Career talk for graduating seniors at AIGA Cal Poly
The stuff they don’t teach you in school
Looking back on how my career started, there were so many things that I wish I was made aware of. During my presentation at AIGA Cal Poly, I covered topics from setting up an effective portfolio and writing cover letters, to getting the most out of your first design job.
Poster Design: Sarah Ching
One of the hardest adjustments for students when they finally get out of school is realizing they don’t have a captive audience — meaning nobody is required to spend any time looking at your portfolio — and when your work does get seen and evaluated, it’s not always by other designers.
A peek behind the curtain
I spoke about mistakes I’ve either seen or made myself, and was very candid about the challenges that lie ahead. My hope was that by being more prepared and having reframed expectations, these recent graduates would be able to hit the ground running.
I was extremely humbled that several students came up to me after the talk and told me how much they enjoyed it and would apply some of the things they had learned right away.
