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Archive for the ‘Career Resources’ Category
Creating Your Online Portfolio
4/29/2010 10:26 PM By Sharon PotschNow that you’ve assembled a handful of .jpgs, you can start thinking about building an online portfolio. The advent of sites such as Wordpress and Coroflot is it gives you a choice of templated websites ready for you to populate and crank up with relatively little to no web development skills needed. Basically, all the work is done for you!
I’ve noticed more and more writers using WordPress blogs to create an online presence. A blog can be a tremendously easy and effective method for writers to suddenly have a website. WordPress offers thousands (literally) of “skins” (a glorified way of saying “looks”) for you to choose from. A blog that showcases your professional work immediately assists you in promoting your brand and providing you with a 2010 URL to provide to your clients. You can create “tags” and “categories” to organize your work. For example, “Print Work” could be one category and “Interactive Work” could be another. Employing the use of tags such as “direct mail” or “banner ads” is a way to further categorize and organize your work. Using Snag-it will help you dress up your page by including screen-shots of your work and you can then upload the full-version as an attachment related to each post. It’s really a genius (easy, free) way for writers to build an online presence that you need in order to compete for writing jobs today. Did I mention it’s free? It’s free. All it takes is time.
Additionally, working within the content management system of a blogging engine provides you with in-demand CMS experience. Honestly, it’s a win-win.
Taking Screen Shots
4/29/2010 10:24 PM By Sharon PotschOk so you can’t necessarily just download software on a company-issued computer without getting approval or a company credit card but you can keep current by downloading on your home computer a super handy-dandy program Snag-it. Snag-it is the equivalent of taking a digital picture of your work as it appears online here and now and partnering with a decently-talented designer to crop it as you see fit. You can even insert content edits or call-outs as you see fit. Snag-it is a priceless tool for writers because it enables you to create .jpgs of your work which then enables you to create multi-page PDFs of your work. See where I’m going? You can use snag-it to help you start to build your online portfolio! It’s genius.
Writers: Save Your Samples
4/29/2010 10:17 PM By Sharon PotschPrior to my gig with Artisan, I was a writer with a global consulting firm. My work included writing online benefits content viewed by internal audiences of other global organizations. Let’s say I wasn’t penning Addy-winning pieces but the content was dense, information-heavy material spun to target a professional global audience. Most of my day was mired in uploading and organizing content using a content management system. I spent a year with this organization and it pained me to think about the negative impact the lack of creative work would have on my portfolio.
Fast-forward six years and here I sit at Artisan where daily I field requests from clients who want to see samples of precisely this type of content. Seriously! People want to see this stuff! Fortunately I had the foresight at my old job to familiarize myself with the organization’s copyright and presentation restrictions otherwise I’d have nothing to show for the previous year of employment.
The morale of this story isn’t ground-breaking; it’s a gentle reminder for writers to not only save your stuff, but print it. Get a cheap three-ring binder and print out screen shots of your work because future clients and hiring will want to see it no matter how mundane you think it is.
I’ve already written about the importance of familiarizing yourself with using various CMS tools and providing screen shots of your ability to work within them provides proof that yes, you can upload your writing to the web.
Unemployed in Chicago
1/25/2010 9:39 PM By Sharon PotschYou got laid off and what did you do?
Getting laid off can feel like a death sentence. It doesn't matter if you know another job is inevitable or just around the corner, you feel like you're done and things will never be the same. But what if getting laid off meant starting a new beginning?
We've all heard the saying of turning lemons in lemonade but check out a website for a film that documents ex-agency folks who've done just that. "Lemonade" is a film that documents the paths of those who were products of advertising agency staff slayings caused by the recent economic downtown that we're all too familiar with. Instead of grousing around and applying for the same ol' creative director jobs, the people featured in this film dusted off their boots and walked a path destined by their dreams. Intrigued? Check out this trailer. You can even upload your own war story.
Maybe it's not possible to chuck your resume out the window and open a yoga studio, but this film certainly will get your wheels turning. "Lemonade" is on tour with screenings across the country including Chicago on Tuesday, February 9, at 6:00 and 8:00 PM at the Chopin Theater in Wicker Park. We hope to see you at one of these free screenings. If anything it certainly is nice to relate to a film. Admission is free but you need to RSVP here for the 6:00 show and here for the 8:00 show. See you there!
Creative Self Promotion
1/8/2010 4:10 PM By Sharon PotschAnother perk to my job satisfaction of helping creative artists advance their careers is getting cool gifts during the holidays. Thanks to Lidia Varesco Design and VikDesign, I will will plan my 2010 events in the company of good design. What better way to stay front and center in a potential client's mind than to give them a gift of a calendar? Every day I think of these two studios when I glance at their beautiful design. Check out the calendars here and pick one up–VikDesign's apple-a-day calendar gives your daily apple's sticker a comfy and proper home while Lidia Varesco's nestles perfectly on a cubicle cork-board. Beautiful!
Learning Freelance Web Design
12/12/2009 1:30 PM By Catherine TIf you want to learn how to take your freelance Web design skills to the next level, consider offering your services to a more established freelancer as a sub-contract position. Sub-contracting is where a freelance Web designer accepts a job and outsources some of the work to a fellow freelance designer. This kind of freelance Web design employment is more “anonymous” in that you can’t claim the entire project in your portfolio, and sometimes may be unable to claim any of the work depending on the nature of your work as a sub-contractor.
The advantage of working as a sub-contractor is that you can get more experience in projects that require your skills, but without requiring you to make the rounds to sell your services to potential employers. Sub-contracting can give you more confidence in your abilities and the opportunity to get some constructive criticism on your work from a fellow freelancer.
How Much Should I Stay In Touch During a Project?
12/5/2009 1:00 PM By Catherine TWhen working on a project, particularly off-site, you're often faced with the question of how much communication to have with your supervisor. It's best to clarify expectations at the beginning by asking something like "Whom should I call if I have questions?" Some supervisors will volunteer to check in regularly, and will want updates on your progress. Others may say something like, "Yes, but I think we've given you all the information you'll need," indicating that they'd prefer that you not bother them until you're done. Even this sort of supervisor would prefer that you ask questions or bring up concerns rather than deliver a product that doesn't meet the organization's needs. Be smart and respectful when asking questions — use e-mail if it isn't urgent, save up questions so you can get more than one answered at once, and use your knowledge of the project and the field to see if you can figure out the answer on your own.
Teaming Up for Freelance Success
12/5/2009 10:24 AM By Catherine TA freelance graphic designer in a difficult market may need to get creative when it comes to finding clients. Fortunately, designers are already creative!
One of the best ways to build your clientele is to join forces with someone in a related field. A designer and copywriter might market themselves as a team. A graphic artist and a programmer might help each other out on projects, allowing each to market the other's skills and look like a more vibrant business. A web designer might market services through a local copy center, allowing the copy center to offer a service not available at big-box stores while reaching new markets.
The important thing in all these arrangements is money. Sit down ahead of time and talk through as many possible scenarios as you can. If the web designer brings a new client to the copy center, is she entitled to a fee? If the graphic artist and the programmer create a game together, who will market it and how will they split the money? If the copywriter is supposed to get half the money for team projects, but the job required twice as much design time as writing time, what happens?
Even if you have a trust relationship with another professional — even if that person is your spouse or your sister — communicating ahead of time about financial issues will help things go more smoothly.
