Ask for Interview?
- Started
- Last post
- 14 Responses
- omahadesigns
There's a motion graphics studio I'd like to work at. I got the name of a designer there from a friend of friend and sent her my portfolio and a letter of interest.
She wrote back that they were not hiring right now, but maybe in the future.
Can I ask her for an interview anyways? Do people in design do that?
- prophetone0
just do it. be professional, charming. seductive.
- CALLES0
probably not. since it would be wasting both parties time and by the time they are hiring they will have forgotten about you
- Miguex0
you can do whatever you want.
The best moment to hit a studio is when they are not hiring, your chances of being hired are way higher than if they were asking for help and you had to compete with other job seekers.
my 2 cts
- Miguex0
Also, someone told me once:
You always have the "no" so just go and try to get a "yes", you have nothing to loose
- prophetone0
maybe i'm getting older and become bolder, but seriously who cares "how it's done". if you feel strongly about it then wear your heart on your sleeve, be sincere, and explain why you need to be a part of their team, how you are 'who they've been looking for'. everyone else is just robotically sending in resumes asking for jobs... you will stand out.
- but of course! in fact, they should value the initiative at least!Miguex
- prophetone0
also on a side note, life is too short. so get out there tiger!
- bjladams0
the last designer we hired applied when we weren't hiring... i believe i even sent a nice note with other places to try (as she wasn't from the area).
a week later a number of big contracts were approved, ones that had been out for months and we needed people to sub work out too quickly- she was the last person that had applied, so was the first we called up.
has been working with us for 6 months or so now...
- prophetone0
semi-related this is how i got my house. beautiful old house, old couple lived there forever. wife and i crafted and delivered a note explaining who we were and where we were in life and wanted to raise kids in that neighbourhood, etc. guess what happened?...
- crazy foursome?capn_ron
- hajohnny_wobble
- hahaha, it was a happier endingprophetone
- haha capn_ronsine
- noneck0
Demanding an interview when they already told you they aren't hiring can go from "enthusiastic" to "pain-in-the-ass" pretty quickly.
Exercise a little caution.
- there is truth in this for sure, play it by earprophetone
- demanding anything will get you nowhere, he clearly said the word "ask" which is very differentMiguex
- and if he doesn't get hired, then he is in the exact same position that he is in now...Miguex
- utopian0
If your friend has mad skills I would recommend pursuing an interview with them.
- cannonball19780
You asked for an interview from the person whose workload you'd be taking from and you got a strongly implied "no" from them. Now you have no visibility in the decision chain. Did your email even make it past the designer? Lern 2 strategize.
Next time send the email to whoever is in charge of resourcing or a CD. Compliment the studios work and ask to meet to see if there is a fit. Don't ask about positions.
- vaxorcist0
they may need a freelancer.... sometime in the future.... especially if you specialize in something they need a bit of but don't want to hire full-time till they have the client-base to justify it....
rather than asking for an interview, you be much more casual, try to have a beer with the designer, and possibly your friend at the same time, be prepared to listen much more than talk, think of this as a multi-month plan to get a possible freelance gig or two, that may lead to something in the future..
..... and have a bunch of these possible "fishing lines" in the water at all times, as some turn into something and others don't...
it's not the "interview -> full-time position" world it used to be, it's more freelance hunter-gatherer and I'm fine with that.... once you get used to the long-term cultivation of possible clients, you stop fearing a total breakdown if you ever lose a job or client....
- mantrakid0
There was a small video game studio in Calgary a while back and while they were not hiring, i really wanted a job with them. They focussed on Gameboy Advance games at the time, so I spent my weekend putting together a custom game package / box with artwork, resume, etc and presented it all as if it were a video game.
I went down there unsolicited, asked for the main dude and presented it to him and told him i wanted to work there. He sat me down for an interview on the spot and basically explained the situation of GBA development coming to an end, mobile stuff on the rise, flash games / browser games / mobile games being the next big thing (at the time it was almost unheard of).
I never ended up working for them as the pay was way too low, and I was in the process of buying a new place with my girl at the time. But that is that. World is your oyster yadda yadda.