Graphic Design Jobs in L.A.? (job market, college, internship)

[jc76]

I am currantly going back to college to get my degree in Graphic Design with focus on Web Development. Once I have my degree (approx 2-3 years) I plan on moving back to CA once and for all. I am not hell bent on L.A. I will take the right job in any area of mid-Southen CA. My question is how hard is it to get into a dencent company doing web design/development in the LA area? Anyone know if there are an abundance of employers for this line of work?
Thanks!

[jc76]

anyone?

[NYSD1995]

Originally Posted by jc76

I am currantly going back to college to get my degree in Graphic Design with focus on Web Development. Once I have my degree (approx 2-3 years) I plan on moving back to CA once and for all. I am not hell bent on L.A. I will take the right job in any area of mid-Southen CA. My question is how hard is it to get into a dencent company doing web design/development in the LA area? Anyone know if there are an abundance of employers for this line of work?
Thanks!

With no experience, I would say impossible. In these professional fields experience is everything.

There are a ton of web development jobs but they tend to be more on the programming side of things. If you can get some experience under your belt and are solid with Javascript and at least some server-side coding (i.e. PHP), you should be able to find something. If you are strictly on the design side, I would say your options will be increasingly limited as time goes on.

[jc76]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

With no experience, I would say impossible. In these professional fields experience is everything.

There are a ton of web development jobs but they tend to be more on the programming side of things. If you can get some experience under your belt and are solid with Javascript and at least some server-side coding (i.e. PHP), you should be able to find something. If you are strictly on the design side, I would say your options will be increasingly limited as time goes on.

Actually my degree is going to be more focused on the programming side as opposed to just design. By the end i will have a dual degree 1) Web Development 2) We Design.
I plan on first working for a year to get experience, then send my resume to various areas of SoCal.
Thanks for your advice!

[PaddyMac]

I think you should be okay going forward. There will always be work in web development for someone who is knowledgeable and able to keep up with the latest trends and skills, particularly with the programming side.

If you feel you need basic experience, my advice is to find a couple of charities who need a decent website and volunteer. Don't design anything too advanced in case you need to pass it off to another volunteer though (stick with HTML and CSS, no PHP). I did a few sites probono when I was learning, and now they are all paying me to maintain them because we got along so well. And just because they are charities doesn't mean they have no budget, so you can always ask for a small payment from the start.

[jc76]

Originally Posted by PaddyMac

I think you should be okay going forward. There will always be work in web development for someone who is knowledgeable and able to keep up with the latest trends and skills, particularly with the programming side.

If you feel you need basic experience, my advice is to find a couple of charities who need a decent website and volunteer. Don't design anything too advanced in case you need to pass it off to another volunteer though (stick with HTML and CSS, no PHP). I did a few sites probono when I was learning, and now they are all paying me to maintain them because we got along so well. And just because they are charities doesn't mean they have no budget, so you can always ask for a small payment from the start.

Do you mean to do this while in College? Because I am just now starting college for my degree. I am laid off my labor job and was thinking of trying to do an internship while in college, is that what your pointing me toward?
PS- Also learning Flash which has a lot of marketability.
Only thing I worry about is that with computer always updating, evolving, changing I hope all I learn in college does not turn obsolete by the time I graduate.

[pegfromfl]

I have had 36 years of experience in graphics and one thing that has been consistent is having a degree helps you get ahead. All my younger friends in graphics have had web training. Think that interning is a good idea. You also need a good portfolio. I would suggest finding a really bad looking website and redesigning it for practice. We visit a lot of websites every day to get a feel for the clients look and/or to grab a logo and some are REALLY bad. There will be more and more web development in the future and less printed material. Think you are on the right track, learn as much as you can esp Flash. And I wouldn't worry about your computer experience being obsolete when you grad--you will learn a lot on the job. Also you have the advantage that you can telecommute (I have done this since '87) so the world can be your job market since you don't need to physically be in the office. Not saying it will be easy to find a job, but I really think you are on the right track. Good luck to you!

[Winston Smith]

Originally Posted by PaddyMac

I think you should be okay going forward. There will always be work in web development for someone who is knowledgeable and able to keep up with the latest trends and skills, particularly with the programming side.

If you feel you need basic experience, my advice is to find a couple of charities who need a decent website and volunteer. Don't design anything too advanced in case you need to pass it off to another volunteer though (stick with HTML and CSS, no PHP). I did a few sites probono when I was learning, and now they are all paying me to maintain them because we got along so well. And just because they are charities doesn't mean they have no budget, so you can always ask for a small payment from the start.

Pretty good advice here. One thing I would disagree with is doing work probono. Even if you charge very little, charge something. Be honest about your experience. Let them know you are new and learning, hence you'll charge less. Besides getting paid a few bucks for your effort, it'll get your hands dirty on the bidding side of the profession. This is a learned skill, too. Another thing I would suggest is keep track of your time. Even if you won't be charging for every hour, keep track so that you yourself can start to get an idea for how long tasks take. This, too, will help you learn how to bid for jobs. The Graphic Artists Guild is a good source for discussions on bidding and contracts. Oh, that's another thing. Even as a newbie doing a job for low pay, have a simple contract describing what you're intending to do. It'll protect you and the client, plus give you some background learning contracts. One last thought, make sure your contract doesn't obligate you to endless tasks. For instance, I never use terms like "satisfaction guaranteed" or "revised until complete." Also leave yourself room to charge for things like "overages" and "unforeseen delays" or "extra revisions." You may not have to exercise charging extra, but can if you need to.

Graphic Artists Guild - Home

[Miss Pip]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

With no experience, I would say impossible. In these professional fields experience is everything.

There are a ton of web development jobs but they tend to be more on the programming side of things. If you can get some experience under your belt and are solid with Javascript and at least some server-side coding (i.e. PHP), you should be able to find something. If you are strictly on the design side, I would say your options will be increasingly limited as time goes on.

It's not impossible at all. There are companies that will take you they just wont pay you as much because you will be a junior. Start-up companies with lack of funds will look at you more. My company would start you off at 40k just because of this.