I can't believe it's been a year already. A whole year has passed since graduating from uni. A year since I lived in Carlisle, had drunken midsummer and hippie parties in our awesome garden, a year since I started my so called professional career as graphic designer. Well, there's been some ups and downs since then. A lot of things has happened and I've learned some stuff. For all of you new graduates out there, here are my advice to you:
1. Never work with anyone that you don't feel comfortable with. It will damage you in the end, no matter what job it is. In this business so much is actually relying on personal chemistry, so if you work with great people things will work out, and if the chemistry's not there it can get sour. So know what your limits are, and if they are trespassed just quit. You don't wanna end up being stalked or worse...
2. Live somewhere were you actually wanna live, don't just live somewhere because it's convenient. I know this one can be a little tricky, because you wanna live where there are jobs. But feeling good at home is actually the key to everything. If you don't have that it doesn't matter how great your job is. The atmosphere of a city or a particular place can be pretty hard to ignore. It can be your biggest inspiration or the opposite.
3. Say yes to everything. If people offer you even the smallest project, unpaid or paid - take it. Replace all your uni projects in your portfolio with as many real life projects as you can and as fast as you can. You will come off as much more professional than just a recent graduate, someone who's actually interested in working and not just showing off their skills. People will wonder "hey, why do this person have such awesome portfolio pieces but no job?".
4. Be humble. Don't pretend you know everything because you just graduated from uni. Because you don't. Listen to what people have to say and if it makes sense, learn from them. And ask questions often. Clear communication is SO important.
5. Life after uni sucks and rocks. You will be poor, have periods of massive self-doubt and it can be scary as hell. But there is also freedom to do whatever you want. No more essays, no more crap tutors telling you what to do. Time after uni is great because it's real life and not just a rehearsal for what's coming. The projects that you'll get will be important for real. Nobody will grade them, but you will know yourself if they are good or not. And you'll get a better understanding of what you want in life and your career as well.
I hope this will help some of you. It can be a relief to know what's coming and also know that it happens to everyone. Not in the same way of course, but the hard vs good parts will always be there. I think one of the biggest problems I've had was just to accept that, and once I got over it everything's so much easier. I am now a designer because I choose to be and loving it.
