#003: Getting A Design Job Out Of College

Your host, Rob Irwin gives you pointers taken from his experience navigating his first design job straight out of college. He offers practical knowledge and tips for nailing your first job as a designer.

Transcript

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What is up, design community? I'm Robert, when you're a host, and we are back at it again with another episode of Designing in the Wild, where industrial designers and creatives come to level up. So without further ado, let's get to it. Hey, what is up, everybody? Design community, creatives, industrial designers, how is it going? I wanted to do a quick mini episode today talking a little bit about how to get an industrial design job out of college. This was one of the biggest things in my mind when I was in school at the time. Where am I going? What category do I want to work in? What... Who do I want to work for? The people, the place, etc. So I just wanted to share a little bit about my story and how I got the jobs out of school that I did. And then some tips to help you along the way to help maybe inspire you to just get out there. Deciding what category you want to work in or what you're interested in most is probably number one. In industrial design, there's a ton of different directions you can go. And so making that decision up front can help you be more targeted with your time. The next thing I would say is network. Network, network, network. Whether it's on LinkedIn, whatever social media outlets you think or have seen these people on, and reach out. The other way to go about it, which is the way that I went about it, was to find a summit project. or a conference that was specific to my category of interest. And that was sustainability and how design can be implemented within that specific realm. It may be different for you, maybe exhibit design, it may be car design, it may be soft goods, packaging. Obviously, there's a ton of different directions you can go. So yeah, there may be an internal career advisor at your college. which is great. This may be of interest to you, totally cool. However, in my particular case, I wanted to kind of stretch outside of what, say, my art college had on their list and go after specific things for me. And so what worked best for me was finding a summit or conference. And so what I did was take out a school loan, I traveled to Toronto, And I went to the Green Build Summit. So Green Build is a great conference, a great summit to go to if you're interested in architecture, commercial architecture, and all the products that they're coming out with to do things like reduce waste, reduce water, sunlight mitigation, et cetera, et cetera. And I was super into that at the time. I still am. And so I went to Toronto. I flew up there. And what I did was– attended specific workshops with companies that I was interested in. And I would let the presenters speak. And after their talk, I would approach them, introduce myself, chat a little bit about what inspired you about their talk. You know, they want to talk about their work. So that is definitely key. Working up a conversation is definitely a way to engage in a in a way that you couldn't otherwise via email or phone. And so the other thing I can add is don't be afraid to approach the people of these companies you admire. But I would say don't swoon over them either, right? I guess what I'm saying is be professional about it. So as I'm having this conversation with this person, you know, I'm reaching in my pocket, I grab my business card, and this is the thing that, in my opinion, I think set me apart I had been designing a biomimetic horizontal axis wind turbine for my senior project. And so I scaled down one of the impellers on the wind turbine and laser cut my name and everything on it. The shape of the card was like the shape of the Fibonacci spiral shell, kind of like a Nautilus shell. And so he had something in his hand that was unique, customized and specific to not only me and the conversation that we had about kind of what interested me about the company. But he had something as like a token he could take away and remember me by because they're getting all sorts of cards and business contacts. By the time you leave some of these conferences, you've got like two pockets full of cards. It's crazy. So the next subject or topic I want to talk about is fear. It's the thing that holds us back from doing anything. Remember, you're just getting started in the field and they understand this and won't hold you to the level of, say, a senior designer. The goal right now is to be seen and heard. Just don't yell. So after the conference, what I did was followed up a day or two after, sent an email out to the specific person that you spoke with and waited. And so it was silence for like two weeks. After about week two, I would say, toss them another email. Just something quick, nothing spicy. Just say, hey, it's kind of like a soft nudge. Don't get discouraged about this either, because remember, these people are busy, and they may have interest in your skill sets. They're just busy running teams and putting fires out. They'll respond when they have a window of time, and they'll email you back. Or if they don't do that, they'll forward your contact to the correct hiring manager. Until you get an outright no, we're not interested at this time, or simply a no, keep at it with light but specific needs and requests because no one else is going to put their foot in the door for you. Okay, fast forward. Now you're in. Two key takeaways here. One, be punctual and listen. Let the leaders lead and take notes mentally. Being a part of a team is not only about your work output, but your ability to understand the motivations of each person or position. And this is something a little hard to suss out when you're just getting started, mostly because you may be fretting over your own work at the time. I'll touch base on team engagement techniques and mind states in a future episode. But for now, just understand that everyone else has motivations too within their career and sometimes It may feel like they're ignoring you or it may feel like you're not getting the feedback you need. Just ask them. It's just that simple. So the last thing I'll leave you with is speak up if your inner voice has something to say. They will expect participation regardless of rank and file. This is one takeaway that took me a while to get to. I was somewhat timid when I first started. But being a voice in the room shows that you... want to engage, that you have something to say. And even if you think it may not be exactly the right approach or method or feedback, trust your gut on this. So I hope you guys enjoyed the chat. It was brief. I hope you took something away from it that you can use now in your life. And thanks for listening. This is Designing in the Wild. Hey, real quick. If you enjoy what you just heard, I would encourage you to check out our website at theidpodcast.co. There's lots of fun stuff there. We've got a new tab up top, Tools for Design. And you'll find all sorts of fun gear there specific to design and being creative. So check it out, theidpodcast.co. Thanks for listening, everybody. Talk to you soon.

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