Landing Job Opportunities

Before you even step foot inside a startup then, it is extremely important you choose one that is exploring a problem area you are passionate about. Designers that do this have the intrinsic motivation to push through tough times, the energy to inspire those around them, and the focus to go deeper than others have before them.

The first step in looking for a new role is knowing what you’re looking for. In getting the design career you want, explain to yourself what your next move is and how to get there.

Here are questions I keep in mind for myself when gathering a decision for landing a new job opportunity or freelance client:

• Do you believe in the mission? Ask them to articulate the mission and what gets them up in the morning day after day. The mission is what intrinsically motivates and sustains you through all the ups and downs of startup life. It makes getting in early and staying up late sweating details worth all the effort because you know you’re contributing to something positive that’s greater than yourself.

• Who’s on the team? One essential thing to look for is if the startup even has a design team. If the company has dozens of engineers and only one or no designers, that’s potentially a red flag (although it could also be an opportunity for you to lead and create a design team—if you’re prepared for that). It’s easy these days to copy patterns and use new tools to become an “okay” designer. But if you want to take the quality of your work to the next level, surround yourself with people who are going to push you and not tolerate mediocrity.

• Will you be a partner in making decisions? Dig into how decisions actually get made at the company. Is there essentially a waterfall method where the founders or engineers make all the key decisions and then want designers to make it “pretty?” If so, turn around and walk away. You want a place with true collaboration.

• Is there a health culture that values design? Take a look at basic indicators like how the space is designed. Has the company invested in creating an environment that fosters collaboration across disciplines? When you talk to anyone at the company are they finding meaning in their work and does their behavior actually reflect the company’s values?

• How much value can you and the company create? Are you going to be able to solve problems holistically or will you be pigeon holed into polishing off a feature? Is there a design need the company has that you can uniquely fill and if you succeed, will it move the needle for the business?

Workflow Best Practices

• My design process:

  • Book—To hold a spot in my design schedule, I require a 50% deposit and a signed contract. Projects under $300 require full payment upfront.

  • Gather—Prior to the start date, I’ll have them talk about their brand voice and engage with their visions for the project. Some designers have their clients fill out a detailed questionnaire to gather info and content, but I’m not there yet in my career. I usually start a Pinterest board.

  • Chat—If we haven’t already, we’ll hop on a Google Hangouts or grab a coffee to make sure we’re on the same page and ready to start.

  • Design—For each piece of their project, I’ll send rough design concepts to start and get their feedback.

  • Refine—We’ll work through their feedback on each piece until their final product is revised to perfection.

  • Wrap—Once all the pieces are finalized, I’ll send them all final files (not working files), and an invoice for the last 50% deposit.

• Create a daily things-to-do list that tracks what takes priority and approximately how long each task will take. No matter how much you plan, you have to be okay with failing with at least one task on your list.

• Do the little things for your clients. At the end of a project, slip in a coffee gift card with a handwritten thank you note. This gives you a reputation, and they’ll tell their friends.
  

• Take little breaks throughout the day.

• Email templates: When you start to get inquiries for design work, you will notice that you start to send similar emails to people. You can save tons of time by having templated emails in response to the types of inquiries you receive.

• Timelines: Lastly, I'll mention that it's important to establish (and write down) a workflow for your freelance design projects. This is usually in a checklist or an outline, but lists each step from start to finish for your design projects.

Building Your Portfolio

• Quality over Quantity: Josh Puckett of Dropbox said, “Don’t be afraid to write (a lot) about your work, talking about the goals, context, constraints and your thought process. I want to see more than just big beautiful images.” It’s much better for you to go deeper on a few projects than go shallow on many projects. This will give you the advantage of showing off your highest quality work and let you give a lot of context around that work. If you simply throw in some work to “round out your portfolio” get ready to be judged by your weakest work.

• Make sure to include the following information for each project where appropriate:

  • Project Background – Set the context for the project. What was the goal of the project? What were your constraints? What was the timeline?

  • Team and your role – What was your explicit role, what did you uniquely contribute and who did you work with?

  • The Work – Go deep to show what you produced. Research, sketches, wireframes, mock-ups and a link to working site or application if possible.

  • Success Metrics – Why are you showing me this project? Do you have any results that show this project achieved its intended goal?

  • What You Would Have Done Differently – Based on the process and outcome is there anything you learned you would have done differently. This is a great way to show growth and introspection.

• And most of all: Don’t only display class work. That comes off as unmotivated. Showcase those side projects! It’s a wonderful way to show off your personality!

Knowing Your Worth + Pricing Your Freelance Life

• What is this worth to you? A brand new couch from IKEA? Not having to pay rent for the next three months? Or car insurance for the next year? Your time is worth it. Bill it as such. 

• If No One’s Turning You Down, You’re Not Charging Enough: Your bid should make your stomach flip, just a little bit. Do not feel bad about asking for what you’re worth and know that a big part of freelance is being told no and you just gotta roll with it.

• Know Your Value and Set Your Prices: I recommend creating a price list of your services for yourself. This isn’t something the client even needs to see, but you need to know what you’re comfortable charging for all of your skills.

• I usually charge flat-rate. You could charge your normal hourly rate of $50/hour which would be a very reasonable invoice of $150. However — If you charge them $1500, that may seem ridiculous, since you're ultimately getting $500/hour. But that website will generate something that is incredibly valuable to them: the website allows for them to have a branded web presence for customers to learn more about the company and the products they offer. So the value that you're handing them with their website is quite large, and needs to be charged accordingly.

• Always Get a Deposit: Easier said than done. This is one I still struggle with, but I’m getting better. Get a 50% deposit up front. This protects you against clients who suddenly let you go mid-project and hire another photographer/stylist/designer—but who you’ve already done a lot of work for. But more importantly, it helps motivate you to get the work done. On projects where I charge 50% up front, I’m quicker to respond, do better work and give my all to a project. The client has already committed to you and now it’s your turn to present. This is way more motivating than “Oh yea, I’ll shoot something over in a couple weeks and you can just pay me at the end.” Nope, not gonna happen. Get the 50% up front and then do some really good work instead.

• Last but not least, the “Friends and Family Discount”: I’m a firm believer, on most occasions, in creating a percentage discount and giving that to friends and family across the board. Engagement photo shoot? Invitations? Wedding cake? Great! Let them know they’re getting the friends and family discount (I wouldn’t go higher than 20%).

Staying Creative

• If you spend too much time looking at other designers’ work and comparing your work to theirs, you’ll begin to notice what I refer to as copycat syndrome. Therefore, it’s crucial that you spend some time away from technology, grab a pen and paper, and do some old-fashioned brainstorming to ensure you invent something completely unlike anything else.

• Surround yourself with other creative people. Have coffee with another designer once a month!

AND ULTIMATELY—BATCH DAY!

Here's the plan: dedicate an entire day's work to one topic, eliminating all distractions so you can make the most of this hyper-focused time. I usually hold Batch Day on weekends. Hold yourself accountable, learn from your peers, and get a healthy dose of motivation throughout the day with other creatives. Get together and hone in on each of your most important specific projects and critique and work together. We're all busy, so Batch Day is just a way to hold each other accountable once a month to complete a bunch of tasks around a similar topic.