www.graduateopportunities.com >> career advice 55


experience


Blake Witherow Bachelor of Industrial Design, RMIT University.


Blake used his contacts and great industry reputation to gain employment in the industrial design field and is currently working two jobs. He has also been offered a scholarship for a Master of Industrial Design at the University of Milan.


How did you get your first job after graduation? I had been looking for work in the design industry for four months, cold calling and sending résumés and portfolios to most of the design consultancies in Melbourne. A good friend used to work at Formero and he said he would call the production manager and ask whether any work was available. The HR manager at Formero said they were looking for someone in the manufacturing department to help with a forthcoming job. We organised an interview and they hired me on the spot.


Networking has played a very important role in your job hunting success, helping you secure a second job at Berry Design. I was moved from the manufacturing department into the office at Formero. Many clients were coming to Formero wanting products made. In many cases the design work was outsourced to another design consultancy, Berry Design. Both jobs were acquired through networking; my name and desire to work soon became well known around the office and subsequently Andrew Berry of Berry Design began asking for a graduate designer to help around the office with design projects that he was working on.


Tell us about the competition in which a helmet you designed was short-listed for a prize. How did this help your folio? I submitted my design to the Dyson Student Design Awards.


The competition allowed me to showcase my work and was subsequently featured on numerous websites. Having


work that is shown on the internet or in competitions is one of the best ways to increase your notoriety or profile in the design industry. This also incorporates networking and getting your profile known. My helmet was also featured in two cycling magazines that are distributed around Australia.


A well designed folio with good design content is important, but networking and making yourself known is equally if not more important.


What advice would you offer to students looking for work in the design field? Never give up. It is your determination and confidence that will get you the job. Remember that there are upwards of 100 design students graduating each year in Victoria alone. Everyone wants a job in the industry so how are you going to differentiate yourself from other designers? Never work for free; design as an industry relies on the mutual respect of each other to function properly. Even though you are in competition with each other, you should always be willing to help out other designers. Competitions are a great way of practising your design skills and with any luck you might win! However, if your design is of any commercial merit to an external party, you should consider patenting your design or not putting it on the internet at all. Once your design is shown on the internet, it makes it extremely difficult to patent your design or invention as it has been shown in a public domain. I learnt the hard way!


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