Graduate Designer – A Cool Way to Promote Yourself

If you are a graduate designer why not try making yourself stand out from all the other new designers

A little while ago I was watching a video on Gideon Shalwick’s Blog about creating video content by looking as though you are being interviewed by someone and it struck me that it could be an ideal way for graduate designers to try and promote themselves. I can remember when I left college (pre internet) the only thing that you could really use to make yourself stand out was an unusual CV or piece of literature.  Youtube gives a graduate designer so many more options and I know this is something I would try if I wanted to try and stand out from the crowd.

Step 1 – Write out questions that a company might ask a graduate designer

This could be general questions such as what is your name, age, which town do you live in, but then add questions such as:
What do you like about graphic design?
What do you think are your strengths?
Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?
What experience do you have in graphic design?

Step 2 – Video yourself answering the graduate designer interview questions

Using a webcam, phone or camera set the questions up somewhere near the camera and record yourself answering them.

You can see how Gideon Shalwick does it in his videos.

Step 3 – Make a screen capture video of your design work

Take this one step further and after your interview produce a screen capture of you briefly talking through some pieces of work. There are various free and paid screen capture programs – including Camtasia (paid) and Jing (free). For a large list of screen capture options please see 35 Irresistible Free and Commercial Screen Recording Tools.

Step 4 – Upload your graduate designer video to Youtube and your website/blog

Once complete upload your video to Youtube and other video services through TubeMogul. Make sure you include a link back to your website in your Youtube description. Also upload it to your website. This will allow you to point potential employers to your video. I would still have a normal online portfolio available too in case people just want to quickly look at your work. You can also promote your video through facebook, twitter, LinkedIn etc.

If there was a specific design company you really wanted to work for you could make a video directly targeting that company.

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