Are you dreaming about a career in design?
Photo by Tran Mau Tri Tam on Unsplash
Whether you already have a certain level of skills or are a beginner, the good news is that you can master this profession and land your dream job in the near future. All you need is a bit of motivation and a good plan of action. And, we are here to help you get on the right track!
If you’ve been wondering how to become a designer even if you have no work experience, in this article, we will share with you a number of handy tips that should help you master this profession and jump-start your design career.
- Pursue Formal Education
Different employers have different demands for their potential employees. Therefore, in general, it is possible to land an interview and get hired even if you only have a high school diploma and no additional training. Nevertheless, it is good to pursue some education in order to simplify your job search in the future. Besides, it will give you the so-needed grounding in design theory and practice.
What options do you have here? Basically, there are two ways you can pursue education. The most obvious way is to go to college and get a degree. However, not everyone can afford to spend three years on studies, which is why taking some offline or online courses is also an option.
- Create a Solid Resume
If you want to land a job, first of all, you need to take care of acquiring the key skills. But, next, you should craft a winning resume that will get you employed. So, the next tip on our list is to really focus on the creation of your resume.
Crafting a bot-beating resume for such a creative job is much different from writing it for any other profession. A good resume that will help you get more interviews should display all your strong sides. It should highlight your accomplishments, skills, and work experience. At the same time, it should show your creativity, but still look professional.
Pro Tip: In case you are new to the job market, don’t hesitate to get professional help. You can entrust this matter to a professional career advice expert from SkillHub and get a flawless resume that will engage and impress recruiters. This way, you will have a guarantee that your job application will be noticed.
- Master Relevant Software
Such occupations as design always require individuals to use a variety of job-specific tools. So, our next tip for you is to put enough effort and time to master the software you will be using in your job.
What tools you might need? The number of special design software is rather large. Some of the most popular tools include Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign. You can start by mastering these tools and then expand your toolkit as you progress in your career.
- Get a Freelance or Online Job
One of the biggest concerns most beginner designers face is the lack of professional experience and this factor often holds them back from applying to jobs. Indeed, many employers want to hire humans who already have the needed level of qualification. However, who says you can’t start acquiring the needed experiences right now?
The easiest way to brush up on your design skills and gain more practice is to find a freelance or online job. This tip will especially come in handy while you are still acquiring your degree as it will let you gain some experience without giving up on your studies.
- Network
Our next tip may not sound very obvious to some of you. When you start wondering about how to become a designer, you typically think about pursuing relevant education and gaining experience. But, networking is also an important part of success.
By networking with other specialists from your career field you can not only gain lots of valuable insights and advice but also broaden your horizons. After all, you never know where your next big opportunity will come from.
- Build Up Your Online Presence
In the 21st century, online presence and personal brand play a huge role in professional success, especially when you have a creative job. Thus, our next tip on how to become a designer is to start building your online presence early on.
How to do this? There are plenty of opportunities that you can use. For example, you can create a personal website or portfolio. Also, you can consider sharing your works on different social media. The key thing is to be consistent so that your online presence could grow larger.
- Benefit From Award Schemes
As a beginner designer, your core goal is to get your works out there and get them noticed. So, here comes our last tip – don’t be afraid to submit your work to various contests and awards.
First of all, this is a great opportunity to take your skills to the next level and get even more practice. Secondly, it is a great way to get noticed as a professional. And, lastly, even if you won’t get a job offer right after receiving an award, be sure that it will look great on your future applications.
The Bottom Line
When you are planning to start a career, whether in design or any other field, there are always plenty of things to consider and to take care of before you can go on and apply to your dream job. Often, this transition point is associated with a large number of issues, doubts, and concerns. But, now, you have an actionable plan with handy tips that work.
Hopefully, the tips from this article will help you become a designer with ease. And, in conclusion, there is just one more tip that we have for you – always keep going forward! No matter how hard or time-consuming your path to the dream career will be, if you keep moving forward and don’t lose motivation, you will eventually succeed!