How To Get A Design Job (With Advice From Someone Who’s Done It)

This post is presented in partnership with Adobe.

“I’ve been sketching robots every morning for the past two and a half months.”

That is someone’s job.

That is someone’s job.

That is Emma Campbell’s job.

Picture supplied by Emma Campbell.

The 21-year-old New Zealand native moved to the United States earlier in the year to become a professional graphic designer and illustrator.

Since securing a job at a small software company in Portland, Oregon, Emma’s picked up enough new skills – and neat, robot-related anecdotes – to help her get work almost anywhere.

For a little under three months, she’s put her degree from the Auckland University of Technology – not to mention her Adobe suite - to good use.

Emma’s been designing logos, creating three-dimensional content for apps, and even learned how to use a 3D printer.

That robot gig, though.

“They’re creating a robot,” Emma told Student Edge, as if this was a normal thing that every company does.

“Like, a real-life robot. So, every morning I go in there and spend 30 minutes sketching a robot. Not necessarily one they’re going to make, but maybe taking ideas from each of them.”

The question has to be asked? How does a student from rural South Auckland find herself in one of the cultural hubs of the planet, designing robots?

“Back when I was in primary school, we got to do art every Friday, and that kick-started things,” she said.

“I continued to paint in high school, but halfway through I started thinking about real life and [how] the world is turning digital, so I can’t keep depending on traditional media.

“That’s when I started going from the painting side to the graphic design side, using Photoshop and Illustrator and InDesign to actually create things.

“As soon as I started that I fell in love.”

Pictured, left: Standing bear, illustrated by Emma for Girl Skateboards to be printed on limited edition line of boards. Created entirely on Adobe Photoshop with a Wacom tablet. Right: Mixed media illustration for a local art festival, incorporating gouache painting and string art. Supplied by Emma Campbell.

Though her high school teachers were nurturing, it was at university that the creative mind-door was blown wide open.

“At high school, we did everything on Photoshop, and I just thought that was life,” she laughed.

“Then we went to university and you’re just immersed in all these other programs like Illustrator and InDesign.”

Having the skills, however, is just half the battle. We asked Emma for her tips on what it takes an aspiring graphic designer to secure an actual design gig.

1. Don’t be limited by your home town.

Emma came to the decision early on that she would need to leave home to find the work she was interested in, though travelling was at least something she was used to, given the lengthy commute from South Auckland to her uni.

“I was leaving home two or three hours before class started, just to drive to the train station, take the train out to the city, then walk from the train station to university,” she explained.

“It was really hard actually. You wanted to just fall asleep on the train."

Her decision to move in with another family closer to AUT may have inspired her to leave Auckland after graduation for the greener pastures of Portland. (Though, given Auckland is crazy green already, these pastures are entirely of the metaphorical kind.)

“My original plan was to do a year in America, and then do two years in Canada and then do two years in the UK. I really want to travel and work at the same time,” Emma said.

She spent the months before leaving the land of the long white cloud working retail to squirrel away cash for the big move. Oh, and putting together a portfolio.

2. Be proactive (and prepare multiple portfolios).

“About two months before I was moving, I started to email studios and places in Portland, not to ask for a job, but to kind of say, ‘Hey, I’m from New Zealand, I’m thinking of moving over here. Could you tell me what you look for when you’re hiring someone and what the design culture is like?”

Having taken that first step, Emma was surprised to have gotten a few responses with advice in kind.

“It must be really odd for someone to receive an email from halfway around the world,” she guessed.

Perhaps having not only hard copy portfolios but a PDF version and a website displaying her wares was part of the appeal. After all, a graphic designer really should be able to make their portfolio stand out somehow.

3. The saying “It’s Not What You Know, But Who You Know” is actually true.

“You really have to network with people, meet with people, go to networking events and just actually talk to a whole lot of people,” Emma said.

She acknowledged that it’s a difficult step for shy designers – or any budding graduates, really – but couldn’t overstate just how helpful it can be.

Her current role can even be chalked up to her taking the plunge by moving in with a family from Craigslist offering a spare bedroom, and whose dad worked at the small software company she’s now employed. (She only got the job after a rigorous interview process. “What you know” still definitely counts in those instances.)

4. Adapt or die.

Recalling the design jobs she’s been assigned since joining her Portland firm, Emma says, “It’s definitely stuff I wouldn’t have been able to work on if I’d stayed in New Zealand.”

“Before I started working here, 3D content scared me… Now that I’m learning more programs and software, it actually just opens up a whole new job section [for the future].

“Before I was looking for just graphic design or illustration work. Now, in a year’s time, I could know enough to find a developer or software role, or game designer, or something like that because I’m gaining that experience [on] something that even two months ago would have freaked me out.”

That new knowledge base even has Emma reconsidering the next steps of her worldwide working adventure.

“My other career option in high school was to get into the tourism industry. But I just started doing art and went, ‘I want to do something I enjoy every day. I don’t want a job that I just go to, to earn money. I want something that I’m going to be excited to wake up every morning to go and actually do.”

Good thing she has this job.

All pictures supplied by Emma Campbell.

Follow Emma's path by getting 70% off the Adobe Creative Cloud plan – including Photoshop Illustrator, InDesign and Premiere Pro – with Student Edge. Find out more.