Its Killing me...

all4one

My wife is a Graphic Designer by trade and we've been living together as husband in wife in UK since August 2011.

Back in her own country of Thailand she worked her !!! off with her main job as a Graphic Designer / Artworker for a large hotel chain and then done Design freelance in the evening's - she loves working (much more than I will ever do). However since coming to the UK and applying nearly every day for Graphic Design jobs online she's had a total of two interviews, and not much more responses. Its killing me seeing her miserable every morning with the Dear John's - her English is very good and her visa is obviously ok as married to me a Brit.

So why isn't she getting interview, are these jobs online just agency looking for as many cv's as possible ? Her CV points to her online portfolio which looks excellent to me but guess i'm biased.

Is it just the economical situation or are others in the same situation ?

I'm guessing could go freelance and start own company but no idea how to start this ?

cherylim

I hope your wife isn't too disheartened. I do think it's a lot to do with the climate. Whilst I know of one or two local companies actively employing graphic designers at the moment, I've also seen a growing trend in the number who aren't replacing designers who leave their business or are making their existing designers redundant.

Frankly, I think you're hard-pressed to find any business not struggling at the moment, and as bad as it sounds a majority see graphic designers as one of their more disposable resources. They're often not seen as essential - when costs need to be cut, it's easier to accept a bad layout and terrible imagery than a working back-office infrastructure. People feel they can 'get by' without graphic design until they're in a better position. I'm not belittling your wife's skills in any way. I know they're more than that, and very important, but I've seen the trend in a whole host of my own contacts.

I do think your wife's options are to find a web design or marketing agency, many of which are doing extremely well in this climate as people are cost-cutting by outsourcing, or to go it alone for the same reason. People are finding it's easier to go to agencies with the professional experience they provide, than to employ someone to work in-house and have to deal with all the added costs involved. Good luck to her!

SailorSam

Is there anything here your wife could do ?

http://graphicdesignfreelancejobs.com/

all4one

Cherylim - thanks for taking the time to reply...

I'm trying to push her into Web Design but although she can do the basics it just doesn't float her boat, so I'm flogging a dead horse there.

When you say find a Agency do you mean email them saying she's willing to do freelance ? (just confirming I've read you right).

My idea is to create some leaflets and stick an advert in the local paper advertising, she is lacking a little confidence as she expected to get a job with a company here and learn the ropes first but I guess we're in a fortunate position that she can take her time and build up some contacts.

It is annoying as I know she's be an asset to any company as she works her !!! off.

If she wanted to start up on her own would she need to register a company or something ? What would the initial outlay be cost wise ?

cherylim

all4one wrote: »

Cherylim - thanks for taking the time to reply...

I'm trying to push her into Web Design but although she can do the basics it just doesn't float her boat, so I'm flogging a dead horse there.

When you say find a Agency do you mean email them saying she's willing to do freelance ? (just confirming I've read you right).

My idea is to create some leaflets and stick an advert in the local paper advertising, she is lacking a little confidence as she expected to get a job with a company here and learn the ropes first but I guess we're in a fortunate position that she can take her time and build up some contacts.

It is annoying as I know she's be an asset to any company as she works her !!! off.

If she wanted to start up on her own would she need to register a company or something ? What would the initial outlay be cost wise ?

Hi there,

Sorry for not being completely clear. I meant a marketing agency, who receive contracts from other businesses looking to outsource. In that case, she'd be employed rather than working freelance but would be involved in contracts with the agency's clients. So, rather than working as the sole graphic designer for a specific company, she'd be working with a wide range of clients and might be on a team that includes web designers, marketers, writers, social media experts and the like. Try a quick search on Google for 'marketing agency (location)', and see if anyone comes up - might be worth getting in touch with them.

The alternative being to go freelance herself, in which case leaflets and posters are a good start. She'd do well to promote her own website - perhaps Google Adwords? I've found this to be very successful if used right, but you do need to put some initial money into it to get it going. You also need to really stay on top of it, tweaking and changing to best match your audience and ensure you're not paying more than necessary.

It might help to have her make a Facebook page if she doesn't have one already, and a Twitter account. I find Twitter to be a more successful choice for networking, finding people who might like your services and creating a working partnership with complementary industries and businesses.

If she does go freelance, she'll need to sign up with the HMRC as self-employed, paying tax by self-assessment and paying NI. If she's earning below a certain threshold, she can apply for a National Insurance exemption certificate. All the details are here:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/selfemployed/register-selfemp.htm

Once she fills in her tax return form (sent in April), she'll have the tax to pay by the following January. No initial costs involved. She should set aside 20% of anything she earns, and keep accounts of her income and expenses. Doing that, she may find that she has a nice little pot of money left over each year when her allowances make her tax a little lower than expected.

It's important that she doesn't undersell herself. If she's going freelance it can take time to find the right clients, but if she prices herself too low she risks getting stuck working for less than she deserves. She might also give the impression that she's not worth the market standard, so it's a careful balancing act between charging too much and too little.

all4one

Thanks once again, very kind of you to reply...

I know she does most of those self promotion things already and picks up a few jobs from folks back home.

Facebook fan pages is something she's been doing quite a bit of lately, its great to hear she seems to be doing the right things already.

Thanks once again.

mildred1978

all4one wrote: »

Thanks once again, very kind of you to reply...

I know she does most of those self promotion things already and picks up a few jobs from folks back home.

Facebook fan pages is something she's been doing quite a bit of lately, its great to hear she seems to be doing the right things already.

Thanks once again.

I found these people on twitter when we were looking for a designer. Might be worth your wife having a look?

needdesigns.com

(I'm not affiliated with the site in any way)

all4one

Thanks Mildred I've passed it on....