The AIGA Virtual Job Fair
https://www.aigany.org/event/aiga-ny-virtual-job-fair-2/
The AIGA Virtual Job Fair was my networking experience. Other than social media and making friends, in terms of professional networking, I wasn’t doing much. This virtual job fair had many different companies and people looking to hire. It was a zoom event you had to buy tickets for, their price at $5. I went into the fair was only able to be there for 2 hours instead of 3 because I had class and my Internship professor let us who had tickets go early. On top of that, the fair was ending earlier than originally advertised by an hour. I was sad, But I did get around the fair quite a bit. I did not get to speak to all the companies I originally planned but it was okay, I learned a lot about prioritizing questions, I looked up questions to ask in advance. There were also many different people at differing levels of their design careers and professional journey. It was very informative to listen to their questions and the company’s answers, often they thought of questions I wouldn’t have thought of. I find that I have a hard time thinking of a question on the spot. Looking up questions beforehand to have a template does help me.
Despite my late entry, I spoke with 5 companies:
Alternative
Website: https://altny.com/
I spent the least amount of time here, there were too many people in the room and I could not ask a question. They are a small group with job positions being very fluid with little defined roles. They also mentioned that some projects might not pay well in the beginning. But they said you’ll be leading projects often and it’s very flexible in terms of schedule. They’re looking for graphic designers right now for positions and internships.
Champions Design
Website: https://www.championsdesign.com/
This company is a branding and systems agency. They’re a small company that hires freelance designers often. Some of these jobs include strategists, project managers, and interns. Often these jobs have projects needing skills in typesetting and iconography. The schedule is flexible as well, but the summer internship they have requires full-time availability. Someone asked what do they look for in their intern hires and they were more than happy to indulge in the design process and the best practices. Often encouraging us to show our design history and development processes. We gave out names, emails, and portfolios in the chat and they exchanged their emails, websites, and linked-ins.
Gallagher & Associates
Website: https://www.gallagherdesign.com/
I marked this international experiential design firm as, “☆ Really Interested.” I have always been fascinated by interior design and also the experiential design of museums and other galleries and exhibitions. There was one I remember particularly about the history of the water banks of new york city and how they grew. It was memorable and interactive with amazing signage. Seeing this company’s designs made me think of that. It made me possibly consider this as something I want to do eventually in my career. I spent the most time here. They are having Summer internships. We exchanged LInked-ins after I asked many questions about their company then I moved on.
Wix Playground
Website: https://www.wix.com/playground/academy
A program run by Wix, the website content management system and builder. They were advertising for their bi-annual Bootcamp. It is very competitive to get into but it is worth a try. You’re taught interactive programming that teaches you to combine paper and programing. They help you develop a unique and interactive portfolio website as well as hone your resume. They Have their workshop in America in the summer and then in winter they are in Europe. They are also willing to work with colleges to open a workshop with them upon request. We exchanged names and emails.
Bearwood&CO Agency
Website: https://beardwood.com/
There was a lot of advice from this company. a question was asked, “ what makes someone stand out in an interview?” They said that they look for What you can bring to the table as well as our ability to recognize our value and how we can add value to the company. they want to know the way we think and strategize as well as the functions of a design and why it’s going to work. Our interests and what we do best are the best ways in which we can contribute. My thought process is important to Showcase in our portfolios and the interviews. Again design history and development are important. the company said they will offer personal and business growth, team Health, and Wellness, diversity equality and inclusiveness, as well as good mental health emphasis within the workplace. They manage this by offering an online wellbeing application. We exchanged linked-ins.
GHDPartners
Website: https://ghdp.com/
This new york-based company also works in experiential design. they create smaller teams The Tackle different projects from each other but usually, they are working on numerous projects at a given time. they have paid summer internship opportunities and experiential design experience is not required. The question was asked about the demand for graphic designed experiential experiences, to which the company replied there was a lot of demand for offices historic restaurants, factories, and galleries. Wayfinding in offices has become more important as people return to in-person jobs. there are now people working for these companies that have never been in the office before. a company must develop good signage for wayfinding so newer employees, guests, and forgetful long-term workers, do not get lost. UX/UI design is important in this job in terms of critical thinking for users’ physical experience within a three-dimensional space. curiosity, openness, end love for design are all essential 2 working in this sector of the design field.
I was surprised at how many companies there said that UX/UI design experience is a #1 assent, even in branding. It seems the lessons that are being taught about design thinking have influenced the feeling as a whole. Technology is changing so much but it also helps us to understand the physical world a little better and understand how we can design for better experiences on the screen and in the flesh.
The networking event was not what I expected, but I wasn’t sure what to expect at a job fair, to begin with, let alone a virtual one. I think that the spokespersons were very open and honest about their company and how they got started working there as well as their own experience and how they got into the industry. they were helpful to everyone in any way they can, they were also open to other participants chiming in during advice sessions. These were mostly experienced designers looking for new job opportunities in this digital landscape, their answers were invaluable as well. Overall I think the job fair was successful and very helpful to me in terms of different fields of design and how forgiving they can be if you don’t have the experience for their specific field, primarily with experiential design. I would go to another AIGA job fair for sure or be a spokesperson for a company within it in the future.
There were follow-up emails from AIGA, but not many from the companies, unless you applied to an internship. They recognized the names from the job fair as long as you gave them your information.
