Employability Day: Advice for Design Students

I was thrilled to have been invited to Employability Day this year. Flashback to November 2016, it has been three years since I attended Employability Day as a stressed-out student in my final year at University of Sunderland. So, I took it as a real compliment to be invited back to my old stomping ground. Only this time, the shoe was on the other foot.

Employability Day is a day full of networking and advice, created for BA students who are in their third year and MA students alike. Creative professionals, alumni and companies visit the university every year and offer their time and expertise to design students who are thinking ahead and wondering what their next steps should be. There is someone to cover every design discipline for the various courses studied at Sunderland, such as illustrators, graphic designers, fashion designers, animators and so forth. As they are all linked under the umbrella of design subjects, I had the pleasure of meeting students who were specialising in other fields.

I arrived to St. Peter's Campus in the chilly afternoon of the 11th of November where I had my own little booth tucked away in the Media Centre. It was a rather private area and I was delighted that so many students had booked appointments with me. One by one, they showed me their blossoming portfolios and each of them offered so much talent and potential. Better yet, they showcased a variety of styles, mediums and projects so no two looked the same.

We chatted in depth and in confidence. A few students really opened up to me about how they were feeling and I made sure to support and encourage them. After all, they are all such promising designers. I wish them all the very best of luck and I would love to support their journeys further during their final academic year. In the meantime, we have all connected on Instagram and I am looking forward to watch their portfolios grow even more.