When I was asked to write an interest piece for the Cormack Innovation Awards website, I was delighted to find out that I was also in control of the topic of the piece and immediately saw the opportunity to speak on a common problem currently felt by a lot of my recently graduated colleagues. That being the drama and stress felt over finding employment beyond higher education.

In what is said to be a harsh and competitive employment climate for recent graduates, even those who graduate with good marks often have trouble finding jobs, and distinguishing themselves from their peers. My intention in writing this article is to hopefully give those of you who are reading this a ‘leg up' and better equip you with the knowledge of how to achieve employment beyond higher education.

I will be the first to admit I am no expert in this field, however having gained recent employment myself with relative ease, I feel I am in a good position to share the reasons behind my employment success.

Since graduating I have become an independent contractor, primarily due to the requirements of my employer, who I was already working with before graduation. I am currently working at Cormack Packaging as both an Industrial Designer, and as a Graphic Designer, and at a second company for the other half of my week as a CAD Drafter and ‘Creative Consultant'.

Interestingly my graphic design skills have become rather prominent in both of my jobs, and this is something that has naturally progressed as both businesses have observed where my true strengths as a designer lie.

This brings me to my first tip about finding employment beyond graduation.

Do not be afraid to attempt work that is outside the traditional confines of ‘Industrial Design'. If there is one thing that I have found through training as an industrial designer, it is that we leave our courses as a kind of ‘MacGyver of Design', with a combination of practical and theory based skills ranging from model making, graphics, to advanced problem solving skills and project management abilities. Do not underestimate your ability to fill the boots of a job title that does not fit your degree's name. For instance since graduating I have been a model maker, graphic designer, CAD drafter, interface designer, and product photographer among my regular industrial design jobs and tasks. If it's creative and uses tools you are familiar with, why not try and do it?

Often the best way to secure employment after graduation is to seek work BEFORE graduating. Try and find employment, work experience or internships within your field before graduating. There is nothing harder than trying to find employment at the same time that everyone else is. Stand out from the crowd and seek employment while you are still studying. This is especially useful if you have a weak portfolio, as you can rely on your interpersonal skills to approach companies over the phone or face to face during quiet periods, and secure low risk (often unpaid) work. While I hate the idea of working for free personally, often it goes without saying that once you're in, you're in! Just be sure not to leave too much of a gap between you last shift and your graduation as your potential employers may forget you.

It is also important to understand and come to terms with the fact that you may not get into the industry of your choice straight out of education, and that there is nothing wrong with this. Nor is there anything wrong with applying for jobs you do not typically enjoy, such as designing office stationary or hygiene products.

I will be the first to admit that I did not think that I would enjoy working in packaging, and yet have found many other aspects of my work very enjoyable. Recognise that the work you do alone does not make a job desirable/undesirable. A good working environment and friendly employees can be all it takes to make a boring work load more enjoyable. If you do a little research and find out about a company's work environment and policies, then you will often be given a good insight into what you can expect from these companies in terms of a day to day social working environment and support.

Also remember that no matter where you go the core fundamentals of the design process will stay the same. Design is an engaging and challenging process and if you can learn to enjoy the fundamental challenges that present themselves in all design situations (such as problem solving, and the need for experimentation), then you will be happy regardless of the design field you work in.

Consider Contracting. This is a personal recommendation and may not work for everybody, but I found that the easiest way to discover what I enjoy was to set off into the working world as a self employed contractor and work in multiple environments at once. This allowed me to not only understand what I enjoyed doing as a designer, but to also speed up the process of self-discovery. For me I realised that although I am not working in the industry I originally envisioned myself in, I do love the variety of work environments I am exposed to as a contractor, and the flexibility of being self employed, which for me makes most work I do very enjoyable. Becoming a contractor is relatively easy, and it works brilliantly if you can secure semi regular employment for your services with two or more companies at once or even smaller, fast turn around jobs for a variety of companies.

Lastly I would like to explain that finding an industry you are comfortable in is more than achievable. All you need is a bit of time and patience and you will undoubtedly find your way, so there is no need to stress (even if you don't know what you want to do yet). I am yet to meet someone who has been unable to find work they enjoy.

The most common thing I have observed amongst young and established designers is: when in doubt just ‘drift'. By this I mean it is important to find design related work as quick as possible, get into the profession and don't be too picky about it and just go from there. Seek job opportunities as they present themselves taking note of what it was you did and did not enjoy in your previous jobs, and no doubt you will quickly find your way. Think of it as a design process in itself, where you slowly experiment in different employment situations until you find a situation that is best suited to you.

So, when it comes time to begin the process of finding employment keep your cool and be clever about it, and don't forget to take your opportunities when they come, especially while studying, as they will always be popping up here and there throughout your study!

Remember the Cormack innovation Awards internship opportunity is a great place to start that process.