One of the first things a new graphic design graduate experiences is the quest for employment. Today the internet is one of the places you will most likely find job listings related to your field of study and that is the area where many would-be designers start their job quest. Reading through the list of available jobs can sometimes be very quick. Either the jobs that suit your skills just aren't posted where you are looking or you find that you are quickly eliminated from the position as your qualifications fall short due to a lack of real world experience. To be fair the market is also filled with experienced designers who are also looking for work but unlike you they only have experience and no degree. But they also get quickly eliminated from a lot of the positions listed due to the lack of a mandatory diploma that is required in some listings. In both cases you each have part of the ingredients to fulfill the needs of the employer. You may even both have the talent to do the job well. But that one big missing requirement leaves you each out in the cold for opposite reasons.
You continue the search, narrowing down the options while you look for the perfect fit. Suddenly something catches your eye. A call for entries to a possible lucrative job lead. This scenario plays out over and over every day in various formats from message board threads to classified employment advertisements. Postings abound seeking workers with design skills. Even neat places to work appear. You can find job openings in the video game industry, media and animation, comic book and editorial illustration, children's book illustration, greeting card design, CD and DVD design. Even web design is trying to lure in the designers that find themselves with one of the missing ingredients. Yet there is the key. You are missing something just like other job hunters out there. You either lack experience or educational certification. Some people have noticed this little secret in the job searching world and have managed to find ways to exploit this discovery to their own advantage. Some potential employers do this with the best of intentions. Most on the other hand realize that if they deal with certain people who are at the point of desperation trying to break out of a catch-22 like scenario, they can manipulate work arrangements to the advantage that will go toward their profits regardless of weather or not you will also benefit from the same arrangements.
What you have finally encountered is the ever present job notice requesting the work of an artist/designer/illustrator/photographer/cartoonist. All you have to do is provide the work in advance and if the job makes a profit or is picked up by some mysterious publisher then you will get paid. Or maybe the offer takes the slant that no money is involved what-so-ever. Instead you get a great piece for your portfolio. You may get recognition. You may be promised the possibility of future work. Or you may just be competing with other creative types for the same thing. Each one of you working for free and allowing the employer to have a selection of finished work to choose from. Thus saving the employer money and giving him a range of choices while one creative person has work selected and everyone else gets told, 'maybe next time'.
This begs one to ask the question, do other professions get treated this way? Do we walk into a contractors office and ask him to build a few houses on spec so that we can decide if we like his work and if so we may purchase a home from him? Do we ask the list of Doctors we find in the yellow pages if they will each prescribe us their choice of medications for our ailment and we will sample each physician's recommendations then get back with them on the treatment? The contractor can provide a portfolio of previous work for your consideration and the physician can provide the academic credentials to prove their qualified for the job. Designers can provide academic credentials and portfolios as well. Yet designers for some reason get asked to do work for free more than the others do in their career fields. And both new and seasoned vets of the design world must wrestle with working
on speculation or 'spec' work as it is commonly referred to in the industry vernacular.
There are many reasons to not accept this type of work. In fact it is considered by many in the profession, a disservice to fellow designers. Yet some people do take the work. The reasons are varied. Some choose to add professional work to their portfolios so they can apply for more paying jobs. Yet the very definition of professional implies that you are paid for you talents and are not an amateur, someone who doesn't get paid. Some do this work for non-profit organizations or for religious affiliations that they may support personally. Perhaps they hope to make other business contacts from the groups they deal with. Some people are afraid to turn down any work they are offered. Though discussing this topic with working designers you will find that the clients who are reluctant to pay you or try to do everything in the most cost-cutting fashion tend to be the clients that you will be least happy working for. They do not respect your skills as a professional and most designers agree it is best to avoid these people from the start. You can probably approach a non-profit group or religious organization you are affiliated with and have some success at getting some pieces for publication without being taken advantage of if you let them know it is for a one time deal. But try to avoid any postings you find on the internet or in newspaper ads that want you to work on spec.
So if you do go the spec route what happens after you win? According to Blair Enns president of Enmark Performance Development, “You’ve just given away your highest value offering for free, now how do you look the client in the eye and convince him that your services are worth what you are asking? Even when you win in a spec situation you set the tone for the relationship moving forward in which the client dictates and you respond. You have ceded most of your bargaining power on price negotiation, and you have demonstrated questionable business acumen.”
Don't sell yourself short you are a talented person with a future ahead of you in a lucrative field. It may seem hard to break into at first and there are some pitfalls that may be in your path but that is true with any career. If you do choose some spec work do it sparingly. Instead develop ways that you can present yourself to a quality employer and be prepared to say no sometimes. Move onto the next candidate. You often will save time, money and aggravation not to mention some self-respect. Spec work is like walking in a mine field and while sometimes our paths go through that dangerous area it is best to look for the warning signs in advance and avoid the hassles all-together.
Enns,Blair.”Spec Can Be Beaten.” July 21, 2005. AIGA. 7 Feb. 2009
http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/spec-can-be-beaten
AIGA. “Position on Spec Work.” 2008. AIGA. 7 Feb. 2009
http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/position-spec-work
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