove you to think about your SKILLS and how they can be applied to different fields.

• Consider each application to be an opportunity to practice the process. Apply for jobs, even if you’re not completely qualified. Take this advice with a grain of salt. Don’t let “must have 3+ years experience” or “must have a fabulous personality” intimidate you enough to give up or get discouraged!
  

• Freelance. Protect yourself with a written PROPOSAL that outlines all the legalities of your business or project. If written well, it will help to ensure that you get PAID and that your client does not take advantage of you. You need to educate your client!
  

• How to Write a Proposal: //www.aiga.org/resources/content/3/5/9/7/documents/aiga_9standard_agreement_07.pdf
  

• US Copyright Office: Copyright Basics at //www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.pdf
  

• AIGA Center for Practice Management: //cpm.aiga.org/
  

Brianna Scarff 09
1 - Do informational interviews - if nothing else, they will give you a level of comfort/confidence for any future interview. 
2 - Believe it or not - craigslist 'art and design' job postings are, in fact, sometimes legit
3 - Exercise your creativity and inventiveness - in and out of a job. 

BeckyJo Ambroso 07
Joel was also big on leave-behinds, and I totally wanted to do one, but wanted to start interviewing right away... and I ended up getting a job without ever creating one. But my emailed pdf was totally sufficient to get interviews. I think it's acceptable especially just out of college. Plus, it wasn't just thrown together, it was well designed... like a pdf magazine. So that's better than nothing at least to get started.


Mattie Mauseth 07
I think it would have been helpful to really focus on the electronic part of our portfolios... I have found myself throwing together pdfs of my work all the time to send to people. I wish we would have spent WAY more time working on our online portfolios so I could just send employers to a site I was confident in.  A lot of times, before you even have the chance to show someone your paper portfolio in an interview, you will be sending them your work via pdf or directing them to your site. So I think how you digitally present your work is really important. This would be my biggest recommendation about a portfolio: make an online portfolio site that you are confident in!! Spend lots of time on this. Be proud of it.

Anne Pyle 05
If anyone is planning to create a pdf portfolio to email, I would encourage them to build a portfolio website instead (it doesn't have to be anything extravagant). It takes a lot less effort (and bandwidth) to email a link instead of wasting time compressing files to guarantee that the pdf is less than 1 or 2 mb so it will download quickly. Plus, I think the website looks more professional and shows that you are a multi-talented, 
technologically-minded designer (and it will eliminate the hassle of downloading and/or printing out your portfolio).