“Good studios are out there”

Creative Career Conundrums is a weekly advice column from If You Could Jobs. Each week their selected panel of professionals from the creative industry answers your burning career questions to help you navigate the creative journey.

This week’s question:

“Do design studios really mean it when they say you don’t need to be from a fancy arts school or have a design background in their job description?

I have frequently come across design studios, even well-renowned ones, that include this in their job descriptions. What is the point of making it so clickbait-y if you’re going to hire someone who is the exact opposite? I’m a junior designer who recently completed my masters at a not-so-fancy arts university and don’t have much design agency experience since I switched fields from engineering. I’ve been working for years to seem ‘fit’ for design agencies, have applied to tons of such job descriptions, and have been told my work is good, has lots of potential, but doesn’t meet the ‘requirements’.

I’m definitely going to find out who got the position, and it’s always a fresh graduate from a well-reputed design school, probably privileged enough to have good industry connections because of their school. My question is: why include this in the job description just to seem ‘inclusive’ and not actually be it?”

Katie Cadwell, co-founder of branding studio Lucky Dip and The NDA Podcast:

Firstly, I hope that’s not the case, but I’m sorry that’s your experience. It’s true that some agencies have great relationships with universities, so they look to them as a safe bet for hiring. But studios should be trying to build diverse teams, searching for different backgrounds or life experience (and practising what they preach in their job ads as you’ve pointed out).

There are examples of agencies being very active in broadening their search pool. JKR sparks is a programme designed specifically to find those without a degree. Koto have just launched a new platform called Seasoned, to help people break into the industry from ‘untraditional’ backgrounds. D&AD Shift has been helping carve new paths into the industry for a long time. You need to hunt them out. Look for business leaders and creative directors that have different beginnings themselves, they’ll understand the value more than most.

Something design schools do well is teach students how to create portfolios. Often, they spend weeks iterating on their case studies and have lots of opportunities to present to people in industry. Maybe it’s not the content that is letting you down, but how you’re packaging it.

Try finding some portfolio reviews. Either reach out to creative directors you respect and ask for 15 minutes of their time to give feedback, or find events where you get a chance to hone your presentation. Organisations like Arena are great at hosting these, or some agencies like Studio Moross run their own.

The studios you’re encountering likely have teams of creatives all from the same three design schools – which might not be the right place for you if they don’t value your background. The good studios are out there, but just a little harder to find. Sorry you have to do extra work, but I predict the studio you end up in will be a great one.

In answering your creative career conundrums we realise that some issues need expert support, so we’ve collated a list of additional resources that can support you across things that might arise at work.

If You Could is the jobs board from It’s Nice That, the place to find jobs in the creative industries.

Want to stay on top of your job search? Or keep an ear out for when your dream job arrives on our site? Click here to set up tailored job alerts arriving straight into your inbox so you never miss an opportunity. See below for the latest opportunities: