Let Your Personality Type Choose the Right Design Career For You

Many people look at a group of designers and assume that every designer performs the same job, has the same passions, and will have the same lifestyle. This could not be further from the truth. Graphic design and web design are some of the most wide-open career fields in the job market. There are some jobs that suit some people better than others. If you have earned or are earning a design degree, you should consider what type of personality you have before committing to a job. Here are some jobs that are the best fits for certain people.

Larry the Leader

In every group there are chiefs and there are indians. If you are a chief, you naturally rise to leadership positions and have a knack for directing people. You might fit in well as a creative director. Creative directors are in charge of creative teams that produce artwork for various media and entertainment outlets. They make sure that all team members complete their work on time and at a high level of quality. Directors have the final say on products and services performed by their team. If you would enjoy an administrative position and can handle responsibility, this area of work might be right up your alley.

Tina Technology

For those who feel more comfortable in front of a computer screen than a sketch pad, design jobs requiring technology are growing more rapidly than ever. Web design has become an indisposible part of most companies. Web designers handle the layout, graphics, and continuity of websites. Their work is sometimes seen by thousands of people each day. The latest trend is the use of Flash, a multimedia graphics program from Macromedia. It is used to create interactive and animated websites, and is being used by nearly everyone. So for the designer looking to unleash the computer geek within, there is plenty of demand for designers in the tech industry.

Photo Phil

While some designers enjoy creating their artistic masterpieces from nothing, other prefer finding the beauty in things in the world around them. Photographers take a simple image and turn it into their work of art using equipment such as lights, lenses, and especially their creative vision. As we progress through the digital age, photography is evolving due to technology. Many people make careers as photo editors, especially through the use of Photoshop. Photoshop gurus manipulate photos to add even more  artistic value to them. If you are handy with a camera, you could end up in one of these professions.

Artistic Amy

Some designers are purists and just want to focus on the heart of the matter: the art. Illustrators transform ideas and stories into images that are used in printed materials as well as commercial products, such as greeting cards and stationery. Technical illustrators primarily use digital media to create illustrations. 

Brian the Businessman

There are some people that enjoy being part of large companies with widespread recognition and influence. These corporations need designers, too. Brand identities and logos are the products of graphic designers. These products must be constantly evolving to remain on the cutting edge. If you prefer settling into a single job, especially with a large company, you might fit well into this category.

These are just a few of the jobs that are available to graphic and web designers. Many designers are independent or freelance, so people who enjoy frequent change can find their niche as well. Now you can evaluate yourself and decide which kind of career is right for you.

About the Author

Chris Faires is a writer for MyCollegesandCareers.com. My Colleges and Careers helps people determine if an online education is right for them and helps them search for online degrees that can help them reach their goals.

Choosing Graphic Design Work that Matches Your Values

Career Opportunities By The Cleveland Kid

How do you make sure that your work fits in line with your personal ethics? Although this is a post targeting designers and artists, almost every working person deals with this issue at some point. You might have seen a colleague who thinks it's "just business". And chances are you don't trust this person, even if it seems like they're a fine upstanding citizen outside of work.  When taking a job, full time or client based, do you think about the clients ethics?

What are work values? These are the set of beliefs that you've acquired over your life. Mom and dad instilled you with a sense of right and wrong.  There's nothing worse than feeling like you have to do something you're fundamentally against to survive or because you've agreed to a job you don't agree with.

Evaluating your client: First of all, let's qualify this by saying you should understand your potential employer. Go in with an open mind.  Sure this company may have a bad reputation in your industry for it's practices, but without discussing it with them and doing your research you don't really know if it's a good fit. If you're hoping for repeat business, ask your client about any potential for more work.

Take the time right now to do a self assessment. Figure out what your core ethics are. Perhaps it's important to you that you have a certain amount of autonomy with your projects.  Accept nothing less.  There are clients out there that will trust you to complete the work.  I've designed marketing projects where I've heard very little from the client and they're happy with the end results. Your dream client is out there.  Imagine that you want autonomy and have no part in the decision making process. How upset will you be?  Imagine if you thrive in variety and have to do a monotonous job.

In the end, you won't be truly happy with your work unless you're following your own morality. It's not just business, it's a huge part of your life.  Figure out what's really important and use that knowledge in your decision making.  Say no to the clients and career moves that don't match up.

Designing Something You Hate?

I ♥ Graphic Design by Craig Keeling

How do you deal with that tough design project?  The one that you probably shouldn't have taken onto in the first place.  Or it's the part of the project that you knew would be least fun. Whatever the reason, you don't want to work on this project.  This could even apply to a full time job or your whole career.  Here's a few tips on how to deal

Stay positive. Your positive attitude can be infectious. If it's that project where the client is never happy, maybe it's just that they don't know what happiness looks like.  Point out the positive elements to yourself and others.  Don't spend your time away from it complaining. Or at least limit your complaints. Your family likes you better when you're focused on the upside.

Planning.  A plan can make something you hate turn into at least something you can bare until the check clears. Figure out an escape plan, detailing all the steps from here until the end of the project.  If you have an exit route in place, you might find that it's not so bad after all.

Find time for what you enjoy.  If you could afford to quit, you probably would have by now.  You agreed to the work for a reason.  But it shouldn't consume your life.  Take the time out of every day to do something that truly makes you happy and takes your mind away to your happy place.

Learn from the experience.  Next time you're faced with taking up work you don't want to do, remember this day.  Do whatever it takes to never have to tackle the nightmare project again.  If your full time job is one nightmare after another, it's time to move on.  Figure out your exit plan.  Fire your trouble clients.  Get away from the boss you hate. Don't get away from one situation just to end up in a similar situation elsewhere.

Finding Your Calling in the Working World

 A degree can’t promise success in your career path, but it can help you make tremendous strides toward achieving it, especially if you truthfully answer the questions below.

Do you have an idea of the goal or goals you want to accomplish?

Having a medical degree does not mean you have to become a doctor; it can encompass others areas, such as research, practice administration or even the pharmaceutical field. Likewise, a business degree does not necessarily mean “9-to-5” hours in an office environment. However, having a goal makes it easier to narrow your choices and direct your focus more fully when you start out on your career path.

Whose goals are they?

Are the goals truly yours, or are you trying to please someone else? Ultimately, you are going to be the one who is working in this career. And, that applies to family-owned businesses, as well as other ones. If you discover that you want to pursue another career path, the sooner you are honest with yourself and everyone involved, the better off you will be.

What do you really want to accomplish?

Do you want to have a career that allows you to live comfortably but still have plenty of leisure time? Or do you want to be the one to make the next big discovery, no matter what field it is in? Only you can answer these questions, or at least ones similar to them that will help you determine your career path.

How disciplined are you?

Do you, or are you willing, to keep going even when things start getting rough? Or do you try to avoid conflict and difficulties? Do you need to become more disciplined? Be honest with yourself when answering these questions. That’s the only way you’re going to be able to make plans and set goals that can be accomplished.

How flexible are you?

You may enter and leave college with a clear goal in mind, but circumstances can happen that will cause you to have to make a complete change. However, you may realize once you are into your new career that this was actually your goal all along. So, be willing to change, if necessary.

Have you done your homework?

Not just your college homework, but do research into your career and those that are, or can be, connected with it. There is no substitute for practical experience, but gaining as much knowledge as possible will certainly be an asset.

Again, this can apply to family businesses as well. You may think there is not one more thing you can learn about running a restaurant or building houses, or whatever it is your family has always done, but changes happen every day.

You may have always had a dream of what you wanted to do with your life. Examine yourself honestly, using the questions in this article and others as a guideline, and you will most likely find that dream becoming a reality.

Elysabeth Teeko is a lover of technology, interior decorating and design. She’s recently started blogging about these interests, and you can follow her on Twitter @elysateek

Sending Free Faxes Online

photo credit: krossbow

After being asked to send a fax to my insurance company, but not having a fax machine immediately available I turned to the internet. Fax Zero turned out to be a quick solution for the occasional fax. You can send 2 faxes of up to three pages a day for free. Just upload a .DOC (Google Docs anyone?) or PDF. The catch is that the cover letter (which doesn't count against your page count) contains an ad. I didn't mind if my insurance company got an ad page along with the cover letter so it seemed like a pretty good solution for this predicament. You can add a custom message to the cover letter too so it's like free page to send.

If you really really don't want to send the ad, you can pay $1.99 USD to use the service for free and you still get that free cover page and message. Fax Zero is only available for sending faxes too and from the United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada. I was worried about security, so with a little research I confirmed that it has been recommended by PC Magazine, LifeClever.com and others. If you know any similar services in the US or oversees, feel free to write a recommendation in the comments.

For other free services, check out this FAQ: How can I send a fax from the Internet? They also mention a few ways to receive faxes for free

More Free Things

Speaking of LifeClever and free, check out 10 Free Web-based Alternatives to Photoshop and Learn 35+ Languages for Free in iTunes

Lifehacker has more free stuff in its articles Top 10 Free Video Rippers, Encoders, and Converters, Free Replacements for Paid Tools and more.