Whether you’re an entry-level designer or seasoned pro, opportunities are abound for designers. You can find full- or part-time work in the field in virtually every field; everything from t-shirt companies to pharmaceutical companies hire in-house designers to create and maintain websites, product packaging, marketing collateral, etc.

One aspect of being a designer-for-hire is that you need to be able to “sell” your work to your prospective employers. Before you go in for an interview, take a good look at your designs, and be ready to talk about why you made certain artistic choices. Why did you pick a particular font? Why did you choose this color scheme? Design is different than art in that it’s more than just creative expression; it serves a purpose, which is to convey a message or influence a viewer to think, act, or buy a certain way. Be ready to explain how your design achieves that influence.

On to the job search…
You probably already know that the Internet is a great way to conduct a job search. Before you even start, however, take a look at www.salary.com and arm yourself with information. You can research the ideal or average salary for your job in your city…all for free. With the fee-based version, you can access in-depth salary information, read about ways to negotiate a higher salary, and map out your own path for capturing your full economic value at work.

Okay, so now you have salary info under your belt. Next, you need a resume. If you’re new to the resume-writing world, keep in mind that employers are receiving literally hundreds of resumes. You want to have something that stands out, is easy to read, and quickly conveys that you know what you’re doing and will, without a doubt, help that company make more money. If you know someone who can help with putting this together, all the better. You can also hire pros to do it for you. We recommend a service like www.pongo.com. Not only will they help you build the resume and cover letter, but they have plenty of resources and reading materials on the whole process.

If you’re right out of school and don’t have a stock of real world samples, don’t be afraid to display pieces you’ve created through your learning process, whether it’s school work or designs you’ve done on your own. Just have something to show off when it comes time.

By the way…it’s probably a good idea to have your resume in a few different formats; Microsoft Word (or a similar word processor), Adobe PDF, and in plain text format. Different employers and services will require it different ways. Once it's ready to go, check www.resumerabbit.com for access to millions of jobs and employers. There are also speciality sites such as www.homebasedworkingmoms.com if you want to try a different route.

It’s also wise to have at least part of your portfolio online. You have a couple ways to accomplish this. First, you can build your own site using the hosting and easy-to-use site development tools at www.godaddy.com or www.ipower.com. You can also go through portfolio sites such as www.foliosnap.com.