I didn't get noticed immediately. I was a stand-out student in HS for both visual arts and graphic design. I went to school for Fine Arts, but I didn't finish. Life pushed me in the direction of "you need to get a job RIGHT NOW or you're going to starve and be homeless", so I passed my resume around, in person, to local printers. This was in 2007 though, things might be different.

I received a call from one place, looking for a typesetter. I quit my current position as a receptionist and got cracking. I was bummed about typesetting at first but it was a blessing in disguise - sometimes, observation is the strongest tool in growth and I became so exposed to so much layout/design work and working with it, that I understood very well the skeleton of Graphic Design. So many people are so excited to get on with the fufu shit that they overlook the importance of structure.

I was teaching myself Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign and let my boss know this - eventually, I moved up from typsetting, to pre-press, to layout, and finally design work.

It took me 5 years of doing this while working on my personal artwork (and using Illustrator to make perosnal artwork) that someone looking for an Illustrator/Graphic Designer contacted me. My personal work is what made me stand out - yes, my graphic work was good, but my personal work demonstrated how far I was really able to take my abilities.

Better income rate? Well, that took more time. Despite the six figure mythos floating around this place (it's not impossible, but do your research on payscale sites and you'll see there's a good amount of liars on here). I probably didn't start to recieve offers in the $40k+ rate until 3 years ago.

It takes hustling, negotiating, and experience to justify your pay rate. If you're choosing not to go to school, that's fine, but realize what you didn't pay in schooling, you will have to pay for in underpaid and overworked positions at the bottom of the barrell.