Carol Woodruff, from the Career Center.
It’s More Than Design
• Design Talent + Professionalism
• “You’re not a monkey with a pencil”-you are a partner and they need to know that you GET IT.
Components of Professionalism
• Branding: designing the image you want to project
• Appearance
• Professional Savvy
• Communication Skills (Speaking by Phone, Person, Skype, Writing, E-mail, Web, & Networking)
Appearance
• Business Attire
• Hair, Nails, Teeth, Tattoos
• Hygiene
• Be perceived as a collaborator and a design-DON’T shock people and distract people with your appearance; Instead, attract them with your work and look as professional as possible when presenting it.
Professional Savvy
• Dress the part
• Think of yourself as a PARTNER
• Meet and greet with confidence
• Listen well (Hear beneath what they’re saying and get to the context of what they really want)
• Understand the client’s goal
• Take critical comments with grace
• Approachable
• Listen Well
• Develop the ability to discuss your ideas and work in a compelling and understandable manner
• Don’t hang with the slang: Use proper English
• Use field terminology when appropriate
• Look people in the eye when you speak with them
• Unplug yourself
• Answering message
• Email Address
• Email as a formal mode of communication
The Ultimate Skill
• Networking (Face to face): making contacts with all types of people (your sphere and their sphere) to forward your professional career and also to be able to provide assistance to someone else
• Know how to give a correct, firm, and professional handshake (very important in face to face networking)
• Elevator speech: talk of your credentials and what you did during your school time
No Need To Wait
RESUME
• Targeted
• One page
• Error Free
• Attractive but not over-designed
INTERVIEWING
• Research Company
• Anticipate and prepare for questions
• Power Greeting
• What to Expect
• What to Wear
