Looking for Work in Major Cities, looking for advice

Hello,

For the past 3 months I’ve been on the job hunt. A little background.

  • Graduated 2012 with a BFA in ID
  • Internship while in school (1 summer and school year).
  • After graduating (June, '12), I had another internship (6 month) and also created a successful Kickstarter project.
  • After the 6 months internship (Jan, '13), I got a contract job doing Photography and graphic design while also working on my side startup.

That brings me to now. I’m mostly looking for a job in NYC since I have a place there to stay, but I’m open to most major cities. Started off pretty picky, but lately I’ve been also applying to listings outside of ID (interior and graphics). So a few questions,

  • I’ve been using Craigslist and Coroflot mainly for my source of job listings. But I’ve also been looking through Behance, NYFA.org, and LinkedIn, which haven’t been too helpful. Are there any other resources I could be looking in?

  • Should I take another internship? I can’t take an unpaid one in NYC, which is it seems filled with. Entry level seems really bleak.

  • If anyone is willing to look at my cover letter and resume, I can send you samples. They are each tailored for the particular job and company. I can probably improve on that front.

  • I’m open to hear feedback about my portfolio also. It has a good range exposing my versatility in ID which I rearrange and tailor to the company I’m applying for. But here’s my “full” portfolio, which includes all my work I choose between, when applying. I also have a minor in environment design, which is also in there.
    http://www.designbysamli.com/downloads/li_sam_portfolio_33_web.pdf

  • Any other advice pertaining to this quest of employment would be would be great. Things get frustrating, but this is a first world problem. Hopefully I can get some good advice.

Thanks guys.

Cool stuff, good luck. :wink:

Thanks Scrotum.

Anyone got any advice for me? I’m still looking. I feel like I’m missing something.

Could my current location, and occupation be hurting my chances? It would be great to hear from you guys.

Thanks.

Since you’re open to hearing feedback about your portfolio, I thought I would give my impressions.
-Graphic design is generally good. It’s clean, but sometimes it’s a bit busy. Try going for a little bit less on some of those pages. Print it out and show it to people and watch how quickly they flip through the pages. In that same timespan, they should be able to grasp your project. One successful page is page 32 (and similarly page 35), because we see the object in use (lower-right hand image on page 32 is all I needed).
-I would get rid of the Bento project and maybe even the Ice Cave project; though I understand you are considering jobs outside of ID, if you’re applying for specifically an ID position, it may be best to trim these two out. Maybe have separate portfolios?
-The sketches in the sketchbook section are nice, but maybe the content is a little random. You’ve proven your sketching abilities within the individual projects, so maybe consider leaving this out as well. You’re closing the portfolio on this section as well, and it’s a little weak relative to your other impressive content.

I hope I’ve been helpful. It’s a nice portfolio. Best of luck to you.

  • As far as the non ID stuff, I only add it when I see applicable.
  • I’ve been trying to find a good balance between accessibility and being detailed. I constantly hear about having process in the portfolio is key, but from the few interviews I’ve been too, it’s as you described, very brief flip through, concentrating more on the polished visuals. Going through these boards, I’ve decided to revise, and create 2 portfolios, a smaller teaser type of portfolio (mostly refined, money shots), and then still have my full process portfolio available to those who are interested. It’s hard trying to gauge what a company wants to see, so I guess having multiple options would be good.

Thanks for the great feedback awjj.