Job Search Advice

jphart · August 24, 2012, 5:38pm

chevisw:

Okay I am going to take a different approach then YO and not focus on your portfolio or your skill sets, but instead the business side of things.

Your resume on your website is barely readable, so if you are sending people to that for them to read you are at a dead end.

Your resume needs some work, the layout is somewhat confusing and does not properly convey your skill sets and your experience you have gained from your jobs/school/competition. Go online and do some research on how to properly layout a resume and what information you should have in it. And yeah yeah yeah we are designers our resumes are suppose to be different… but different is not always good. I find that many ID people try to make their resume unique but are weak in graphical design and layout thus ending with a poor presentation. Find a graphic designer and get them to help you… Also you should properly outline your responsibility and level of involvement as it relates to your experience.

Your resume lists competitions and your place in them but i cannot directly identify these projects in your portfolio… tsk tsk tsk.

I would like you to post one of your cover letters that you have sent out so we can review that and see how it is formatted and written. And please don’t tell us that you use the same cover letter for each company and simply change some words… Each cover letter should be specific to the company you are applying to and should have some type of detail in their about the company and why you would be right for the job.

How are you sending out your resumes and cover letters?

5.How many companies have you sent your resumes to, and have you followed up with them?

6.Okay lets touch base on your interview… have you had any training or done any reading on how to interview?
One school i taught at provide students with a Business Professionalism class and cover interviews, dinners, and a variety of other topics related to obtaining a job(I worked with the groups and even i learned new things). I also taught a class call Portfolio and Professionalism were in the first have the semester was creating your portfolio, the second half was the interview / resume/ cover letter part.

Try providing your information to a headhunter, let them help you do some of the searching, but be careful some headhunters are clues and have no idea what ID is or what we do (the number of ones that contact me for engineer jobs is unbelievable) Also take there advice with a grain of salt, I had one once tell me to remove my teaching experience from my resume because no one would be interested in that…

Now the reason i wanted to touch on this side of things rather then your portfolio is that like YO stated, your portfolio was
one that would go into the MAYBE pile (take that as a compliment considering YO’s standards and expectations. At some of the company you applied for your portfolio may have done better and may not have been the hindrance to you moving forward but instead it was your Resume/Presentation Skill/Interview skill/how you answered the questions, that prevented you from getting further.

It is tough out there right now and there is allot of competition and when it comes down to the wire people look at every aspect not just the portfolio.
Okay so your home work, revamp your resume, provide us with a sample cover letter. if you want to talk through your resume then send me an email and we can set up a conversation.

chevis W

Hello,

My name is Jon Hart. I am a graduate from Philadelphia University with
a Bachelors of Science degree in Industrial Design. I am writing
because I am interested in the _________ position.
I grew up in Doylestown, PA which is where I currently reside.
Art and Design have always been a part of my life since grade school which is
where I realized I had a talent for all things creative. While in high school
I made the easy decision to become an Industrial Designer so that I could
continue being creative and doing what I loved as a career.

My education at Philadelphia University gave me the opportunity to
work for well known companies and experience collaborating with
business, marketing, engineering, interior design, digital design, as
well as other industrial designers from around the world. These
experiences have taught me as a designer how to allow everyone to have
a part in the design process of a product and how to convey design
ideas in an understandable way to people who dont deal with design
firsthand. I pay attention to all details when making a design because
it is the little things that can make and overall difference in a
products success or failure.

I have experience in multiple design program such as Adobde Creative Suite,
Solidworks, Sketchbook Pro, Microsoft Office, etc. Along with my computer
skills I also like to work with my hands making design models and mock-ups
from various materials. I enjoy working with others as I became very close
friends with all my studio mates in school. Below is a link to my website with
my portfolio and resume. I would love the chance to work for _____ and
apply my design skills for the company to the best of my abilities. Below is a
link to my website with my portfolio and resume. I look forward to hearing from
you.

http://cargocollective.com/JonHartDesign

Thanks,

Jon Hart
jphart01@gmail.com

Here is one example of a cover letter I sent out. It would be great if you could help me out with my resume. Its funny what you said about having a graphic designer help out on the resume layout because my sister is the one who helped me with it and she is actually a graphic designer. As for some of your questions I usually send out my cover letter by email with my resume attached to the file and a link to my website in the email for my portfolio. Ive applied to hundreds of places. Some were just companies I was interested in and most were job postings. I have had almost every kind of interview you can have, in person, skype, phone call, etc. I thought some went real well but just no word back after. I usually dont follow up with my emails unless I have heard back from a company and it seems they are interested. I was so close to getting an internship recently but it was found out the company wasnt aloud to hire interns that already graduated for legal reasons.

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