The anxiety of an undergraduate finding work in our industry, and in our state of Michigan (though bless her) is enough to suffocate a tri-atholon champion. And career day isn't any different.
"Sweaty armpits, is my breath okay, why is there a smudge on my board, I hope they don't rip my work to shreds, why is it so goddamn hot in here, I do need a mint my breath is bad, did I bring the right pieces, and what the fuck is wrong with my zipper, oh my god I bet that looked like I was playing with my downstairs oh my god"...? These are the wonderful moments of thought we find our selves in during this blessed time. Especially mulling over the 75% of students that don't get a job after graduation. Followed by images of yourself with the little hobo suitcase and a sign that say's "will design for food" in Helvetica Neue Condensed Bold.
Though it isn't all fire and gnashing of teeth. It's just getting that anxiousness, that fear of the future and nervous little gnome that camps in our bellies that is the hard part. It reminds me what Sagmeister said about his poster for AIGA. "There is a lot of fear and anxiety in our industry." He's right, and 75 percent of that resides in our undergrads.
So we smile, shake hands, try and muster as much confidence in ourselves and our work as possible. But thing that made that eaiser, the thing that made that initial fear fade into the background, was the designers and creative directors that critique your work. Although i only got to talk to a few of them, those I was fortunate enough to sit-down with were more than accommodating. It is almost as if their nametags read, "If anyone understands what your going through, I do." And they should. If anything things have gotten harder since they experienced this. More competition, lack of design focus in curriculums due to having to teach software, and surplus in the amount of creatives and lack of demand for them. Maybe, maybe not. But they still understand how hard it is, and how nerve wracking it is to try and get "out there." One of the directors I met with mentioned that he moved to Chicago in 2000 when the dotcom boom fizzled. He said something like 30,000 creatives were looking for work, and that it is tough but you've got to be a fighter and sometimes you have to crawl your way out to get noticed. Mostly the over all message was "be yourself, and work your self's ass off."
Over all I think career day was a success. Good professionals with good advice, and good critiques. A lot of questions were answered about various avenues within the industry, and what to include in our book. Plus, it was actually pretty fucking fun. The speakers were funny, jovial, and happy to be there. And that’s great because it made me happy to be there too. All in all, after I got some gum and stop my sweat glands from over-reacting it was a great experience.
