Of course, it's not all going to be plain sailing. While you might have been a star among the few students on your course, you're now having to compete with hundreds, maybe thousands of others, to get a foot in the door.


"While looking for work, competition was the biggest challenge," Payler says. "There were a vast number of graduates in the same position as me. There was also the added obstacle of having to fund living in London. As well as interning through the week, I was also busy working on Saturdays and Sundays, as were most of my friends." So what's the best way to navigate the tricky waters of the jobs market in 2019? Read on...

1. Apply for jobs straight away

In one sense, getting a job at a design studio is pretty straightforward. At Robot Food, for example, "the majority of our creative hires come via the well-trodden route of an emailed portfolio, followed by a face-to-face session," says Ben Brears, strategic design director at the Leeds studio. And that's fairly typical of design studios as a whole. So if you're confident that you have a killer portfolio, and a lot of real-world work experience to back it up, there's no reason you can't walk into a job straight from university.

2. Try an internship

That said, there are only a limited number of positions to go round, and not everyone will go from graduate to employee that smoothly. In many industries, internships are a byword for exploitation; a way for bosses to secure cheap or free labour based on a vague promise of full-time work that never seems to materialise. But in the design world it can be very different. We recruit 99% of our designers via internshipAlan Dye, NB Studio

Aporva Baxi, co-founder and executive creative director of London branding agency DixonBaxi, tells a similar story. "A few years ago we formalised our intern programme and created an academy where we promote an open and accessible opportunity for young talent," he says. Currently, more than a third of our team came through this programme, and we're a far more diverse and dynamic company because of it."

3. Make the most of your experiences

Of course, even if you don't get taken on, internships are still a valuable experience. Graphic designer Simoul Alva interned at Pentagram in New York after graduating from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, in western India. "It taught me a lot about working in a team around other incredible designers, for a range of very different clients," she says. "It changed how I approached design and thought about communicating work. It's also opened so many possibilities for me."

Currently working as a visual design intern at Samsung in California, Alva's advice to anyone embarking on an internship is to: "Take the time to really apply yourself to the work you do. Also, figure out if this kind of work interests you. Design currently has so many possibilities and is becoming more and more fluid every day."

Above all, understand that internships are not ‘beneath you', but a standard – increasingly the standard – route into a professional role in 2019. "Paid internships are invaluable for gaining experience and learning and dealing with the pace of studio life," says Brears. "I'd recommend them to every graduate.

"That said, if they're expecting you to intern for free, just say no. It's exploitative, it's morally and legally in the wrong, and it perpetuates a cycle of privilege. Any studio head who's okay with that isn't worth your time."

4. Perfect your portfolio

Whether you're after a job or a top internship, competition is fierce. So how can you get a jump on your rivals?

For Brears, one thing counts above everything else. "In the downtime between graduation and taking your first steps in the design industry, there should be one key focus: your portfolio," he stresses. "Make it representative of you and the work you want to do. Make it memorable and your presentation of it compelling. Take out or improve anything you don't like."

5. Ask the pros for help

One way to achieve a stronger, more focused portfolio is to ask other creatives for help. "Before I left university, I contacted designers whose work I was particularly interested in, and asked if we could meet and go through my portfolio," recalls Payler. "Being able to present your work confidently is an important part of getting a job, so I found this really helpful in practising. It was also a great way of informally building a network of contacts."

However, reaching out to total strangers can be a challenge when you're used to the relatively cocooned environment of further education. It was for Neil Gilchrist, now a junior designer at DixonBaxi, after he graduated with a BA in interaction design from Glasgow School of Art.