I am done at school. and Now What??? Do I get into a Graduate Program???
Fraijanes (273 pencils) | Thu, 2007-12-20 04:47I was just notified that I am in the Graduation process here in Guatemala, and I was just Awwe! and felt on cloud nine, and then I was day dreaming of me in the Big Day.... Graduating from school and those long hours of tireless nights achieving our goals and making grades look awesome, and learning all I could cause this is the chance of a life time, specially for me a girl in a developing country where women are the less fortunate to enter and obtain a higher education degree... Now I feel this is not enough... so I went to my advisor and he offer a three year masters degree in communication technology with a posibility of having it with a scholarship because of my grades and my gpa so this is not quite what I want but, by the way for those who don't know me I a am a Communications and Graphic Design Major with a minor in creativity.
Later this week I went to another school that offers a Graphic Design Graduate Program and you can Specialize in a few majors as Corporate Identity, Marketing and Advertising or Educational Design, this is not for free but I know I can do it is just a matter of asking and it will come to me, but here is the deal this is a payed program but the thing is that is just Three semesters, that that is a year and half. I want to specialize in Corporate Identity.
Here is my question how good is it to have a Masters and how use full it is and if you where in my shoes which would you go... Is this feeling of almost there and no where normal??? cause I have a clear goal on mind that is having my own company and making it a good place to work for every one, if is good for me is good for everybody... So I want a good two pennys from the pros and everyone else....
Thank you for your time for reading this and please disregard the spelling if you find some misspelled words in here....
Later...
Caya
We´ll always have Paris! Humphrey Bogart
Commenting on this Forum topic is closed.
An MFA is a terminal degree, so you could be a college professor. Probably won't do you any good as a designer though, except maybe help you become an Art Director. I'm in the process of applying for a Masters program as well.
Thanks of yor advice I apreciate it very much.
Later and Merry Xmas
Caya
We´ll always have Paris! Humphrey Bogart
We´ll always have Paris! Humphrey Bogart
I suggest you quit further education for now. Start working in the real world. Try to get a job at the best design house you can find. Quit after 6 month and go to the next best one for another 6 month. Now, you are ready to start your own business. Don't hesitate, take the risk and start it. If at this stage you still feel you want to study you may do so. Most importantly. Write down your career goal and set a definite time to achieve it. Read this for yourself every day. Do not lose focus while you get into the treadmill of the work.
I have being working at Saatchi and Saatchi Guatemala for almos a year... and I have being good and very efficient, first as an internship and then they hired me, and as far as It goes I love this area the field and the masters was to redifine my skils as a corporate image specialst so I can have my own place, as far as my goals they are very clear, since day one and I guess
We´ll always have Paris! Humphrey Bogart
Education in the advertising/design field is **somewhat** overrated. You've got a degree now, so go out and get an internship at the biggest agency or design firm your can find. Or try to get a job as Ivan said. The time for you to "experiment" with different companies is NOW. Real-world experience is what you need... not more education from people who haven't worked in the field for the last dozen years or so.
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I agree with Ivan and JimD, as well. The majority of your education will come from your real world experience. After you have worked, and dealt with clients, and found real world solutions to the creative problems that face you day in and day out, THEN a further education degree is appropriate. I've been in the business for twelve years since I graduated college and only now am considering a masters degree ... and odds are it won't be in anything related directly to graphic design, but rather a degree that will compliment the skills I've learned through the years.
Continuing in school at this point will only give you a bigger degree. If you want an education, then the only place you'll get that is the real world.
In my professional career my skills and experience rather than my education that have gotten me jobs. Employers want real results, not just book/class learning.
Having said that, if your Masters program teaches you more skills you can use (web development perhaps?) then by all means go for it! You'll be more employable and that can never hurt.
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Powerpoint is not a design application
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Dirt and Rust
no dont make me laugh so more it hurts. i red your bio before u take down site. and education no help yo clown cause it was in spanish english and music. or do you talk that desktop publish class you take?
usted pertenece en un circo
Y quien eres tu, vato?
No me digas asi aunque quieras un golpe de la cabeza. :)
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Powerpoint is not a design application
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Dirt and Rust
Soy el fantasma de Navidad más allá de.
Usted no me comoce no sabe lo que hago y no tengo pagina.... asi que esta mintiendo....
You dont know me, and I dont have a web page cause I cant afford it for now so you are not telling the truth and this was a an advice from my family at CB.
Enoght said please be kind to others.
We´ll always have Paris! Humphrey Bogart
We´ll always have Paris! Humphrey Bogart
Hopefully you know I was talking to this person who started talking to me for some strange reason. Weird.
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Powerpoint is not a design application
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Dirt and Rust
i recommend that to anyone in any field (maybe with the exception of law and medicine), not just design.
much of what you will learn in your advanced degree would be exponentially multiplied by real world experience. having real world experience first gives you perspective over what you learn in a masters or PhD program. going straight into those programs from your undergraduate degree program ensures that your learning in the advanced degree program will likely be from a purely academic perspective. real world experience gives you some basis to build upon.
i'll agree with others here that, from a "getting a job" perspective, the masters degree won't make the same kind of difference it will in most fields. once you're out in the world, your "book" and reputation are what gets you hired.
but i'll disagree with the blanket statement that you should get a couple of quick jobs under your belt and then go out on your own. everybody is different, some will be happier working for themselves, others happier working for a studio or in-house. the idea that working for yourself is the only way to go is... well... a little foolish. everybody has their own path, one is not necessarily better than the other.
If your portfolio sucks, no amount of education is going to get you a good job. You've done the school thing, and good for you. Now get out there and LEARN!
Be prepared to discover that most of what you were taught in school is at least 5 years out of date, if not just plain wrong.
Mara
If the school systems are teaching us stuff that's atleast 5 years out of date, then how do we know we'll get a job? Is it the experience and determiation that will get you hired? This interests me because I was thinking along those lines when I sit in class and do things. I feel so out dated (blah).
that's what people hire.
not sure about the "5 years out of date" comment, as far as design goes, unless you mean software. typography, concepting, problem solving, handwork, craftsmanship, those things don't go out of date or change that much.
anyone can be taught to use software, that's not what makes a designer. the differentiators are concepting and craft. you have to be able to come up with a good concept to solve a problem. then you have to be able to implement it cleanly. i put typography up there because that's one skill most students seem to leave school without. if you have a good grasp of typography, it will show in your book and put you a leg up on the competition. but in the end, what people pay the big bucks for is successful concepts/problem solving.
I couldn't agree more!
I look at people I work with, and there are some who have some kind of degree and have been working in this field for as much as a couple of decades, and they are still really doing entry-level work. These are good, dependable workers that show up on-time and put in an honest day's work... they know their tools and are good at what they do... but they will always be this way because they aren't problem solvers. They just do what they are told and go home when they are done.
OTOH, there area a couple of people I have worked with that had no more than a High School education (in one case, not even that!), but being problem-solvers, they are becoming quite successful... and they certainly have my respect!
I tend to be a little flippant in some of my comments, though at heart I mean what I say. With the "five years out of date" comment, I was indeed referring to software, as well as "hot" trends and so on, which some professors learn third-hand, and by the time they work it into a class, it's already stale info. Perhaps I should have been more precise, though: ;et's say 2 years, 6 months, 3 weeks and eleven days out of date. ;-)
And unfortunately, most schools don't even get into thorough grounding in the history and methods that lie behind much of what we do on computers now. Hell, I've spoken to bright young things fresh out of design schools who don't even know how to pronounce "leading," let alone having any idea of what the term is based on. I think that's kind of sad.
But that's off-topic. I really think the best course (pardon the pun) for Claudia right now would be to take her education into the workplace. If she wants to continue her formal education after that, she'll have a better idea of what she really needs to study. I realize the opportunities present themselves right now, and might not be there later, and also that job opportunities might be limited. Some of our advice might presume her world is the same as ours, and it isn't.
Claudia, whatever you decide to do, I wish you good fortune.
Mara
I am aware that opportunities dont happen twice, but some times some come and go, by experience I can tell that the next chance behind is better always.
Thanks for your encouragement.
I will keep you posted on my where abouts.
Later.
Caya
We´ll always have Paris! Humphrey Bogart
We´ll always have Paris! Humphrey Bogart
about the leading comment, i know what you mean as far as students not grasping terms. But in my case, I had a good understanding and feeling of design just from having an over-active, over-analytical visual mind that is constantly breaking down what I see around me and making connections. I've always been at the top of all my art classes but always found it hard to explain what I was doing or how I arrived to a solution. Basically, I put in my own terms in my own head the same things other ppl give other terms to. So in a way, these terms can be a distraction in my head, though useful when verbalizing a problem to someone else.
Anyone else feel this way?
and probably best to start transitioning yourself to standard terminology. that way they won't be a distraction in your head or confusing to someone you're working with.
I have always heard that an MFA in graphic design really won't get you hired quicker. In fact, it will do just the opposite—it will deter them from hiring you. Mainly because, they know with an MFA they would have to pay you more, and possibly put you at a higher level, instead of starting out as a jr. designer, for instance.
I, too, am in the process of contemplating going back to graduate school, but mainly to have the option of teaching at the college level. I KNOW it won't get me a job quicker/easier, but it gives me another option in my career. But I have been in the field for 5+ years now, so I have some experience under my belt—not a lot, but enough.
I know with the graduate program here at CSU (Colorado State Univ), they won't accept you unless you've had real world experience first. And if you didn't get your undergrad in design, then you're really screwed. It might not be the best program, but they're tough on acceptance, that I know for sure.
But I have read on it in depth and everywhere says the same thing—the same as above. So I am thinking twice about it right now. I'm not sure.
I think I know what Mara means by the "5 years out of date" comment. Meaning that when you're in school, you're limited on your thought process and the execution. I think they do just the minimum of what the real world offers you. If that makes any sense.
Like everybody says, at least you have a degree now, so use it and get out there. I don't know about there or elsewhere, but here in Colorado it seems that 90% of the jobs that are advertised require a college degree or equivalent. If you don't have the college degree, how could you get the experience to be equivalent? It's like a double-edged sword.
Good luck with your decision, and congratulations on your upcoming graduation.
suzanne maestri-walters :: graphic designer :: www.onegirlcreative.com
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"I am not sick. I am broken. But I am happy as long as I can paint." ~ Frida Kahlo
www.onegirlcreative.com
With a company like Saatchi and Saatchi on your resume, you could probably get a job almost anywhere! It's that good a company, and it's known the world over.
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Powerpoint is not a design application
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Dirt and Rust
Work now, build your style and gain experience. And I partially agree with Nato...Saatchi is well known indeed, but look at the design annuals. The hottest award winning design companies are smaller firms. Big agencies like Saatchi have had their day...look at their worldwide earnings.
Get a gig at small or midsize firm and keep learning. You are going to be fine!