Nov 27, 2004
Employment, Design and General Frustration
It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything. My search for full-time employment has yielded a couple of interviews in the past week that both seemed to go very well. So I thought. I’m still hoping to hear back from one, but I’m not sure what has happened with the other prospect. I was told that things would be set up for a trial basis for both of us, but haven’t heard anything back and the response to my phone calls has been limited at best. So still, I soldier on looking for more opportunities.
I have a new design for this site underway, but just can’t seem to work up the motivation to get it coded and online. The design is quite different style-wise from the current design. There is a lot more color involved, well, at least graphics wise. The format of the site will still remain the same (2 column layout, etc.), although I hope to be doing a bit more writing about design related topics rather than my woes of job hunting.
I’m also planning to write a small article/tutorial about how I implemented iTunes Watcher in my sidebar of this site. I’ve had a number of emails regarding this as well as a few comments posted here on the site. I wouldn’t expect this to appear any time soon, as there are many other matters to attend to first.
Hopefully, I’ll be soon back to regular posting on this site. Things are somewhat crazy and stressful in my personal life lately, but I’m sure that things will work themselves out and everything will be back to normal. Cheers!
I am increasingly amazed and appalled by the lack of ettiquite present in the job market today, mostly on the employer’s side.
When I was looking for work last year, I was thoroughly disappointed to find what I consider to be very rude practices employed by companies seeking graphic designers. For example, many job postings did not include the company name, email, or the name of the HR director. All that was provided was a fax number. Sure, I could track down the owner of the number, but why? Obviously the company didn’t want to be bothered by me, except by fax. This withholding of information by employers is rude. So is not calling an applicant back, even if it is to tell them that they weren’t selected for the job. So is hiding behind email, voicemail, secretaries and veiled identities.
I applied for one job only to find out later that my application had gone to a company that I absolutely wanted no part of. If their ad had stated their comapny name, which is the polite thing to do, I could have saved both of us a lot of time and false hopes by never applying at all.
So every time I hear about a designer looking for work, I cringe because I know how poorly a person can be treated when looking for work.
Still, keep that chin up, because in my experience, those who perservere always come out on top.
P.S. - Just a tip, told to me by a friend: Always send a thank you note or place a thank you phone call to the person who interviewed you about 2 days after your interview. Not only does it give that person a gentle reminder that you’re still alive and waiting, but it shows gratitude and strength of character. I actually got a job by making a thank you call. The interviewer had simply got so busy that she forgot about me. Once I called, I got a second interview and got hired on the spot!
I’m glad to know that there is other people that have gone through the same that I’m experiencing right now. I’m still plugging away regardless of the outcome of any interview that I have, because I know that I have the skills, I just need someone to give me that one break to get my foot in the door. I don’t ever plan on giving up either, I know this is what I want to do for a career and I’ll be damned if a few bad experiences are going to scare me off.
Thanks for the tip regarding the thank you calls, I’ll definitely keep that in mind.