Job Interview #3

Well this was my last "job" interview of the week. Tomorrow is the only day this week that I don't have an interview, and Friday I have the interview at Creative Circle. Today's interview was at The RTC Group in San Clemente. They publish trade magazines for the "Embedded Technology" industry. Embedded technology is basically any technology that is not in something like a personal computer. It includes the computer chips in everything from cell phones to military UAVs (Un-manned Aerial Vehicles). The job description itself was not really exciting but the description of the working environment and the values that the company holds to were very exciting. Imagine a company that is based in honesty and integrity with both the clients and the employees. A company where, even though the design isn't very interesting, they are committed to doing better design on every project than they did on the previous one. that may not sound very impressive when I say it, but during my interview I sat at the table with the Owner of the company, the Creative Director, and the rest of the design team for 1 hr. and 45 mins. and had them all look at my portfolio, ask me questions, and talk about the company. I could go on and on about everything I heard during my interview but the thing that will decide this job for me or not is that if they make me an offer it comes with the requirement that I relocate to a city that is a reasonable driving distance from their office within 60 days of the first day of work. They need someone to start work in 2 weeks (at the very latest). I'm really overwhelmed with possibilities/decisions right now so...

...I guess we just get to wait and see how things go.

Paul

Job Interview #2

This interveiw was at a advertising and marketing company called Kelly Media Group, located in Upland. They specialize in taking television shows that do the "call the number at the bottom of your screen now and get your free (insert item)" thing. They help their clients buy television time, take all the calls that come in, and ship out whatever the people are ordering. They also mail advertisements and postcards and newsletters (read junk mail) for the same clients. Up until now they have been contracting out all of their design work (website, letters, mailers, etc.) to who knows where and paying a lot of money for it. Now they want to hire an in-house designer to do all of these things for them so that they can save money.

The interview itself went really well. They said that they have interviewed a lot of people for the position but my work was "by far the best [they've] seen". They also said that I should hear back from them sometime in the next week or so. So that's good. I am not thrilled with the client list (as it includes a large percentage of Televangelists) but the office is only 20-30 minutes away and the pay is pretty good. I guess we will see if they call me back.

(#3 up next)

Paul

Job Interview #1

This one was at InCase Design Corp. in Irwindale. It was for a production artist position which basicaly means a job that uses design tools without actually getting to do anything creative. The office was really cool and the senior designer who was interviewing me was cool too. She looked at my resume/portfolio and said that I did not have enough production design experience for the position and that it would drive me crazy trying to do the job because it was to dry and technical for me. She also said that they are going to be hiring a new creative in a couple months and that because she liked me and my portfolio she would keep my information around for when they start interviewing for that position. Hopefully I will have a job already by then, but another possibility never hurts.

(job interview #2 comming soon)

Paul

Things are always changing.

I have finally recieved the sad news from UCI that I am not on the roster for next fall. I was half expecting this and have already put my contingancy plan into action. I have 3 job interviews next week at various design and production jobs and an interview at Creative Circle, a creative staffing agency downtown. I have also sent out emails to my favorite motion graphics firms in LA hoping to get a portfolio review and some advice on starting a career in motion design. Hopefully one of these leads will turn into a something, I'll just have to wait and see. At this point I am planning on continuing to do more artwork in order to beef up my portfolio for applying to grad school again next year. So...


Paul