I used to be laid off simply after 2 months in a small inventive company and I really feel like a complete failure.
They have been initially in search of a senior designer and regardless that I am a contemporary graduate the employer favored my illustration and my model and thought I’d be an amazing match for his or her purchasers in order that they determined to rent me.
All the pieces was alright till I observed like every week in the past that some staff began being chilly in the direction of me, I used to be assigned to just do little or no to zero work they usually additionally employed a brand new designer out of nowhere. Right now, they introduced that I am being laid off tomorrow as a result of I have a tendency to debate my course of, ask the AD for suggestions, typically want an recommendation in the case of one thing new. They mentioned there is no time or room for such issues as a result of the company is a “design manufacturing unit” which they assume is not match for me.
Proper now I really feel devastated as a result of the entire time I assumed I am doing okay, assembly the deadlines, attempting to speak, attempting to hurry up my course of to have the ability to do some additional duties somebody requested me to.
What bugs me much more is that 2-Three weeks in the past I used to be provided an excellent place at totally different company that I needed to take however in the long run I turned the supply down due to the job I already had. Unsure what to do, I really feel like today sucked all of my motivation and confidence out of me.
Hiring you as a Senior when you’re a fresh grad is on them. Shows their ignorance and shows them for not having a clue what they’re doing
This is not your fault, so don’t blame yourself, but take it as a lesson. People dangling the title Senior for a fresh grad, I mean what grad wouldn’t be enticed by that yano. But it’s not realistic, you’re not experienced enough and more grads should refuse, but who’s gonna do that yano. Most the time companies do this to lure fresh grads, exploit them by ranging that position to them
This is a shitty move by the company. But it’s not your fault, it’s completely on them
Don’t give up, don’t let this experience tarnish your love and drive and motivation for design because of a company that are fucking clueless and out to exploit fresh graduates
You’re better than them, and you will find a good job that suites you, that allows you to grow and develop and supports you and doesn’t exploit you
Contact the other agency and see if that opening is still available
Just a chapter in your story and the book has just started to be written. Fuck that company – now you know what to avoid and have learned a huge lesson.
Keep perspective, you got this.
Hey man, firstly – I’m sorry to hear that this has happened to you, it sucks. I actually had something similar happen in January. Didn’t pass a 6 month probationary period with an in-house role because I didn’t meet the standards of work done by a senior designer with 2x as much experience. Who’d have thought. I’ve landed a better paying gig which is far more appealing on a few fronts and start on Monday, so hopefully everything happens for a reason!
Discussing your process (when prompted), asking for feedback etc are GOOD things. They allow for mutually beneficial direction, and everyone wins. Declaring themselves as a ‘design factory’ sounds soulless, and I appreciate it’s hard to see at the moment, but you’ve likely dodged a red flag.
Have a breather. You’ve just had a big unexpected loss in your life. Reflect for a few days then get back at it. When I got dropped they let me go early that day and I had a mild existential crisis on the train home and went into panic mode. You won’t be in the right mindset to be productive like this, nobody wins.
My advice going forward, is treat your job hunting like a 9-5. I used to do it where I’d be job hunting/applying from 9am until midday. Have an hour’s lunch break, then spend 1pm-5pm doing self initiated briefs, tutorials etc. I made sure to keep my evenings and weekends to maintain my mental health and a work life balance. Try your hardest to stay on top of your physical health as well. The gym was a god send in my situation with regulating my headspace. Staying on top of sleep, good foods, water etc helped a lot.
With work I was happy with, I sort of ‘hit a few targets’ with it. I would:
* Put it into mock-ups on Photoshop (e.g. a magazine project I did to learn more about inDesign looked really nice and professional in some)
* Post those on my Instagram, as either a reel or carousel (the algorithm pushes both to be honest)
* And most importantly – post those works you’re proud of to LinkedIn, with the correct hashtags etc. I actually had someone reach out inviting me to an interview purely off these works, along with a few people in the US resharing them and complimenting them (I’m in the UK and after a blow to my confidence, this was really kind of them). Who do you want to see your work, and why? Creative recruiters so they can land you gigs? Creative directors and hiring managers so they can have an awareness of you and your brand?
GD is a really diverse field, and that means that there will be lots of different places with different types of work you can do. Try not to feel too disheartened and keep at it, you’ve got this!
> I’m being laid off tomorrow because I tend to discuss my process, ask the AD for feedback, sometimes need an advice when it comes to something new. They said there isn’t any time or room for such things because the agency is a “design factory” which they think isn’t a good fit for me.
I’m flabbergasted.. your behaviour is completely normal. At every single place I’ve ever worked, even Senior designers are expected to present their work to their fellow design colleagues for feedback. Also feedback and direction is literally what the AD is there for. Sounds like an awful place to work. Don’t let this experience warp who you are, friend, look at it as a blessing because it looks to me like you dodged a bullet.
I was laid off last year after 5 months. The places was a mess and had already fired a few people in my time there, they called me up the day before my holiday and said its not working, you’re fired.
I knew it was a bad place. I beat myself up about it and to be honest it was a rotten feeling to have while I was away on holiday. I found out after a couple of my colleagues kicked off at management saying it was a shitty thing to do.
Then a month later they laid off the entire design department and sent their jobs to Bangladesh, just to save money. In some way that made me feel exonerated.
If this place let you go for the reasons you gave it’s all on them and their fault.
I get that some places need someone to jump in quickly.
If that’s the case, don’t hire fresh grads as cheaply as possible and expect a seasoned pro.
It sounds like you were sucked into a group that is mismanaging their own business, at least their hiring. And if they didnt even discuss the shortcomings they were seeing with you first, again a sign of possible poor management.
Gather whatever lessons you can note from this, remain confident and *always* allow yourself to keep moving ahead.
Yes, a sports analogy – when a pitcher allows a home run or a goalie allows a game winning goal or a golfer chokes on an easy putt, what do they do? Ideally, they take the hit as part of the game, let is slide into the blurry past and focus on the next task.
It’s classic because the process emulates every challenge in life.
You got this. Get your bearings and focus ahead if you.
This is a common problem, where companies hire a fresh grad or junior to be their only designer, either out of ignorance or frugality. They often will expect a higher level of quality or productivity that, as others said, is not fair to expect of a junior. Like poppingvibe said, as much as it sucks, this is their fault not yours.
To every current student or recent grad out there, if a company is willing to hire you as their lone designer, be very cautious. We often need to take those roles anyway at that point in our career out of desperation, but just be aware of what you’re likely walking into, and keep looking for other jobs and applying.
If it does become evident that they are overworking you, overdemanding, disrespectful, etc then at least you’ve never let your foot off the gas, and if another, better opportunity comes up you can take it. Do not stay at a bad job (such as this) because you are worried about your resume. It will wear you down.
The one ideal about a job out of college or as a junior in general is that there is at least one actual experienced designer on staff who you report to and would serve as a mentor. Ideally 5+ years experience but certainly no less than 3, and an actual designer as in an actual design background and title, not someone in marketing.
I got let go from my first Senior role after moving to a new city. I didn’t move *for* the job, necessarily, but it was a big motivator to make the jump. I was excited to ascend from a mid-level gig into the new position at a new agency. It was a new discipline for me (packaging) and I could tell I wasn’t quite falling into line the way they’d hoped. They fired me the day before my 90-day probationary period was up, which also happened to be the day before the agency’s summer beach picnic.
Few weeks later I found a Sr. Design role at an agency that was better suited to my talents and my working style. Within a year or so i graduated to ACD and spent five years there before making the jump to freelance, a move that has suited me well thus far.
That first agency? I poached one of their designers for my last place and he’s still there doing his thing. One of the other designers became my closest friend in the city here. The rest of the team quit or was fired within a year. I don’t even have that place on my resume.
Point is, chalk it up to* a learning experience. Grow from it. It’s just a blip in your career and if that’s the worst of it, all the better. You’ll be fine!
Alright OP, I hate to tell you what happened here is completely out of your control considering you’re freshly graduated.
You were likely the cheaper hire and they were willing to roll the dice on you because you were cheaper to hire than someone with an actual lead designer resume. “Bring the kid in and if a better candidate comes up we’ll move to them. We’ll save on payroll in the meantime. If the kid blows our minds we have a lead designer that’s getting paid less than we planned. That’s a win. If not, we use the savings to hire a big gun.”
What you need to realize is that you likely did your job well. You probably did most everything right but they had already made their mind up about you long before you showed up before you first day.
With that all being said, it’s your first job and you know now how to smell that type of blood in the water. Don’t let it get you down. It’s just another bump in the road that will eventually be a laughable foot note once you find your future work home.
Don’t give up designing and don’t give up on the idea that your worth a paycheck. That other company gave you a shot at lead designer at a young age. You obviously show great potential and must have a killer portfolio to land that kind of job FIRST.
So, lick your wounds and get a good cry in. Have a cold pint and regroup. Once you feel a little better about it, start taking interviews. DO NOT carry your negative energy from being fired forward. Employers want you to be confident in your work and from your story you’ve told I think you have every right to be fully confident in yourself.
God speed homie. Good things come to those who have the patience and diligence to remain for the opportunity. There isn’t a “luck” aspect to this. Be prepared for the next job before it’s in your lap and your crushing it for another company.
First, you should know that there are legal reasons why you would have been laid off so quickly. I don’t understand them completely, but they vary state by state. In most states, it is 90 days that are like a trial period that if the business fires you within that time period, they don’t have to pay some sort of tax penalty. I think it has to do with unemployment tax but don’t quote me on that.
But yes, THEY made a mistake. Maybe they hoped because you are very talented that you would also be precocious in other ways as well, but some companies are simply not set up to art direct/train junior designers. Their work flow doesn’t include designers working with art directors and all of the senior designers art direct themselves.
That totally sucks that you missed an opportunity to take another job. But it sounds as if you have a strong-enough portfolio that you will continue to get opportunities.
Big virtual hug on a rough day. And good luck getting back into the job search again with renewed enthusiasm.
If a business describes themselves as a design factory you’ve dodged a huge bullet imo. Yes deadlines are important, but design is not something you can narrow down to a factory standard. We all know the design process is a messy one to begin with so head up man, you got away scot free
I had a situation when I was first in college and there weren’t a lot of jobs to be had. It was a print shop and I got an immediate offer.
I show up and am told that they have another designer but she is on vacation. I keep up and feel pretty good about what I’m doing.
The day she is about to come back the guy fires me. He says I wasn’t good enough – but I know what it really was. He lied to get me to work for him because his full timer was out.
The following job no one said I wasn’t good enough. No one said I needed to dance through hoops to prove it.
My point is, while it feels shitty right now, just realize that jobs are kind of like dating. Sometimes you go on a first date and just realize it isn’t working – the fact that you wanted to talk process is fine, but they didn’t want to listen.
I’d recommend when you are applying to talk to recruiters and teams about your expectations. Because while you are feeling hurt, it’s really their fault for hiring someone who didn’t fit their culture. Trust me, there are plenty of places and people who are willing to talk process and help you grow in your career.
The agency hired a junior designer while expecting a senior designer quality and was shocked when the junior designer was…*checks notes* a junior designer.
They should have hired you as an actual junior rather than a senior designer, and been prepared to mentor you.
I have found this is a common issue in the design community that agencies will place too many hopes on a creative and then that person can’t possibly live up to their expectations. I have had a number of freelance jobs like that – even as an experienced person. I find it’s always better for me to start with easier work and then work my way up. I have had some spectacular failures too – even after many years of experience. Ask for a debriefing meeting so you can get insight on their perspective. This information is for you though, so you learn to avoid this situation. It’s also more empowering to confront these situations directly and be graceful about it, even though it’s unfair. Remember – this is not about you as a designer, this is about an agency who isn’t good at managing and educating new hires and they should not have hired you, a new graduate, for a demanding design job.
It’s not your fault at all because you just graduated – there are so many things about real-life workflow that you don’t yet know. It doesn’t mean you’re a bad designer, you just need experience. Contact that other agency – I have gotten a number of jobs because the person they hired didn’t work out or left after a few weeks because they were offered something better. Network with local designers if you can so you can have some direct resources for asking questions.
Okay, this is definitely not your fault at all. A senior position requires a lot of experience. It isn’t about having amazing illustration skills – that’s just one small aspect of a senior. They misunderstood their own brief and unfairly threw it all on you. This doesn’t mean you suck. It just means you’ve been given the title of chef despite never having worked in a kitchen before.
Another thing to point out is that if a studio is willing to hire someone without experience (or very little) as a senior, that will likely not be a great place to start your career. Not only because the environment will be problematic, but you’ll have no one to learn from, and as a graduate/junior, the number one priority for you is to shadow and learn.
Bizarre they hired you as a senior with zero experience. Doesn’t sound like a particularly well run company
“design factory” a red flag so big you can see it from space
They sound super incompetent to hire a fresh grad as a senior designer then turns around and complain when they don’t understand a few things..
Sounds like you’ve dodged a bullet here. Take a few days to yourself then get back on the horse. Sounds like you’ll have no problems getting another job
There’s already a lot of comments (which is awesome – I’m glad you’re getting support!) so if ya don’t see or don’t have the bandwidth to respond, don’t sweat it.
But from the opposite direction, I needed to fill a junior design role and ended up hiring someone who was 40s-50s and coming from a recent layoff as a more senior role with big and long term projects. His work was stellar and he was an excellent dude – but as someone who didn’t have a lot of hiring experience under my belt, I didn’t notice the obvious red flags. we worked exceptionally quickly, turn around was often a day or two, and required a lot of solitary decision making. He came from a large team that worked on a few projects for months at a time. It was a terrible fit – for both of us. He was unhappy and I was spending far too much time trying to get him up to speed. Ultimately, he quit after about two weeks because I think he realized it too. The guy was an excellent designer and an awesome dude and it broke my heart to see him struggle as he did – but it wasn’t a good fit. I hope he knew it wasn’t a reflection of his talent or personality – as I hope you do as well. Sometimes a role requires a certain type of work style – and not having it does not mean you are any less skilled or talented. Just that there’s a role out there where you’ll flourish all the more.
**Oh, Ouch!**
*I’m betting that place has high turnover anyways*. ***DESIGN FACTORY, my ass!***
Call back that other agency real quick. Just tell them your personal situation has changed and ask if that offer is still available.
By the way, from what you described what your “working process” is, *tells me that you’re conscientious about the designs you produce, and that you sweat the small stuff.*
***That’s the kind of designers, I do hire on my team.***
Buck up, this is just the beginning of your journey. *There’s certainly ups and downs in a long career.*
I’m pushing 50 now, and run my own company. ***I, too, struggled a lot, when I started.***
**Don’t let a speedbump take you down.**
The only thing that ‘design factory’ is putting out are red flags…
Talk to the agency who had offered you a job!!
My concern beyond other posts here that is everyone was being cold to you. Its incredibly unprofessional for any company to leak a future employment change. Nobody should know but mgmt and HR. The stress you must have felt was cruel and despicable. Glad you are out of there. Not a healthy employer. Plus you learned a lot, sounds like. Congrats on a positive change and good luck on your next job.
count yourself as lucky..no designer wants to be working in a “design factory”
overall it sounds like a lack of communication from above..which is common.. and it sounds like you got out just in time.
I got fired from my first job after only 3 days for a very similar reason,
Employers suck, take that unemployment money, take a few days to regroup and then hit the job hunt like its your full time job,
You’re gonna be fine
They were trying to save money bc they’re a “design factory” then blamed you for their own cheapness. Sorry OP this happens to the best of us. Now you’ll have a better idea of what jobs to avoid. You’re gonna be ok. You got offered two jobs already and you’ll get offered more and one will be a better fit for you to grow.
Maybe reach out to your last offer? they may need someone to hire still.
I’m sorry to read about your situation, but please know, everything you were doing were the right things to do.
As a senior GD, I always make sure to review my teams work, they ask for feedback or advice on small things all the time (I have 7 designers currently), and I love it. Our projects tend to be very large educational courses, so deadlines are longer. It’s quite different to my experience previously in marketing, and I know agencies have brutal deadlines, but if the agency were hiring a graduate they should’ve taken the time to work with you. If they couldn’t put the time in, they shouldn’t have hired you in the first place. That’s on them, not you.
I would suggest you aim for in-house marketing teams, where you can get the focus you need in your early years. Good luck in your next job!
You are 100% right – correct in gut emotion – to feel devastated. I empathize entirely. I’ve done this job a long long time – I experienced multiple career-questioning layoffs.
You are not alone and here’s truth – ready?
It’s going to work out. This isn’t about the talent that’s gotten you multiple job offers – obviously.
This is strictly about (1) this fuck’n field is unintentionally cutthroat AF, and (2) most companies are awful – just bottom-dollar profit-driven awful; and with zero loyalty or really concern with the life of an actual human being.
HR call employees – FTE. Your relationship with that place was *”Full Time Employee.”*
That’s fuck’n dehumanizing by any metric.
Hard truth – very short employment at a place might give bad reference – that sucks.
👉 If they sweet talk you on the way out – ask those fucks for a written recommendation you can attach to resume’ – don’t list them as reference, just employer.
But here’s the thing – this is an employer problem – they fucked up, they showed their true colors. So now you’re wise and luckier still – probably eligible for limited unemployment.
You got job offers. You got a job. Same person. You I mean. This gig is merciless – no one gets that. You do now – early lesson learned hard, but you’re good. This is good.
It’ll pass.
The feeling of devastation. The shock.
2 weeks from now you’ll feel less sad. That’s what time does and not much else really. The sorrow, the grief, anxiety, doubt; do all that – it’s how human beings process hard emotional shit.
You aren’t alone. Here’s empathy. I feel your story as it reminds me of mine, I feel my sorrow again and that makes it this stories sorrow now – to me.
Empathy friend. Look, this blows big time – sorry for ya. Get these fucks to write you a hard copy reference – let em know you’d expect anyone calling to hear same. They owe you unused leave – tell them to pay it in the last paycheck. Unemployment starts 2 weeks from terminaton – don’t let em tell you to use sick days or anything.
You’re okay. The emotion of devastation is sincerely the correct one. You got screwed by a shitty company that’s temporarily hurt you. Not a problem, multiple other heartless employers have been and will continue to be interested in hiring you.
This place didn’t give you a fair shake, don’t mean a thing. Take it easy when you can. Good luck.
I know it’s hard, but do your best not to let this affect your confidence or otherwise get to you. It really is okay if an agency/company turns out to not be a good fit for you or you for them. Happens all the time for all kinds of reasons.
Also, if true their reasoning is kind of a red flag, so consider it a bullet dodged. Asking questions and getting feedback is an important part of the design process (not to mention a part of mentoring for a new designer, which I assume at one time the AD and senior designer were, too). If their “design factory” can’t handle that then good riddance, it sounds like a joyless place to work.