In order to better understand the benefit of networking and getting your name out there as a student, who better to ask than former students that now have a job at local design firms.
I emailed three former students and was lucky enough to get two of them to respond.
These were the questions asked:
1. Where did you do your co-op in 3rd year?
2. How did you discover the firm?
3. How did the work there benefit you?
4. Did you reach out to any design firms throughout your schooling? If so which ones and how did they help?
5. Where are you working now?
6. How did networking throughout school get you there?
7. Personally, what do you think the benefits of working in a local design firm are?
2. How did you discover the firm?
3. How did the work there benefit you?
4. Did you reach out to any design firms throughout your schooling? If so which ones and how did they help?
5. Where are you working now?
6. How did networking throughout school get you there?
7. Personally, what do you think the benefits of working in a local design firm are?
The first person that responded was Madeline Caesar
1. For my placement in 3rd year I was working at in house at the Record, for Grand River Shows (http://www.grandrivershows.com/) so I wasn't working on like the actual paper, its a small department they have which puts on consumer shows as another form of revenue, in addition to the paper. So what I was mainly doing was promotional materials and information pieces for their shows.
2. Um, well obviously I knew about the Record being from this area, I think John had mentioned that they wanted people there for placements and I wasn't totally sure where I wanted to go for placement so he suggested it.
3. It benefited me a lot in the sense that it was actual work experience, as opposed to personal or school work. So, where in school you can kinda work at your own pace and decide what you want to get done first, when you're actually working for someone they're the ones deciding what you're working on all day and whats priority. Also, you're not just designing for yourself so in school you want it to look good but also for it to reflect your style and your tastes whereas in the work world its all about what the client wants and likes and what will appeal most to their demographic. So I think that was the main benefit for me with the co-op, to get my head around the work flow and the process and how it was different from school.
4. Nope. I think its a good idea but I didn't while I was in school, after I graduated I was planning on contacting some local firms and either sending them a copy of my portfolio or asking to meet with them for a review.
5. I'm working at zfactor. Its a small marketing studio with an emphasis on web design. So the majority of what we do is for web but we still have several client that need print work and we do a lot of branding and identity stuff as well. Here's the website www.zfactor.ca, the design's actually not great but they're in the process of updating it, I think the new site will be up in the next couple weeks, but that should give you an idea of some of the work they've done anyway.
6. So I got an interview there because my uncle is friends with the owner's brother and it worked out that he had mentioned they were looking for someone and my uncle let them know I was looking for a job so he called me an set up an interview. So it wasn't directly through networking with school, but we did have classes about networking.
7. For me I didn't really want to move to a bigger city right now and I think this area is good for design because its big but its not huge and there's a lot of investment in technology and innovation so new companies are going to start out here and existing companies will be growing. There will be a lot of opportunity for design as far as branding and communication for local companies. Waterloo is "the most intelligent community" so i think companies are more willing to embrace the value of design.
2. Um, well obviously I knew about the Record being from this area, I think John had mentioned that they wanted people there for placements and I wasn't totally sure where I wanted to go for placement so he suggested it.
3. It benefited me a lot in the sense that it was actual work experience, as opposed to personal or school work. So, where in school you can kinda work at your own pace and decide what you want to get done first, when you're actually working for someone they're the ones deciding what you're working on all day and whats priority. Also, you're not just designing for yourself so in school you want it to look good but also for it to reflect your style and your tastes whereas in the work world its all about what the client wants and likes and what will appeal most to their demographic. So I think that was the main benefit for me with the co-op, to get my head around the work flow and the process and how it was different from school.
4. Nope. I think its a good idea but I didn't while I was in school, after I graduated I was planning on contacting some local firms and either sending them a copy of my portfolio or asking to meet with them for a review.
5. I'm working at zfactor. Its a small marketing studio with an emphasis on web design. So the majority of what we do is for web but we still have several client that need print work and we do a lot of branding and identity stuff as well. Here's the website www.zfactor.ca, the design's actually not great but they're in the process of updating it, I think the new site will be up in the next couple weeks, but that should give you an idea of some of the work they've done anyway.
6. So I got an interview there because my uncle is friends with the owner's brother and it worked out that he had mentioned they were looking for someone and my uncle let them know I was looking for a job so he called me an set up an interview. So it wasn't directly through networking with school, but we did have classes about networking.
7. For me I didn't really want to move to a bigger city right now and I think this area is good for design because its big but its not huge and there's a lot of investment in technology and innovation so new companies are going to start out here and existing companies will be growing. There will be a lot of opportunity for design as far as branding and communication for local companies. Waterloo is "the most intelligent community" so i think companies are more willing to embrace the value of design.
The second person that responded was Melissa Waggler
1. My co-op was at Two Blonde Chicks, Inc. in Kitchener
2. Two Blonde Chicks was started by 2 grads (Jolene MacDonald & Julie Knowles) from the Conestoga program, so I knew about them since I started in 1st year. I met them in my 3rd year when my class participated in the Create-a-thon that the Two Blonde Chicks organized, and Julie was the creative director for my group. When it was time to pick work placements John suggested that I go there.
3. Working there was great, it really showed the difference between school and working at a studio, especially with deadlines. It was also good to see how things work in a studio, and because it is such a small studio I got to see lots.
4. No, I didn't.
5. I'm working at Two Blonde Chicks, they hired me back in May when I finished school.
6.The Create-a-thon and the 3rd year portfolio reviews were the two times I interacted with the Two Blonde Chicks, and those helped lead to my work placement there, which then lead to them hiring me.
7. I like working at a local studio because it promotes good design among the smaller local business who wouldn't have any design if they had to go to the big studios in Toronto. I also like the close-knit design community that is here in KW, with all the Conestoga grads that are here.
From this I learned not only all that I asked them but as well when asking people to help you and answer questions you have to allow for a few weeks time for them to answer. This made me realize that although I may feel like I'm busier than everyone else this isn't necessarily true, both of these people didn't have a spare half an hour to answer my questions for 2 weeks. As well I learned that if you never ask for help or reach out, you'll never get it.
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