here is my situation. i spent many years in school (10 yrs) but didnt have the chance to finish. i moved around due to financial problems and family issues, i can not finish my degree as in industrial design. im couple semesters away. now i need to work in the work because thats wht i love. what can i do in this situation. has anyowe lied on their resume? is that i route i would wanna take? pls help. i keep thinking that companies need a degree. how many people on here were asked to bring in their deploma?
Never lie on the resume it will be discovered soon enough. I know one person who simply stretched the truth saying that he specialized in an area were he only took 2 of the 3 classes needed for the specialization. It only took 3 days of employment before the truth was found out, and he was fired even though the specialty had nothing to do with the employment or work he was performing. This is a small interconnected field everyone knows everyone through a degree or two of separation.
Be honest and let your portfolio and skills speak for them selves. I know situations are different for everyone, but the fact that you said 10 yrs of school and no degree does show negatively on the drive…desire…and perseverance to get the degree. Most employers will question your dedication, and willingness to put in the hours and attention needed.
Many people held jobs through school, I for one held a full time job during the school year, two during the summer coupled with building custom furniture and cabinetry on a contract basis. All just to pay my bills, tuition, and save for a house and wedding upon graduation. Graduated with full honors, in the top 3 of my class. The only thing that suffered was the inability to take unpaid internships. But, my portfolio of work both school and personal, the dedication and work ethic that maintaining the grades and the employment schedule showed ultimately lead to my first job. Per the owner that hired me.
I would suggest you finish school and go from there. If you think that not having a degree is holding you back then finish. If it is something else deal with that. I know someone personally in the same boat and he has been working as an industrial designer for 5 years without a degree. I guess as long as your work is outstanding and you can prove to the employer that you are qualified for the position without the extra class or two I don’t see it as a problem.
I would suggest finishing school so it cannot be used against you.
Trust me, I do not know your sittuation, but I do understand where you are coming from. I lived 46 minutes from campus, just to get something that I could afford. Many nightes I would go straight from work to the schools studio and work till 6:00 am, then sleep on the couch for 2-3 hours before class. My buddy would call the studio every morning @ 8:00 to see if I spent the night and to make sure I was up.
As for what to do, You will not have it easy. And you will need to let your skills, and your portfolio speak for them selves even more. You will need to aquire a knowledge of the industry, both design and materials. You will need to prove that you can do what any grad can do, but even better as the trust factor will com into play because you have nothing to prove in writing, aka a diploma, that you should know it.
BTW the reason I used those terms is because those are the words I have heard employers, and yes my self included, use when we have an interview were the person gives the answer to a question on how/why they setteled on the final design and solution…and they have some form of “I had to work so I needed to get it done” or any other excuse were work or outside responsibilities came into play. The employers see school as the #1 prioraty when you are there, and expect the canadates to have thought of it as that as well.
I never ment for those to be in any way a personal attack on your sittuation…
Portfolio’s rule. But even if you’re a great designer, I would have serious reservations about hiring you based on:
Perceived lack of dedication. 10 years and still not even an undergraduate degree!? You need to explain this. Most people finish in 4.
Financial problems: were these your fault? If so, that says something about you.
Lack of professionalism and education based on your writing skills (slang, typos etc.)
The fact that you’d consider lying. I’m sorry, but I would never, ever consider doing this, and I’d probably fire anyone who works for me if I found out they lied to me.
The fact that there is a lot of less-risky people to hire.
My recommendation: make up for the negatives with some positives. Getting your degree is a great start.
This post smells like troll-bait, but an interesting topic.
It’s possible to get work without a degree, but you have to have a unique perspective that is shown through your portfolio, your presence in an interview, and the tenacity to get that interview in first place. Getting the attention of an interviewer who has seen literally everything can be a daunting task- but I have seen it done.
The one thing that I look for is that a designer is in a strange situation (between jobs, no degree, has to move away because of family), is that they continue to think and act as a designer, developing ideas and making things. It’s this compulsion and obsession seen through your actions that can make the difference. But this is the hard way into the field.
CG is right- don’t expect to walk into Motorola, Springtime, or Richard Hutton’s office and get much anywhere. Some companies require the degree- others simply expect it.
Don’t lie about your degree. We make the phone calls to find out.
Lying on a resume is usually grounds for immediate dismissal.
Portfolios tend to speak louder than resumes.
If you fudge either, it will come out in the wash and the word will spread like a wild fire through the design community, it’s a small world, but the fact that it is principally wrong to do either should be enough to make it out of the question for you. I think you know this, no amount of circumstances are going to rationalize that.
dont lie. its something that you cant ever go back from and will for sure hurt in the long run even if short term gain is weighed.
i suggest to take your unique situation and turn it around to a positive. obviously you must have some pretty exceptional circumstances to take 10 years for an underground when indeed most finish in 4-5 yrs.
be open about your situation and present how dedicated you were to stick in for 10years. finishing or not, you must have some good skills by now, so let your portfolio speak to that.
if you can show how you can triumph against adversity (even though you did get the undergrad degree) and how you are a hard worker against all odds, it could play to your favor.
everyone has had tough times and difficulties in school, personal life etc. the trick is to play it to your strengths and anticipate what a potential employer might ask and have good answers (the truth) ready.
ive had candidates applying to me that based on CV would seem unlikely (ie. many short jobs in a short time), but they have explained the situation such that it comes out positive (ie. moving to a new job to further their skills, etc.).
not saying that you dont have a tricky case, but if you’ve come this far and put in so much, the next step will not be easy but possible.
if i remember correctly, i think it was the head of MIT? was it that lied on her resume about one or two degrees she didnt really get WAYyyyyy back.
They found out really late but they eventually did and she lost her job.
So look at it that way, you can lie and maybe get away with it on the short run, but what if you make something of yourself and later when you have
proven your worth and reached the height of your career… that lie
catches up to you?
i think she said something along the line of, I didnt have the courage
to admit my mistake blah blah.
i want to thank you for the positive words, as for CG, till this day and through out my job search i have yet to lie. it was question, a matter if i should or not. thats all. i have heard that some were lieing to get jobs or pass a portfolio review. pls dont come to conclution too quick. thanks
as for the person who said that i should not be considered because i used slag…lol, give me a break. its web chatting and you cant put a face to the post that im writing. anyhow, thanks for all the reply guys. i was not going to lie any how. few friends that are not in the field mentioned it, so i though i share with you. didnt expect to get attacked
just a quick thing with regards to jobs without degrees…I have a friend who took off school after his third year working for a design firm as an intern and ended up staying there for quite a few years…
Once the dynamics of the company changed with regards to management… he got laid off…the excuse was him not finishing his degree…even though he had proven himself worthy.
IMP the least you can do for your own career is not give excuses like that to an employer.
Here’s the deal about net slang- The more experienced people here have to wade through 50-100 (or more) emails a day, including finding a minute or 2 to participate in these forums. Using net shorthand (that we may not know), without adding punctuation simply makes the post harder to read- which is both aggravating and makes it more likely that we will skip the post altogether.
It’s tough to follow Deez in this type of string, but here’s a great example of being a dumb asss and padding a portfolio.
I was hiring a junior ID person about 15 years ago and a guy sent his resume to me along with a packet of crappy Xeroxed portfolio samples. I looked through them for a couple minutes and suddenly stopped when I saw three renderings that I DID!! It turned out he worked at the same company I did (2 years after I left) and he raided the flat files to help round-out his portfolio!!! I called him and asked about the origins of his samples and he claimed they were all original. I then proceeded to ream him a new anal pore and told him I would never hire someone so dishonest. He claimed the renderings in his packet were meant to “demonstrate his style”. I asked him why he had to use other people’s work to demonstrate his style and he hung up on me.
You need to have a good memory (and good luck) to be a good liar.
i have notice though out my design career (schooling) is all designers tend to act like saints. i doubt any one will step up and say “yes i did lie” every one mentions how the community is so small, yet most public schools dont offer out field of study!
