There is no standard for "junior designer". We are still in a very nascent design industry... while the trend for companies in the last 6 months is to call the position "interaction designer w/ 3-5 years experience" it never really means that. The recruiter is looking at a realistic 1-3 years of applicable experience, with 3-5 total working experience.
Do a quick Spotlight subject line search in this list for "job" and you see nearly all postings are boilerplate descriptions. Recruiters are up against a very small pool of qualified candidates, that IMO, there's no impetus to really get into the details of a job description. That may sound counterintuitive, but in reality recruiters want shotgun blasts that don't discriminate. I think we see an opposite trend in engineering jobs - it is mature enough that keywords, acronyms, and certifications in your resume will get you that interview irregardless of experience. I hire junior designers (0-2 years experience) simply because of the myth of 3-5 year designers. They exist, don't get me wrong, but you have to realize they existed during the fallout of post 2000-1. Late 2005 we started to recover in the internet industry, and only the best (or tenacious) got "real" experience during the time between 1999-2005. Anyone that consistently worked during that period should be immediately called a "senior designer" to a "design director". Anyone after, "junior designer". -N On Feb 22, 2008, at 1:47 PM, David Shaw wrote: > Welcome to the list Michael! This topic has been discussed quite a > bit, but I don't think there's real consensus yet between everyone > (especially for courses). Robert Reimann did a post a while back > titled "Most important skills of an IX Designer". This was actually a > great post and may help guide you while there aren't any real US > undergrad programs in Interaction Design (you may have to search for > the post on the IXDA site - let me know if you don't find it, I think > I still have it). > > One other thing you might look into is some type of mentorship or > internship if you are in school. I know that my company loves to have > summer interns, but I'm not sure of the details on this summer yet. > It's a great way not only to get experience, but network and make > connections! > > Good luck! > David > > > On Fri, Feb 22, 2008 at 12:59 PM, Michael Martinez-Campos > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> I've been studying interactive design/HCI topics the last few >> months without >> much structure. Currently trying to find some sort of undergraduate >> interactive programs to enroll in. Is there a general consensus of >> what >> skills a junior designer should be able to bring to the table? >> >> PS: My first post on this list, hi everybody! :) >> >> -Mike >> >> On Fri, Feb 22, 2008 at 11:08 AM, Barbara Ballard < >> [EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> >>> On Fri, Feb 22, 2008 at 9:58 AM, Mary Austin-Keller >>> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >>>> I think this is a serious problem with both our area and the >>>> general >>>> software industry. There are so few junior job postings. Most >>>> are for >>> 3-5 >>>> years or more. Yet, how do you get those 3-5 years without year 1! >>> Yes, I >>>> have 3-5 years experience, but I think we all are doing ourselves a >>>> disservice by not hiring junior folks. If you're out there >>>> hiring, try >>> to >>>> consider a junior position, even as a contractor position if >>>> necessary. >>> >> ________________________________________________________________ >> Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! >> To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe >> List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines >> List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help >> > > > > -- > "Art provokes thinking, design solves problems" > > w: http://www.davidshaw.info > ________________________________________________________________ > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! > To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe > List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines > List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
