Do I keep my crappy job?
Note: What follows is email correspondence between myself and a designer seeking advice. Names have been anonymousized, and I’ve subtracted praise since it would be icky of me to just post praisey emails.
Dear Ms. Hische,
My name is Person, I’m 21 and I’m going to be graduating from college in the spring with a degree in Graphic Design. I love doing lettering and illustration, especially chalk board signage and stuff like that, and I think that in the future I’ll be happiest doing freelance work on my own. But right now I have a job lined up for after I graduate at a giant company doing UX stuff (which I kind of hate) but this is the kind of deal where I can get a good salary and health insurance and stuff that I honestly could really use. I always figured I could just do freelance on the side until I can make it doing just that.
But one of my teachers just told us that the first few jobs we take after we graduate will dictate the work we do for the rest of our lives, because that will decide what our portfolios looks like. After class I went home and immediately burst into tears. I don’t want to be in a cubicle forever, I hate this job! I feel like I’m wasting valuable post-graduation time, but I need a roof over my head too.
Should I listen to my teacher and ditch this job and start hunting around for an internship at a studio that might not pay as well? Can I start making a name for myself doing freelance now? How did you go about making your promo to start freelancing? How can I take what I love and make it into a living like you did, what steps should I take?
I’m so sorry this is so long, but I really can’t thank you enough for reading through it.
Sincerely,
Person McPerson
Hey Person!
What your professor said is partially true, but it’s also a very very high pressure statement. It’s true that every job you have will affect your portfolio if you let it, but you could be a lion tamer during the day as long as you found time to do design at night. There’s no reason why you need to include the work from a crappy job in your portfolio if you’re finding time to make good work on your own. Professors say things like this because 90% of design students don’t have the motivation to go home after their day job and make a cool promo, or work on freelance work. They need their job to be what fuels their portfolio because they have a hard time doing it on their own.
What your professor said puts way too much pressure on you to get an amazing job straight out of school—which is REALLY REALLY hard! You’re young, take whatever job you think you will learn learn the most from and even if it’s not a “dream job”, there’s plenty to learn. Even cubicle jobs teach you a lot about how to deal with different kinds of personality types in office environments, how to write respectful emails, etc. Also, some people need to take higher paying less fun jobs when they’re young because of their life situation. Some people need amazing health insurance because of health issues, some people need a high salary because they’re supporting a parent or small child. The key is to take a job that doesn’t make you hate design and supports your development as a designer in one way or another, even if it’s just sugar-daddying your night time passion projects.
Internships are incredibly valuable and yes they pay very little. Tiny design studios pay lower salaries as well but you will learn a great deal by working at them. When I started out, I went the tiny studio route because I was fine living like a broke college student until my mid-twenties and because my day job also had 9-6 hours (instead of 9am-10pm hours that you often see at small creative agencies), which enabled me to freelance at night and eventually go on my own.
Do what feels right to you. If having a stable income takes a giant load off of your shoulders and allows you to be creative at night, keep that stable income job, but if it’s making you hate design and you come home exhausted and unable to work on your own stuff, quit it for sure.
As far as when to go freelance: I’d recommend having 3-6 months of rent / living costs in the bank before you do since it can take a while for the ball to really get rolling. I was working full time and freelancing “full time” (6-8 hours after work) for over a year before I quit my day job. I had enough saved that I didn’t suffocate under the pressure to make money in my first few months out.
Hopefully this helps!
J