Listing previous jobs on resume that are not design related.

Design Discussions design employment
1

Hello everyone,

I am an “older” recent ID grad who didn’t have any internships while in school (too many reasons and obstacles to mention here) and now am prepping my portfolio to showcase my best work in school. I intend on finding internships first, as I don’t mind starting at the bottom, learning on the way up and then finding entry level jobs afterwards.

I have a few questions, so please bear with me. 1) Since most of my jobs were either in retail, office jobs or govt. social services, should I list those on my resume, since I have no design experiences whatsoever or does that look cheesy to mention my previous work history. My instructor held this view that one need not mention “Subway sandwiches” or “Walmart” on one’s resume, especially since most of my classmates were in their late teens to early 20s. But if one had more “serious” jobs (for lack of a better word) that were not design related but were “people-oriented”, would that show an employer one is well rounded, has gained life experiences outside of design and has a serious work ethic or can it backfire on me to display such previous experiences?

  1. Since I had no internships, I don’t want to turn an employer off if they don’t see any on my resume. Should I then convey that in my cover letter, that I am eager to learn and not expecting special treatment just because I am older (not that they would know my age anyway, unless they look at my work history?)

  2. If I do gain an entry level position (which I heard is rare unless one has an internship or two to show for), does entry level work equal an internship in the long run, as one is gaining “real world” experience on the job? Or should I stick merely to nabbing an internship first?

Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks everyone.

2

Ok, how about a simpler question: How does one go about providing employment history that is not design related and is it necessary if one is recently graduated? Sorry about my previous long-winded question. Sometimes I get carried away. :confused:

3

Was in your shoes some years ago as I was one of the "older " students myself. I pursued
my love for ID after starting my “career” in another field first.

When it came to writing resumees for prospective internships there was only one job, that I left out
of my list, having worked as a “fully licenced” taxi driver for some months, even if it was on of the more
interesting experiences when I was 20.

I don’t know what is common in the US. But it worked well for me to list jobs in customer service,
sales, stage decoration and curating when I looked for the first internship. Not only did it tell
the prospective employers that I didn’t sit at home with my parents all the time, but it also showed
where my interests and strenghts were back then. And I was definitively hired into my first design
gig to bring some marketing and customer focus to the team.

Hope that helps you somehow with deciding what to list and what not.

mo-i

4

Mo-i:

Greetings from America!

Thanks for your input. I assume my experience in customer service jobs and my stint in social services would be an asset to a company, as I have loads of experience dealing with people/clients and also show I have a social conscience, so I might list that only and leave out the less interesting jobs that wouldn’t bring any value to a company (such as being a waiter or cashier at Target) as that might be pushing it, not to mention, my clutter up my resume. Customer service jobs, in my opinion, have provided me with years of insight into human behavior, as I have always been a good observer and mental note taker. I will use that to my advantage!!

I would then during an interview (if I get that far) have to play up those experiences and then see if those work in my favor or against and adjust accordingly. Thanks Mo-i.

By the way, must have been fascinating being a taxi-driver. I am sure you have loads of interesting stories to tell. Dealing with customers takes a lot of patience and I admire anyone who has to “put up” with the multitude of different personalities (good and bad ones).

5

It is interesting to see, that almost anyone reacts that positive towards the taxi driver phase.
Today I’d know to include it into my resume if it was recent.

Indeed it provided me at a young and inexperienced age with a lot of insight into the human ways,
as one has the possibility (necessitiy) to get in rather close contact with all kinds of people.
Some you might want, some not so much.

It sharpens your ability to gauge people and situations quickly and correctly which led me to hold
my “prejudices” high. Most western males with some formal training do not trust (or hear) their gut
feelings any more. Do that as a taxi driver and you’ll litter the street soon.

mo-i

P.S.: It told me some interesting things about women, too. Some of that came in handy when progressing
to “stage decorator”. :wink:

6

It is expected that if you are a recent graduate that you would not yet have any related work experience. As such, it is expected to include some previous work experience and if it involved something remotely special or educational then of course it should be included. These things do get noticed and commented on during candidate selection process.

You also over emphasize the value of internships. I found they barely matter in the hiring of full time design staff, the first assumption being that internships are the observational, assisting, computer filing, proposal copying, etc, first, real design experience is rarely seen and mildly suspect when a recent graduate did show it.

7

All good points…

It is expected that if you are a recent graduate that you would not yet have any related work experience. As such, it is expected to include some previous work experience and if it involved something remotely special or educational then of course it should be included.



I don’t know what is common in the US. But it worked well for me to list jobs in customer service,
sales, stage decoration and curating when I looked for the first internship. Not only did it tell
the prospective employers that I didn’t sit at home with my parents all the time, but it also showed
where my interests and strenghts were back then.

In my book “experience” counts. Design is 90% problem solving, and virtually everyone has problems, regardless of what field they are in. Diversity of experience is, in my opinion, a valuable asset for any designer to possess.

Purdue did not participate in internship programs when I attended 1969-73, and 1973 was another “bad” year to graduate. The economy was in the dumpster, and lay-offs were rampant across the U.S… My first job out after graduation was Assistant Manager of a Pizza Hut restaurant. It paid for beans and jeans until I managed to get my foot in the door at the local Water Utility Company as a draftsman/engineering technician; still not “design” employment, but at least more technical in nature.

While doing some field work for the water company, I met a couple of Brits running a Formula Ford Race shop one afternoon. It turned out we had motorcycles in common, which got the conversation started, and I started doing fiberglass repair work for their clients in the evenings. As it occurred, the shop was “fronted” by the owner of a small furniture chain; he raced Formula Atlantic, and D Sport (a Lotus Elan) and the shop was “his” garage. At the time, I would present my portfolio to anyone who would look and ended up working for him full-time as a “window dresser”; he had three stores so there was usually enough work to keep busy, but when it slacked off I helped deliver furniture.

Designing window displays and working on race cars paid the bills, but it wasn’t doing my career much good. After almost two years of this the economy had picked up and I called on a local manufacturer of home entertainment products one afternoon. Back then, more often than not, you could wait in the lobby until someone had time to see you; I got to see their Design Manager after about forty-five minutes. I had included some photographs in my portfolio of a few of the windows that I had decorated, and it turned out that he had personally seen one in particular and was impressed by it. He asked what the motivation for the theme had been, how I had obtained materials to construct it, what the budget was, who built the set (I did), etc. Between my previous work experience and BA in Industrial Design apparently it convinced him that I was worth a gamble and I got the job as freelance work. I was hired full-time within six months.

Build on your experience.

8

My tutor always said that someone with extensive life experience will do much better in a design career than someone who transitioned from high school directly to an ID programme. It showed, because the oldest guy in our class was the only person who landed a PAID industrial design position after graduation.

Even if it’s for more aesthetic side of design, experience is better. The more you observe, the more knowledge you gain about things. I quite honestly don’t understand how one would expect 2o-somethings to design visual identity for everybody, included those who lived and experienced life for a lot longer than they ever did. If you do your research, most appealing design classics were done by people who were well into their middle age.

So in conclusion, research the job that you’re applying to and put down any non-design experience that would benefit the company in your opinion. If that worked for me, this will work for you too. Good luck!

9

Thanks everyone for those insightful replies! ExperiMental, you hit on something when you mentioned having “life experience” when designing successfully. I noticed in my class those who were 20 years younger than me, only a handful had a natural ability to design intuitively and figure out before doing their research and interviewing users, what the major problems were, the ergonomics and other issues involved in their design/redesigns. For the most part, their designs were merely aesthetically pleasing without taking into consideration any ergonomics, trangenerational issues,etc. They were more concerned with the beauty shot.

I should be applying to places that focus on more serious design that markets to a slighter older demographic, possibly Oxo/Smart Design (love their designs!). I do agree with you that sometimes “life experience” is what gives us designers that insight into figuring out how to problem solve a bad design. I will have to play that up to a potential employer, experiMental! Thanks to you and everyone for your time.