I've been unemployed for close to 2 years now and by the end of this month I will have exhausted all my resources/savings which have been keeping me afloat all this time. I was originally looking for the "perfect job" now I've broadened my search so wide it's kinda depressing. Is it just me? Or are creative jobs in trouble? Seems the more I search the more I see lower and lower wage ranges and longer and longer job descriptions. What gives?

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Posting as :
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Let’s get to the root of the problem.

1. Is your portfolio being viewed?

- If not, your CV is the problem, it’s probably not ATS friendly, or needs work.

- If yes and you are not getting interviews or calls back, then your portfolio is the problem and needs some work.

2. Are you getting interviews?

- If not, work on your CV and portfolio, you may need to add personal projects in there to make it stand out.

-If yes, you need to see what are the interviews you are failing, are they the screening interviews? You need to work on your elevator pitch and your communication. Are they portfolio presentations? You need to work on articulating better the way you present your portfolio or change the project you are presenting because it’s probably not good enough.

Let me know if you need me to review your portfolio/CV! Happy to help. I have been a designer for 9 years and before switching to product design, I was a senior designer where I had the opportunity to be in the process of hiring people! Don’t give up, it’s stressful but finding the root of the problem and working on it is the best thing you can do right now.

likesmarthelpful

This. After 2 years you should have a sense of what stage you are getting stuck at. Also what have you been up to for the last 2 years? Are you working on your skill sets at all? Pure graphic design has gotten less valuable as the tools have gotten easier to use for non designers.

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Work in an unrelated field while searching?

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Why not start your own gig? Lots of design work all over. Or what about trying something like Upwork? Creatives are problem solvers by nature, where there’s a will, there’s a way!

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Send me your book please.

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Try fiver

What kind of design do you specialize in?

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Another question for hiring managers and recruiters. When viewing a portfolio do you prefer to see more extensive case studies or something more brief? I’ve recently heard that due to having so many candidates to review, more concise case studies are preferred. Would you say this is true?

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