I'm a Graphic Designer; currently I work for a jewelry company that does wholesale and retail online. It's a great deal of photography and retouching with digital marketing, communication (yay social media planning), and graphic fulfillment. Plus when I first started I was doing buying, product research, and copywriting. Those responsibilities have lessened when they hired someone to help though. But the job has become like 80% product photography/retouching/product writing. And when that’s all I get to do for days it can be dreadful. ): It was fun initially but I was hired as a designer! I wanna do more of it!
What I like:
* I’m the “senior” designer and I don’t really need approval for much of my work. Sometimes I’ll get some suggestions on final product photos or layouts but not really. The other designer (who’s years older than I am which can be awkward..) often has to design with a hovering manager.
* We specialize in body jewelry so design-wise, when I get to design anymore, I get to have a lot of fun with it. I love being a designer and I’m lucky that I’m employable in my field of study and choice.
* I get to listen to music, podcasts, whatever all day while I work. Plus plenty of breaks to Reddit or catch up on Social Media.
What I dislike:
* The pay. I should definitely be making more but I took the job desperate to stay in California after moving here on a whim. But it’s my field and way above the minimum wage, so that’s something though! I also replaced like 2 employees and work more than either of them and I know I'm not making the money of 2 people. 3:
* Casual office environment. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s nice sometimes, like days I oversleep or haven’t done laundry, and can just throw on a tshirt and jeans and run to catch my train. But it's allowed me to become really lazy, I don’t wear makeup much anymore and I can’t wear heels the way I used to.
* Too dang far and in a boring area. City of Commerce is exactly what it sounds like.
It’s been a good starting point for me in a completely new city where I knew zero people. But I’m ready for a new challenge. Like I said, I’m not designing a ton anymore and I don’t like that. I’m intimidated as hell but I want to work in an agency environment instead of all of the in-house design I’ve been doing. Good thing all agencies want agency experience already. :P
Also considering making the switch to social media marketing entirely, so long as I can continue developing graphics for it as well. My challenge right now is making time to write cover letters and send stuff out there when I’m pretty busy with volunteering, freelance assignments, and exploring my wonderful city.