To apply for a job in the creative industry, I will need three things: a CV, a cover letter and a portfolio. As placement roles are already being advertised and more roles will come up over the coming weeks, it is important I get these prepared as soon as possible. To be ready to apply for roles that are listed.
I did a thorough self-reflection last semester before the summer break. As I was aware I was going to be thrown in at the deep end very early on in this semester with regards to looking for a job, I have continued to explore and consider my options and where I would fit best over the Summer.
For me, the key for any role is the environment and people I will be working with. As I am looking for a full-time position, I will be spending a lot of time working, and for me to succeed and thrive I need to have a supportive team and a friendly environment to work within.
To help us as a class to think about what we were really looking for in a job, we were set a task to write down on sticky notes the most important things for us personally in a job. Our lecturer then organised them into associated groups (Affinity Mapping) and below was the result.
The groups with the three most responses were to do with the people we would be working with, the environment we were working in and work-life balance. As a class we are clearly on the same page regarding what we want from a job.
For me there is one specific thing I would like to have play a major part in whatever role I try to get. This is accessible design, I have become very passionate about accessibility in all walks of life, both from being Autistic myself and from meeting lots of great people who are prevented from doing things as a result of a lack of consideration for accessibility needs. I would love to work in a role that pushed accessibility to the fore especially in digital design as we have the tools to make all designs highly accessible and I believe there is no excuse not to do this. I realise a role in specifically accessible design may be challenging at this point in my career, but I will at least be looking for an employer who shares my values of placing accessible design high on their list of priorities.
I would also like any prospective employer to value designing sustainably and ethically, these are important values for me personally and which I believe are what all new designs must consider before they can be considered for further development. I am starting my career at an exciting time when a lot of companies are looking at these values more and more, so I believe that there will be companies out there where I can design in the way I believe in.
While I contributed to the group exercise above I felt it would be useful for me to complete my own mind map of things that I will be looking for during my job search. I decided to split these into the categories: company values, work environment, my role and benefits, and created a Miro Board to display these. I may add to these as I research roles further.
https://miro.com/app/live-embed/uXjVNfo4MV4=/?moveToViewport=-1354,-972,3803,1947&embedId=42141769654
I realise finding a role that encompasses all these characteristics may be difficult but having this to refer to will allow me to see whether a job is going to be a good fit for me. This will help make deciding which roles to apply for and companies to reach out to.
I am going to use this Job Search notes spreadsheet I got as a resource when completing my Google UX certificate.
This will allow me to keep track of the jobs I see and make sure they have what I am looking for, it will also remind me to research and find key information about the role. Such as who is in charge of the recruitment for this role, which will allow me to personalise my cover letter with a name, something that was mentioned as a top tip during this week’s lecture.