Posts Tagged ‘research’

$200 Market Research Opportunity

2/9/2010 7:44 PM By Sharon Potsch

$200 is nothing to sneeze at. We can hook you up with a great market research opportunity on Wednesday, February 10, from either 10:00AM to 1:00 PM or 2:00 to 5:00 PM. MDC Research is an independent research and consulting firm. Currently they are setting up a paid research study in Chicago with graphic designers. This is strictly for research purposes only, nothing is being sold before, during, or after.

The sessions are open to 12 participants total and each participant will receive a $200 thank you at the end of the session just for saying your opinions and feedback. What do you have to lose? Call Barbara Angele directly at 1-866-392-3629 or email Barbara<at>mdcresearch<dot>com

Research the Client

9/22/2009 10:39 AM By Catherine T

You will do better in any interview when you know more about the client and the job being offered. Before the interview, do the following research:

  • Check out the client's Web site and learn all you can about their structure, goals, current projects, and product line.
  • Ask people in your network if they know anything about this client. If you run across someone who's worked there in the past, you can ask about personalities and office culture.
  • Get as many specifics as you can about the job being offered, and tailor your resume and portfolio to match their needs as closely as possible. If you're a little rusty on some of the necessary skills, now is the time for a quick refresher!
  • Do a dry run of the trip to the client's office so you know how much time it will take and you won't have to add to your interview nerves by getting tense about being lost.

Employers Should Explicitly Define the Job Position for Interface Designers

8/4/2009 11:09 AM By Catherine T

Interface Designers are a widely varied group of professionals. While a top Interface Designer could probably function well regardless of the industry or project, you should save yourself as much time as possible evaluating, interviewing, and hiring professionals. Of all the tips for Interface Designers evaluation, explicitly defining the job position or project details is the most important.

Whether you are attempting to find the best professional yourself or using one of the top sources for Interface Designers, like ArtisanTalent.com, explaining the job specifics as precisely as possible should help reduce the talent pool to a manageable number. Successful Interface Design demands an effective combination of website aesthetics with intelligent information design and organization.

Most agree that the best user Interface Designer portfolios are those wherein the designer - 

  • Knew the audience,
  • Used consistent, simple navigation methods,
  • Employed conventional icons and terms that all users understand, and
  • Implemented simplified, obvious (to the user) steps to retrieve the information desired.

By explicitly defining the job position and results you, the client, wants eliminates wasteful time discussing project generalities during an interview. You and the candidate can concentrate on the process and end results that match your wishes. Saving valuable time for specific issues are among the most valuable interview tips for both you and the candidates you evaluate.

Basic Qualifications Of Web Designers

7/17/2009 2:15 PM By Catherine T

If you are looking to hire a Web designer, there are four major areas you will want to make sure they are able to handle. Web design skill comes in many forms, but if someone is not adept at the following skills, they may not be able to complete the job to your satisfaction:

  1. Design. They must be able to take your ideas and come up with a coherent design or plan for the Website.
  2. Create. They must be able to actually make that Website happen as described.
  3. Test. They need to be able to test and tweak the Website to make sure that it is working properly.
  4. Maintain. They must be able to update and maintain the Website.

Although maintenance may or may not be included as a part of the contract with a Web designer, the other three points are absolutely vital to the process of creating a good Website. One way to check these items is to talk to the designer's previous clients. Ask them if the design that they wanted is the one they got at the end of the process. This can help you see if the person you are thinking about employing is the right one for the job. And if you need help finding great designers, Artisan is your place.

How Can I Choose the Right Talent Agency?

6/17/2009 2:14 PM By Catherine T

There are many agencies out there who would like to fill all your freelance needs. Many of them promise to screen candidates and present only the most qualified to you. Be cautious about agencies that seem too small — they may be presenting the same few people as experts in an array of skills, instead of offering specialists in the job you need done. Likewise, very large agencies may lack the time to tend to the needs of each client. Look for evidence of technical and design savvy. A reputable agency will also take care of taxes, insurance, and payments to freelancers, and will attract quality candidates by offering benefits and other enticements. Working with a good agency takes a lot of the risk out of hiring freelance help.

Tips for Information Architects to Prepare for an Interview

5/13/2009 11:02 AM By Sharon Potsch

Unlike those for many other members of the workforce, tips for Information Architects on preparing for an interview include some specific considerations. For example, Information Architect portfolios are critical to a successful interview. Consequently, you should prepare your information, presentation, and examples carefully. You also need to remember that many of the classic preparations for job interviews also apply. Here are a few tips you should always follow.

  • Research the client and the company. It is imperative that you know as much about the client or employer as possible. Your vast Internet expertise should allow you to locate volumes of information about your prospective client or employer to help you prepare properly for interviewing.
  • Prepare printed examples of your prior successful projects. Do not assume that you and your interviewer will have the opportunity to view your website or interactive examples of your portfolio online. You may meet in a restaurant, café, or in a conference room lacking Internet access, even if you have your laptop with you. Printed “snapshots” of your finished products may be very important.
  • Know the critical components of the project or anticipate the job focus in advance. Whether you’re being considered for a specific project or full-time employment, learning about the client’s needs and desires for the finished product or long term goals prepares you for their questions and allows you to create excellent and relevant questions for interviewers.

How Can I Present Myself Well to an Agency?

1/15/2009 12:03 PM By Catherine T

To start getting agency jobs, you'll need to market yourself in the same way you would for a high-profile client. Begin by checking out the agency's website and asking around among people in your network. When you've selected a couple of agencies that seem right for you, don't just send in a resume. Cultivate contacts at that agency, and tailor your resume and web portfolio to match the sort of clients and jobs the agency describes on its site. When assembling an electronic or in-person portfolio, don't assume the client will visit URLs, look at a CD, or watch a video. Use storyboards and printouts to convey your ideas while making the reviewer's job easier.

How Do I Choose Between Jobs?

1/11/2009 11:58 AM By Catherine T

Things are going so well that you have more than one project available to you. All other things being equal, you'd probably pick the one that pays more. What other criteria should you consider?

  • If the position lets you use new skills or obtain new training, it may be worth taking even if the other post pays more or lasts longer.
  • You'll do a better job and get more satisfaction out of jobs that feed your passions. That's one reason many freelancers take on the occasional charity job.
  • Building your resume and your portfolio shouldn't be the only reasons you take a job, but they can be part of your decision-making process.
  • Quality and reputation of the client.
  • People on your team. Will you be working with those you know and like, or people who will be valuable additions to your network?

How to Write the Best Descriptions for Jobs in Web Design

9/7/2008 10:44 AM By Catherine T

Just as freelance and full-time job candidates are in competition with each other for jobs in web design, you are also competing with other clients and employers seeking to hire the best. When you want to hire the best web designer your budget can afford, you should take this competition seriously and try to write the best postings for web design jobs possible. Here are some tips to help your postings stand out.

Read, analyze, and rate your competition. Look at other search notices for web designer jobs. Which ones are interesting and which lack any spark? Which appear to accurately describe what the employer wants and which are ambiguous? Note the ones you like and those you don’t care for.

Role play a little. Put yourself in the shoes of a website design candidate. Which type of notices for web graphic design jobs would interest you? Which formats do not spark your interest?

Read some Usability job search tips. What do the experts recommend that professionals do to show they know how to design a website that makes employers pleased? You’ll expand your knowledge regarding what professionals look for in web design tips to help them be hired.

Be specific. To save time – for both web designer candidates and you – write your web design jobs descriptions as specifically as possible. Outline exactly what you want as you learn about Usability Designers.

Learning about other web designing jobs and how the professionals perform them will help you write more exciting and specific job postings. This will attract the best professionals available.

Some Good Sources to Read About User Interface Design Jobs

4/23/2008 11:18 AM By admin

The Internet offers numerous opportunities to read about user Interface Design jobs. You might want to concentrate on some different sources depending on the “stage” of internet architecture careers in which you currently reside.

For example, if you’re looking for clients hiring Information Architects for contract projects, you will probably not find web design jobs you like at classic employment search websites. But, using the best agencies for Information Architects, like ArtisanTalent.com, you will read about Information Architect jobs that will interest you.

Should you be debating a career search for both contract and full-time information architecture job opportunities, you could search talent agencies, which may have both choices, and other classic employment search companies.

If you are relatively new to the information architecture community, you may want to read about jobs for Information Architects at some of the job boards that feature lower paying graphic design jobs, but have clients more open to giving newer professionals opportunities. Conversely, if you have a strong portfolio of successful projects for better known companies, you might want to bypass or just give cursory looks at these job boards and concentrate on top agencies for Information Architects, like Artisan, and your personal and professional network to learn about jobs for Information Architects.