Guest Speaker Notes: Chris Conyers

The Cover letter:

• Say everything in 3 paragraphs
• Mention the company name & explain what made you interested in them
• I see that you have done work for _____
• I saw your website and was really impressed by _______
• Make it personal
• Use company buzz words
• Know the name of the person who you are sending it to
• Dear _____, or Mr./Mrs.________
• Paragraph 1:
• Mention company & what you know about them
• Explain the position you are applying for & how you heard about it
• Paragraph 2:
• Explain what you want or are looking for
• Discuss what you can do to help them and how you can make a difference
• Paragraph 3:
• Wrap it up
• Drop names
• I learned of this position through ________.
• Mention company again
• Appearance:
• Send in oversize envelope, do not fold application documents
• Utilize typography skills, mix up fonts
• Pay attention to alignment & white space
• Use nice paper

The Resume:

• 9 pt should be the smallest font size
• list studio courses as described by course catalogue under experience
• Add “other” or “additional” experience for any freelance work
• List exhibitions & awards
• Only include a job objective when applying to large corporations

The Portfolio:

• Analogue: 10-12 projects, PDF samples: 6-10, web: 8-10, cold call: 3-4
• When sending work samples, send enough to peek interest, but make sure to have a few surprises left for the interview
• Portfolios should be clean and simple and should not distract from the work represented within it

The Interview:

• Call if you are going to be late, be honest
• Follow up with a personalized thank you note or email
• NEVER ask them to call you, let them know in thank you when you plan to call back
• May call a second time if they are giving you further consideration
• After sending portfolio samples cold-turkey, follow up with a call to make sure they received it
• “I would like to meet with you to discuss my work….”
• Be prepared to talk about your strengths & weaknesses, know about the company, memorize the job description, know your goals &why you want to work there