I am in the fortunate position of having two job offers before i have finished my degree which i complete in June.
One is a graduate training scheme designing for the aerospace/military sector paying $42,000 where i will get trained up to IEng status
The other is for an international retail designers which is paying a few grand more.
Now im not really interested in being an industrial designer working for some fashionable design agency sketching all day as thats not where my strengths are. However, i realise that the aerospace design job will have little to no aesthetic elements involved but the money will be better in the long run and so will the prospects.
The retail design job will have more of a creative element but it is not really considered a discipline and future progression is more limited. Also i wish to emigrate in the future and i cant see how this job would help with that.
Id like your opinions even if you wouldnt want any of these jobs !!!
aerospace job! Offers unlimited opportunity to learn about industry. With this in your portfolio / resume, you will have much more opportunity, both interesting and lucrative. Also, you are incorrect: “the aerospace design job will have little to no aesthetic elements involved”, there is and it’s up to you to suggest it, do it and sell it. You say aerospace/military: the aesthetic aspect in military design is actually quite important, but subtle, it comes down to usability, the human element.
Retail: pigeon-hole. What you do on your first project is what you will be doing 30 years from now with youngsters in your current situation. Retail designers I have known have no transportable skills, they will always be working in retail or tradeshow industry. All have been bitter and hated it. But, there is a lot of opportunity and skills are transportable whereever you emigrate to.
you need to do whichever offers the most growth that YOU seek.
retail is not a pigeon hole. you can go to far more areas, depending on what you learn from it. i learned valuable branding, marketing and business skills from it. i have been able to use these skills in consumer product design and furniture (my preferred area). environment design is another area to branch from retail.
the military sector may be beneficial from a functional/usability point of view. perhaps deep anthropometric and systems thinking.
take the offer you feel better suits YOU, money aside.
!!!