In Which I Catch A Small Break For Once...
Wonder of wonders, it turned out that the design place hadn't filled the position yet! How amazing is that? So I had to scramble & put a portfolio together Tuesday night as I had an interview yesterday afternoon with the owner of the company & the head of the art department.
It all went a bit weirdly. It turned out that they'd never received my resume & cover letter from the website (the job search engine connected to the local classifieds), just the e-mail I sent them with the PDF of the grove organizer's hand book, although the guy didn't remember what I'd sent, just that he thought it showed some good work. I realized that they didn't have any idea of my personal history when I mentioned that I'd spent 5 years in social work & they looked positively shocked. It's a particular look I recognize- the "Wow, she's not nearly so young as she looks" look.
Being that I don't have much real-world experience, I chose to demonstrate the breadth of my abilities. I brought copies of both the GOH & the galley for the book, borrowed my Mom's laptop so I could show them the grad studies website, a couple school GD projects, some pieces from my digital photo class, & a few jewelry pieces that have some good design qualities. They were certainly impressed- especially by the jewelry. In fact, they asked my why I was looking for a design job & why I wasn't just making jewelry (to which I gave them the truth- jewelry's fun, but hard to make a living at just by itself). They were also *very* impressed with my typography. Shelle would have been proud. :-D They were also impressed with the distinct "lack of cheese" in the book design, noting that such books typically have Celtic clip-art everywhere. They said my designs showed a nice maturity & that they felt I had excellent communication skills.
Unfortunately, what they're looking for is someone with a fair amount of experience & they told me that right up front. However, they're not adverse to taking on another entry-level person, & I'd certainly be in the running for that. Keep your fingers crossed!
MEanwhile, the ice storm knocked out our power yesterday & just like last time, my computer is now not connecting to the internet again. *sigh*. Have to call GeekBro.
It all went a bit weirdly. It turned out that they'd never received my resume & cover letter from the website (the job search engine connected to the local classifieds), just the e-mail I sent them with the PDF of the grove organizer's hand book, although the guy didn't remember what I'd sent, just that he thought it showed some good work. I realized that they didn't have any idea of my personal history when I mentioned that I'd spent 5 years in social work & they looked positively shocked. It's a particular look I recognize- the "Wow, she's not nearly so young as she looks" look.
Being that I don't have much real-world experience, I chose to demonstrate the breadth of my abilities. I brought copies of both the GOH & the galley for the book, borrowed my Mom's laptop so I could show them the grad studies website, a couple school GD projects, some pieces from my digital photo class, & a few jewelry pieces that have some good design qualities. They were certainly impressed- especially by the jewelry. In fact, they asked my why I was looking for a design job & why I wasn't just making jewelry (to which I gave them the truth- jewelry's fun, but hard to make a living at just by itself). They were also *very* impressed with my typography. Shelle would have been proud. :-D They were also impressed with the distinct "lack of cheese" in the book design, noting that such books typically have Celtic clip-art everywhere. They said my designs showed a nice maturity & that they felt I had excellent communication skills.
Unfortunately, what they're looking for is someone with a fair amount of experience & they told me that right up front. However, they're not adverse to taking on another entry-level person, & I'd certainly be in the running for that. Keep your fingers crossed!
MEanwhile, the ice storm knocked out our power yesterday & just like last time, my computer is now not connecting to the internet again. *sigh*. Have to call GeekBro.