So I recently completed my second internship over the year and what I think was key to me achieving both of them was having a really strong understanding of myself and what I wanted to get from the experience. From this I have then branded myself creating a series of visual representations to portray myself and help those I apply for to get to know me better.
Luckily enough I have done this already for my blog so this was a great kick start for me. So first of all you need to think about yourself - I would suggest doing a mind map I find this really useful to just jot everything down. I know it sounds silly which is what I thought at the beginning but it is actually so much easier when preparing everything you need to bag yourself an internship. Write down your likes and dislikes, work experience, what you think your best skills are, your favourite colour and literally anything you feel bests describes you. If your struggling it's a great task to do with friends in the same position.
The next step is using all of those things on that page to shape a visual representation that unites all of your documents together. For me doing the career I would like I have to do a creative CV which is slightly different to your average CV. It's supposed to show off your creative talent skills but also have all the same information as the original document.
First of all pick a font, I use Courier New as it matches my blog and I kind of like the type writer effect it has. I know this is thinking into it a bit much but I think the font also represents old and new which is something I like to do with my fashion - I think I wear traditional 'safe' clothing but bring something new to bring it into the 21st century.
Then, colour. I think that we all know where this is going... pastels is just my thing, if not just go for your favourite colour but make sure it's readable. I have branded my work documents in a lilac as sometimes pink can be received a bit like a barbie. I aim to have a mostly monochrome base with highlights of colour for headers, subtitles and all of those types of things. It's important to get a good balance as you don't want it to be too over powering or the other end of the scale - bland.
Then play with presentation idea's the internet is your oyster and use it to look at inspiration and then you can pick the best bits from each one and make something unique to you which best represents your talent. Pinterest is the perfect place for inspiration on these types of things... you can get lost for hours.
Finally tailor it to the internship or job you are applying for. Make it personal to them as they get sent applications everyday and they can tell if it's one you've bulk sent out. Put there name in it, address them and be passionate about why it's them you want to work for. I think the best way to do this is by pointing out your skills and saying how you could apply it to that setting.
My blog has had a massive influence on my branding and the way I present myself on paper and online. Being a creative I am lucky enough to meet many other people with talents in the industry. I had help with my branding as sometimes it's hard to articulate exactly what you want yourself. It started with when I got my blog design created by Sarah from Trisarahtops Smiles Designs. She helped me with my design and provided exactly what I had envisioned for my blog.
Poppy Almond a friend from school was always an inspiration with her artwork and seeing her designs she was creating I kindly asked her to do an illustration to describe me and all of the things I blog about. She kept it to my colour scheme with a pale mint background with pink, yellow and purple hints. The design incorporates florals, beauty (products such a nail varnish, lipstick, body lotion and perfume) and of course fashion garments (a pleated skirt and peter pan collar blouse). This was then taken a step further my William Marler (www.wmad.co.uk) who has re-branded my youtube intro using this design as the background and my blog logo of 'Aine's Wardrobe'. This is something I include on my CV so employers can get to know me and what I do outside of studying so it's definitely worth investing and spending time to achieve something you are proud of.
I hope this post has helped someone out there and has at least got you thinking about possibly where to start as that can often be the most daunting part, good luck!
No comments
Post a Comment