Very often the first question we get from parents who are enrolling their children into any design course not just jewellery is about what happens next? What about job opportunities, internships, freelancing or how do we directly jump onto starting our own business and we absolutely understand the concern. Here, I am jotting down some ways of how you can start or even how you get to begin your career in jewellery design after your course completion.
Things as students you must remember are:
- Your portfolio must speak louder than you
- Your portfolio has the weightage to get you a better job with good salary
- Your portfolio must stay clean and simple to understand
- Your Resume and Visiting cards should be ready at hand in all circumstances
- Your attendance and your marks have a direct effect on how good your portfolio is made
- Make sure to take a recommendation letter or reference letter from your professor or college
- Be genuine on your resume
- Your interview mocks will be conducted by your teachers, learn to be clear and confident
- Ask again if you don’t understand
- Remember, Its ok to not know everything
- You must also have a copy of your digital portfolio
As you finish your course your college not only prepares you for designing but also guides you in making your visiting cards, resume, digital portfolio and strengthen your interview skills. Your job hunt not only starts by the help of college but also on your own.
Here’s what your research on job search should be:
First of all,
- Create your business account on instagram
- Have a professional email id ready which has your full name in it
- Keep your updated resume ready
- Digital portfolio ready
- Create your account on linkedIn
- Start searching on google for jewellery designer jobs
- Research on brands that mirror the kind of design style you follow and check their websites
- Every good brand would have a career section on their website check and email them ask questions, send in your resumes and have a conversation
- For designers unlike other fields your resume and portfolio will go together and not separately while applying for the job.
Whether you should launch your business immediately after your course is one big question we receive as career counselors and teachers. The answer is not a straight no but here’s what I would like to clear:
- When you start up immediately there’s a lot of risk involved, money involved and less help.
- With internships and jobs you get more perspective towards how the real world works
- You get to make more industrial contacts
- You might come into opportunities that can change your future
- If you start immediately you would spend the first few years experimenting, learning and risking instead an internship or a job prepares you for things that you have experienced while working at different brands
- If you still would want to get into start-up meet more people, attend exhibitions, talk and attend entrepreneur seminars and learn finance and savings and investments
- Understand branding, marketing and design your business before starting up.
