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Career Advice for Struggling Freelancer?
Hey everyone,
I'm an aspiring creative/graphic designer, illustrator and animator in my late twenties living in the UK and am having real trouble finding creative work. I've worked in retail for the last 8 years, and am desperate to change to a more relevant career path. I recently completed my Masters degree in illustration and animation a few years ago but because I lack any professional experience my CV seems like Kryptonite to potential employers and I rarely if ever hear back. I have to stick at my lousy retail job to make ends meet but unfortunately it doesn't afford me the free time to work on new projects and so my portfolio is years out of date thanks to a lack of clients to work for and free time. Would any of you have any advice for me to help me get out of this rut? I would be very grateful for any tips :)
Thanks!
I'm an aspiring creative/graphic designer, illustrator and animator in my late twenties living in the UK and am having real trouble finding creative work. I've worked in retail for the last 8 years, and am desperate to change to a more relevant career path. I recently completed my Masters degree in illustration and animation a few years ago but because I lack any professional experience my CV seems like Kryptonite to potential employers and I rarely if ever hear back. I have to stick at my lousy retail job to make ends meet but unfortunately it doesn't afford me the free time to work on new projects and so my portfolio is years out of date thanks to a lack of clients to work for and free time. Would any of you have any advice for me to help me get out of this rut? I would be very grateful for any tips :)
Thanks!
- Contact in PM
Opus
Messages count : 87Likes count : 3Registration : 4 February 2008You've got to get in front of people and, if you're not happy with what's in your portfolio, you need to get some stuff in there that you are happy with before you do so. You're going to have to find the time to do something about it. Your choice - do you want to move on or not?
Contact agencies and ask and ask to speak to their creative director or whoever is high up in their structure. Find their name from the website or elsewhere. You may not get put straight through if you ring up but at least get their email address. Use LinkedIn and Twitter to connect. Once you've got some means of contacting them ask if they can give you 5 minutes of their time for you to come in, show them your portfolio and get some pointers on how to improve. Not all will respond but some will and you're not asking that much of them by just requesting 5 minutes. Of course, once you're in front of them that's your chance to impress and you'll often get more than 5 minutes - not least if they like what they see. You'll learn some stuff and you'll get some good contacts.
Your aim is to get in to speak to people face to face. Once you do that you're in a far better position than if you're just an anonymous person on the phone or a name on an email.Opus Creative Design Ltd