Gaining employment as a designer in a competitive job market is challenging and can be even harder if you’re a recent graduate. Types of organisations to work at, and types of roles to apply for, are diversifying. Little or no info is available about what prospective employers expect or prefer when they are recruiting graduate designers.

Swinburne’s School of Design and Architecture partnered with the DIA to survey organisations that employ graduate designers in Australia. We asked employers across diverse fields about their expectations and preferences when they are seeking to hire a new graduate designer.

In this webinar, we will share key insights from the research including typical recruitment processes, what employers prefer in terms of portfolio formats and content, and their interview expectations when they are seeking graduate designers.

Advice will be relevant to emerging designers across areas including interior design, industrial design, architecture, photography, UX/UI and interaction design, communication design and related disciplines.

What you’ll learn:

Key recruitment methods used by employers who recruit graduate designers
Fundamental advice for portfolio preparation and presentation
Insights into interview practices

The presenters:

Emma Fisher is a lecturer and researcher in communication design at Swinburne University of Technology, and a director at Cordial Creative. She holds over 25 years’ experience as a graphic designer and holds a PhD in design, with key research interests in areas of portfolios and employability for graduate designers.

Alison de Kruiff is a lecturer and researcher in UX Interaction Design at Swinburne University of Technology. She is the Course Director of the Bachelor of Design in the School of Design and Architecture, her PhD focused on affect and cognition in new media technology design, and her research focuses on user experience design in areas of new technology to meet social, cultural and education needs.

As part of the DIA’s Accredited Designer program, we offer Continuing Professional Development (CPD) through our learning resources. CPD is most effective if undertaken continuously to ensure a currency of skills and knowledge. Attendance at this event is worth 2 CPD points.

DIA events are presented with the support of our Community Partner Clipsal.