Job Prospects

http://www.graduatesyorkshire.co.uk/job/32285/vacancy/?_ts=25186

Employer: Magnitude Ltd

Job Details (from source) - “Junior to mid-level web designer with good understanding of HTML, CSS and web accessibility, and basic Flash skills - to work on exciting accounts including global, consumer brands.”

Degree: Digital / creative qualification.

Location: Harrogate, North Yorkshire

Salary: £15,000 p.a.

Why do you want this job?

I would like to take up this position because I have an enthusiastic interest in creating high quality, accessible websites. I understand that all users have the right to be able to access the web, irrespective of if they have an old computer system, a slow connection or a disability. I also have a good understanding of marketing and business strategy, and have helped clients to create interactive media projects which can promote their products.

My own working practices revolve around planning and preparation. I believe that this greatly boosts confidence with both clients and colleagues. I feel that with this job position I could accommodate several different projects at once, which the modern interactive media environment demands.

What is your greatest strength?

My greatest strength is my ability to find an appropriate strategy to create a product which shows the clients products or services at their best. This comes from analysing what the target audience for the product demands. When this is combined with my more artistic abilities, strong and suitable designs are easy for me to create. The strategies which I use to find suitable designs use a range of skills, including sketches, photography and collecting other pieces of design. This has proven to be effective, as I can compare my work to that of an industry professional and constantly evaluate, adapt and improve the quality of my own work.

What is your greatest weakness?

I feel that my greatest weakness is that I limit my designs to the technical skills which I know and am comfortable with. I think that over time this will improve as my technical knowledge becomes greater, which will only come from trying out new techniques either in the workplace, or outside of work in my own time. I do find it frustrating that I do not yet have this technical knowledge, and this gives me more drive to overcome this. To do this, I employ a strategy of doing small tasks to try out new techniques to improve the palette of skills and build on my technical abilities.

Where will you be 5 years from now?

In 5 years I hope to be in a position where I am doing both print and web design, as I enjoy both of these areas. I would also like to be in a position where I am managing others to complete projects, as my ability to plan and prepare will be of great use to an interactive media team. With my evaluative abilities, I think that I would be good judge of other peoples working strategies and design ideas.

By this time, I will have learnt a lot of new technical skills which will have vastly improved the quality of my work. This will be achieved by on the job experience and by undertaking exercises as mentioned previously. As the industry will change greatly over this time, I know that my skills will have to change considerably, and over the next 5 years I will be looking to invest my own skills from tackling the challenges of the future.

What current innovation excites you most?

I am currently very excited about the use of video on the internet. I believe that as internet connections get faster more and more people will want to have video media on their website. This is a totally different type of media in comparison to a static or flash page, and provides challenges in regards to accessibility. Implementing this technology into websites will change vastly over the next 5 years, and the design of video is a challenge which I have already started to experiment with in my own time with a lot of success.

Who is your hero and why?

My hero is the guitarist Richard Thompson. He has constantly been an innovator throughout his career, and has both amazing technical skill as well as a vast imagination. I would hope that in my own career I could be as innovative and have the such an endless well of creativity.