Versatile

So I haven't blogged in a while and that is because I was preparing for a very important "informal" interview. Informal meaning there wasn't any openings within the company and I wasn't to get too excited or nervous. But I was nervous, this was a big company to work for, and I won't disclose the company, but let’s say they have Wal-Mart’s floor plan in a miniature model just sitting on a side table, big company.

I totally redesigned my website before sending contacts with this company and really put my heart out there to get an interview. I applied for a position that wasn't creative just to get my foot in the door. She, the Director of HR, replied to my application saying it wasn't a design position but was kind enough to interview with me to see what I had to offer.

After redesigning my website and identity system I felt fresh and new. I ran though my portfolio reviewing it in my head several times, read up on books on what to say, and did a few mock interviews with my mother and my husband. Things were looking great. And honestly I think the interview went well, except for one part. At the end of the interview when she was getting to know how I could fit in the company, if there was to be an opening. She recommended another position. I foolishly responded that I just wanted to do visual creative work. My baggage came up to front and this is not the company you say that to. Any position here would be a stepping stone to becoming a better designer. Learning the ropes within the company could only make me a stronger employee in the end. And I know this.

My baggage of getting hired as "A" and then working as "B" has happened on more than one occasion and I think my brain had made a decision not to let employers do that again. But this is not a my old workplace, I'm not going to come in as a designer and then run a phone, a cash register, or a paper folding machine from the 1950's that literally growls at you. I mean any position there would be a position within the design process. I'm just hoping that I didn't come off as a snot. I have worked positions in the past that have either started or sent me to the top of the ladder very  quickly, which I sometimes stress in an interview to make myself look “big”, but I did not want to give the impression to this company that I was too good to do something other than design.

Anyway, even if I feel like I'm getting old, I 'm still very young in this business. So, I recommend to everyone to keep an open mind about the position you are offered. You many have worked in a position called an Art Director, but what that might transfer to in a much larger creative workplace might be an experienced Graphic Designer. And this is not a bad thing; this actually means you have found a company you can really grow with.

I also recommend not leaving your bicycle out in the rain, its pouring outside.