marketing your personality in the design industry: things employers want that can’t be found on your resume

Posted on 30. Apr, 2011 by Princess Lasertron in business

Several weeks ago I spoke to a group of college students and shared some practical real-world tips about entering the job market with a creative degree. Maybe it’s just because of my industry and the total creative saturation here in Omaha, but I’ve seen more students studying things like fashion merchandising and graphic design than I ever noticed when I was in school. One problem that comes along with this is the lack of “dream jobs” in the world as it relates to lovers of design, but it also opens up opportunities for creative people entering the workforce to use their strengths to make these dream jobs happen.

So. This is the presentation I gave to the students. I outlined my talk below and highlighted the main points because I want you to get something out of it! The main point is to be practical, don’t turn down anything that will lead you down the path to your dream, and don’t quit your day job–just hustle in the off-hours until you can take the leap!

Every college graduate knows that once they have their degree in hand, all they need is a clearly-written attention-grabbing resume and a few great references up their sleeves to be a contender for any job they want. But you have to realize: everybody has that. To be more than a contender, you need something more–a little magic that separates you from the pack, things that come from a little self-development.

If you are looking for your ideal creative job now, here are some things you can focus on cultivating–things every employer in the design industry wants that not every applicant has.

1. Exercise good judgment.

People who waste time or make bad decisions are a liability to their employers–even moreso in an industry that is driven by creative ideas. Many of these employers hesitate to hire people right out of college because professionalism and good organization is so important in creative work. With all of the ideas and projects and creative energy, things like being on time, staying on task, and meeting deadlines make you invaulable to your employer.

So grow up, make good choices now like studying hard, representing yourself maturely, and keeping your promises. Do the right thing, not the things all your peers are doing.

One more note on that: I forget where I first read this, but I think about it often: There are 158 hours in a week. We spend 56 hours of them sleeping (which is PLENTY), maybe 60 hours working (TOPS), which leaves 52 extra hours each week for us to do whatever we want with. That is a ton of time for you to use to implement your ideas and be your best self.

2. Develop the ability to persuade.

Everything that goes right day-to-day in a business is because of a successful pitch that was made at some point down the line. Isn’t everything we do about relationships? And everything on the job is about convincing people you have relationships with to do something or buy something or sell something or read something.

When I was a senior in college I wasn’t excited about the final assignment in my capstone class. Rather than finish the project, forget it, and get on with my life, I decided I’d rather invest more work and ask my professor if I could do a different project that would be more engaging to me. I pitched it, it was successful, and I ended up publicly presenting my research from that project that I was totally in love with. It was more work but it enriched me. It fed my soul. It made me more intelligent and was a good exercise in showing people that I had a much higher standard for myself than they did–and that is what I hope for everyone. Your boss, your teacher, your parents–you should expect more from yourself than all of them.

3. Work on your public speaking skills.

Writing the right words is 30% of the battle–the rest is all confidence, poise, and pitching. Employees who can defend their ideas, give instructions, and rationalize decisions are so important in the design industry because so much of what we do is very conceptual.

Practice thinking on your feet and speaking articulately. Participate in debates. Speak up when you have a thought. Write your feelings down. When I was younger I actually kept a different blog where I wrote lots of opinionated pieces and enjoyed defending them in the comments. There are lots of channels for communicating persuasively and exercising your voice. Ask a nursing home, a school, or library if you can give a presentation on something you are studying currently. There are tons of opportunities.

4. Stop complaining. Forever.

Take responsibility for what happens to you and move on. Stop being negative. It’s a big red flag to employers and basically everyone ever if nothing ever seems to go your way. It leads them to wonder, are you assertive? Are you unable to advocate for yourself? Are you just lazy? Why can’t you ever close the deal on what you want? It’s likely that that’s not the case–but complaining tells people that you cannot find creative solutions to problems. Or that you give up easily. Or that you are likely to complain about your future work as well.

The excuse I hear most from college students is “I don’t have time.” I believe people use time as an excuse to avoid facing the reality that they don’t want to work hard. How many hours each week do you watch television? Five? Can you take one of those hours and simply outline a plan for what you want to accomplish, or write a letter to an influencer in your field, or learn a new creative technique to enrich your portfolio?

There is time. We all have the same amount of time in each day. The puzzle is just figuring out how to use what you have to maximize it. Nobody has it all figured out–we are all trying become happy and successful and sufficiently challenged, and finding a job that helps you on the way to reaching that place of satisfaction is a big milestone.

Your resume is great, but your personality is what people have to be around for eight hours each day once you get the job. Use it to your advantage and strive every day to be an awesome person.

So that is that.
Do good work.

xo
meg