College Series: You've gradauted, Now what?

If you went straight from high school to college, you have been in school for almost all of your life. Now it is time to graduate and you are going to have to deal with the real world real soon. Art school tries its best to prepare you for getting a job but there isn't always talk about what to do artistically when you are out on your own. In art school, you have deadlines you have to meet, teachers for advice all around, and great opportunities to participate in critiques multiple times a week. Once that structure falls away, you will need to replace it with something so that you can keep making art even if your job or lack thereof isn't giving you the motivation you need.

Images Courtesy of Alex Simpson and Claire Daly

One thing you can do to keep yourself making work is to set up a critique group. Talk to the people you graduated with or even artists you know around town and see if they would want to meet once or twice a month to discuss new work and ideas. You could even look on social media for open groups in your area if you are new to a city. Even if you are consistently making work without need for extra motivation, critique groups are great places to share your new things and learn to articulate your ideas. If you need a push to make things, this gives you deadlines and an open place to think about new ideas without the stress of grading. These groups can also help you make connections

Once you're out of school, most likely your job will not include being around art all day. If it does, you're one of the lucky ones. Try your best to go to openings, museums, galleries, and even artist's websites often. It is important to look at art whether you are making any or not to keep yourself stimulated creatively. You also want to be in touch with the contemporary art world and know what is going on in your city as well as globally. Follow museums and galleries on social media so that you know when events and shows are happening.

Finally, you need to continue making things or writing about making things and ideas. This is the hardest of the things you need to do when you graduate. Try to make something or write out ideas once a week. Like the cliche saying goes, you've got to use it before you loose it. Keep your mind sharp and don't forget all of the skills you learned in school.

Graduating can be scary if it your first time out of school in ten years, but there are measures to take so that your post-grad life is just as creatively productive as the forced deadlines and creative environment that art school provides.

College Series: Cover Letters, Resumes, and CVs

The college series is back with another post to help students in the arts with issues relevant to them. Previously we spoke about how to find a job or internship HERE. In this blog post, we are going to talk about writing cover letters, resumes, and CVs, as well as the different uses for each one.

Cover Letters:

Cover letters are your opportunity to talk to the prospective employer in your own voice. Generally, people have the most trouble with cover letters because in order to write a good cover letter, its more than a list of your accomplishments. There are three parts to a cover letter: who you are and what job you are interested in, why you think that you are right for this job, and what you think you can learn from this job and where you think it can go. There is always room to add more information, but a cover letter should not run over a page long (you should probably stay around the half-page to two thirds-page mark). Try to make the writing specific to each company or employer. Address the person to whom the letter will be sent directly rather than using "to whom it may concern" or "dear sir/madam." If you do not know the name of the person, call the company and ask who the letter would be sent to. Do some research on the company and reference what you know about the employer to show that you care about this job opportunity. You can find cover letter templates online that outline placement of addresses and headers, but try not to copy the wording of the template too much. Finally, make sure you proof read your cover letter before sending it out to anyone. Its a simple task that can save you a lot in the long run.

Resumes and CVs:

A copy of my CV from early 2017. it is organized into sections: education, teaching experience, work experience, juried exhibitions, group exhibitions, and publications.

Resumes and CVs are more formal outlines of your accomplishments and previous work experiences. Here, you don't have an opportunity to really talk about what you have learned in the past or what kind of person you are. Resumes and CVs are similar, but not the same. Resumes are slightly more expansive than CVs in wording but do not incorporate the exhibitions and publications that you have been in. On a resume, after listing your education, you have the opportunity to describe your duties at each of your previous jobs. Here you can list your responsibilities and the skills you have from these experiences. You can also list your awards and special skills on a resume. A CV is more artist centered, usually listing the exhibitions, publications, and curatorial experiences you have been part of. You still list your education and employment experience, but when sending out a CV, you are also showing that you are a working artist, curator, or writer. If you are not sure about the layout of a CV or resume, there are plenty of online resources and templates you can download if you cannot make your own.

Good to know:

Something great to remember is to make your cover letter and your resume/CV in the same typeface. It ties the two together as from the same person and two different typefaces can be distracting to the employer. Also, when writing the cover letters and resumes, save a copy as a PDF to send out. Any computer can open a PDF and you never want to send an editable file that could be altered by accident through the employment process.

Cover letters, resumes, and CVs are your first impression to an employer so go out and impress those future employers!

College Series: Looking for a Job or Internship

Welcome back to our college series, where we talk about issues relating to students working towards a degree in the arts. In this post, we will discuss the process of finding a job or internship while you are still in school.

While in school, most students need a job to help pay for tuition, rent, or food. You can get any job that's not in your field and it will pay, which is great. But, sometimes you want a job in your field that can not only help pay the bills but also teach you skills relating to your degree and your future career. Don't expect to find something great right away. There's a lot of searching and resumes to be sent out. Look for small entry level positions that might even be part time. When looking, try to find something that you already have some knowledge about but want to learn more. This can be further explained in a cover letter letting the possible employer know that you are a student who will work hard and actually wants to learn. Over time, these part time, assistant-like, jobs can grow, as long as you work for it.

In addition to jobs, most college students need internships. Some schools require them to graduate and others just suggest them. Internships are often slightly easier to find than jobs because most of the time, they are unpaid. But, while they might be unpaid, you are probably going to learn a lot that will help you get a job in the future. Don't just chose any old internship to graduate, really search and find something that you are genuinely interested in. If a place doesn't advertise internships, there's no harm in sending an email asking if they would be open to having an intern.

Looking for jobs and internships is often overwhelming and stressful. Many colleges have career centers that have information about places that other students have worked. Ask your friends and teachers about any open positions they hear about. There are also great resources online that allow you to put in criteria for the type of job that you would like. Hireculture is a great website that lists hundreds of creative jobs and internships in Massachusetts. There is also Indeed, which is a national database that lets you put in keywords as well as your location to find both jobs and internships in any field.

You might not find your dream job right away, but once you get your foot in the door of the arts related job market, and you can build up from there.

College Series: What to Spend Your Money On

Its back to school time and we have decided to introduce a college series on the blog. In this series we will discuss issues related to students who are interested in photography and the arts. Welcome to the first of the series: What to Spend Your Money On!

You are in college, You are strapped for cash, but you need some gear and some software in order to make work. Well first off, you are in luck. Most colleges with art/ photo programs, have a "cage" or "lockup". These are places that you can visit to "rent" or check out/ barrow equipment from. You usually need to be enrolled in a related class to have access so check with your school for their particular policy.  That said, these places are great and usually filled with cameras, lenses, tripods and various other gear that you might want to try out. While you can, rent everything and save your money,  don't buy anything you don't absolutely have to. If your college does not have a place to rent items, you can always try to borrow as much as you can from your friends or classmates. Remember you can do a lot with a little!

Freshman year, you shouldn't commit to a camera or equipment that you might grow out of or realize isn't for you. Your first year is a time of learning and exploration. During this time you will be figuring out what you like and what works for you. "Renting" and or borrowing equipment is the best way to try out different things without losing your money.  In most programs there is usually a computer lab staffed by upperclassmen / work study students who are there to help with any questions you might have. These computers labs are usually restricted access like the "lock ups" and are a great resource.  They should have all the software you need so there is no need to pay for a license either.  The message here is just don't spend your money.

Another thing that many students worry about is the cost of printing and framing work. In the beginning, don't bother spending money  printing on fancy papers. Use inexpensive paper to make smaller work prints. Until your work calls for larger sizes, there is no reason to shell out your hard earned money. If you get into a show and need to frame something, simple is usually best. Ask around. The people at the photo "cage" and your instructors will have some recommendations on places that will have what you need, either for do it yourself or full service framing. Don't be afraid to ask if they have  a student discount. We here at Panopticon have a 15% discount with valid current student ID.

So, if you really want to purchase your own gear and software; make sure you will use them. Think of the 80/20 rule. Will you use it 80% of the time or 20% or the time? Do not buy it if you will only use it under special circumstances or just for one project. Most gear, if treated right, will last you a long time, take care of it and it will take care of you. If you feel you must purchase something, make sure you have tried it out for a while before you purchase. If your school doesn't have something there are  brick and mortar and on line rental houses that probably do. They often have a weekend deal on rentals. Usually if you pick up on Friday and return Monday they don't charge for Sunday. Now with these places you are spending some money. This can be a good investment what if that piece of specialty gear just wasn't what you expected? or that camera really didn't make the images you wanted? some money spent but more saved.

What if it was all that and you have to have it? Well the used market is the place to start. Again ask around at your school. Chances are some one has something they bought and no longer need. If not those same instructors and "cage" staff know of the local or on line camera dealer where you can pick up what you need with a warranty at a fraction of the cost for new. Oh and those rental houses, they often are selling off gear they don't need any more some give them a look as well. Remember in a few years you might be the one putting up flyers to sell that piece of gear you needed so badly. It happens, what you thought you would be doing for the rest of your life in freshman year might be very different from what you are doing in your senior year. This is what college is for figuring all this out, finding what it is you want to do and growing as an artist and person.

Our best advice is to save your money for food, rent, and / or experiences that you would like to have in your college years before you graduate and lose access to all the wonderful things in the "lock up/Cage" for ever. Rent before you buy, and buy used from a reputable dealer if you do decide to buy. That and make lots of work!