Career Advice?

[bold forge]

I was wondering if I could get some advice about starting my career in graphic design. I would really like some perspective whether it be those also starting their careers or very experienced designers. This post will be long, so please bear with me.

For context, I just recently graduated from college in May with an AAS in Digital Media. I had been job searching throughout the last year of my education so that I could be prepared. In mid May, I finally landed an interview. The position was titled “Entry Level Graphic Designer & Signmaker”. After reading through the job description and responsibilities, I was hesitant but hopeful. I decided to at least see how the interview would go.

The interview went surprisingly well. The current designer was the one interviewing me. She showed me some examples of projects she had worked on, described the work environment to me, and told me that I would be thoroughly trained for everything so there wasn’t an expectation for me to know about sign making yet. I asked several questions and was content with every answer. Everything seemed to align with exactly what I was looking for (location, environment, pay). What really sealed the deal for me was that they were beginning to lean more into the digital design rather than sign making, and there were already several projects my skills could be used towards. I was fine with learning sign making as well, as I felt it would broaden my skills and experience. They offered me the position the day after the interview. I put in my two weeks at the job I was working at the time, and was very excited to start at the beginning of June.

Unfortunately, it has all gone downhill since that point. There have been several red flags, from the other designer and coworkers’ behavior to still not receiving pay even though it was implied I was going to get my first check two weeks ago.

The other designer, who I have labeled as my supervisor, left me by myself with little to no instruction on the first day. This was the first red flag. To be fair, she was dealing with some personal issues at the time and had to be out of the office so I tried to give her some grace. However, this continued on for the next week, with her only being in the office for less than a hour each day or not at all. When she was finally back to the office permanently, it didn’t get much better. She arrives late at work every morning, leaves early, and hides in her office most of the time, leaving majority of work to me.

I learned that giving vague instructions was a repetitive behavior from her. She would show me how to use machines in only a minute, and I believe she expects me to retain that knowledge and know exactly what to do from now on. She has gotten frustrated with me a few different times now because I have struggled to be perfect at tasks after going over them one time. All of this is in relation to sign making, which was something already discussed in the interview- I was promised that I would be trained thoroughly! I have tried having a conversation with her a couple times now about training me and being patient, but it hasn’t gotten better. To my dismay, majority of projects are sign work unlike what was told to me during the interview. Any of the digital work I do is equally as frustrating, because there is almost no direction. She leaves projects up to me to figure out and won’t answer basic questions I have - like what are the brand guidelines, what goals need to be met, etc. It’s ridiculous.

Another huge red flag has been how my coworkers treat me. Almost everyone has ignored me and been passive aggressive since day one. Since then, I have just had weird experiences like them tossing things from my trash can onto the floor and writing a passive aggressive email to everyone about it (???). I know sometimes there are going to be cliques or office conflicts, but it’s been very confusing as I am a bit shy and don’t try to bother anybody.

This week will mark about a month that I have been working here, and I am at my wit’s end. This job has taken a huge toll on my mental health. Friends and family have been telling me I just need to stick out, make the best of it, and get experience so that I can pursue something better later on. I personally don’t think that is a possibility for me. I really am not a person who easily gives up or job hops- I was at my last job for a few years, and it definitely wasn’t the most exciting. I know that my first design job isn’t going to be my dream job, but I don’t want it to be hell either.

I have been applying for other jobs and have an interview today. I am definitely defensive and hesitant. I don’t want to rush into another job only to have other issues. I feel like I was easily taken advantage of because I am younger, inexperienced, and just out of college. My fear is that any interview I get will be for the same reasons. I don’t want to be naive about this. I guess I’m just looking for a fresh perspective and advice. Should I stick it out at this job? Should I keep looking for another job? What questions should I be asking during my interviews and what red flags should I be on the lookout for?

I know freelance is always an option, but I don’t feel very confident about it. I have already tried using sites like Upwork with no success. If freelance is heavily suggested though, I would be open to an advice about how to start. I am willing to share my resume and portfolio with anyone if that helps as well. Apologies again for the long read. 😅😅

[pure mulch]

Oh no!! please leave!! At the end of the day, the job sounds like it has a terrible work environment. That definitely makes or breaks any decision for me, which im glad you are back to applying! Stick it out until you get another offer, jumping into freelance immediately can be intimidating and maybe... not help your mental health at the moment. However if the job becomes too much even while applying, I dont mind sharing what I did when freelancing.

[quiet pewter]

I definitely think you can apply around while at that job. Get the paycheck, just do what you need to, and hopefully land elsewhere sooner than later

I wouldn't freelance, it's definitely a whole other endeavor to set up freelancing and I'd recommend against it for fresh grads bc it can just lead to you doing really cheap work or struggling to find leads since you're fresh out of college

I think there's some questions you can ask, but also, similar to what you experienced, you won't really know what's just being "said" and what's being "done" just by asking about it.

You could ask things like "what does the feedback loop look like?" or "what does ramping up and training look like?" / "what would my first 30 days look like?" etc

Maybe those questions would maybe shed more light of what operations actually look like

[safe gazelle]

sorry to hijack the conversation, but I would love to know about freelancing too! Upwork was an unsuccessful experience for me too. But I will also note @quiet pewter feedback on fresh grads freelancing too.

I agree with Bri...this sounds toxic, bad for your mental health, and you're not even learning anything on this job. I've heard about rough starts and paying your dues at the beginning of your career, but all this endurance won't even develop your career. I'm going to assume like most of us, our friends and family probably don't understand design, where your portfolio matters more rather than your YOE. As another designer, I advise you to ask yourself what you're going to get out of this experience and whether at the end, it would make you competitive against other 1 YOE designers.

Good luck applying in the meantime, as companies love employing already employed people! I only have internship experience, but I would ask questions like these during your interviews:

• what does the onboarding process/ training look like? Are there other employees with a similar background to me who have received this training and were successful at their jobs?
• will there be mentors available? If so, how much of a time commitment can they make (once a week, once a month, etc.)?
• are there any employees who started off at an entry level and climbed up? If so, how did they measure their achievements?

[pure mulch]

haha its ok <3, freelancing was an easier transition for me but of course the pay wasn't exactly survivable, but it taught me so much. in addition to the comment above though, id also ask :

• If I were hired on the team, what expectations would you have of me?

[bold forge]

Thank you all for the responses! Your feedback is really validating and makes me feel better. I definitely am hesitant about freelancing, but I still would be interested in learning about it. Will continue job hunting though.

I’ll keep all those questions in mind for the interview. I am definitely going to be more on guard during the interview this time, but still be polite of course.