This week, I decided to start off with a quick roundup of my favorite websites for finding full-time, part-time and freelance jobs in the web design field. Of course there are thousands of sites out there with job listings but after looking around for some time, it is clear that a few stand above the rest. I am going to list a few of my favorite that are specifically about the design field, and a few that list thousands of other jobs that you probably heard of from a friends or other source.
Before talking about these sites I want to talk a little about contest sites. Recently, sites like 99designs.com and designcontest.com, have become very popular for both designers looking to make some cash, and businesses looking for the best design for their hard-earned cash. This works out great for the business but, I advise you use caution when competing in these contests. As you can see by viewing the various contests on these sites, there are often 20+ designers battling it out for the top design. If you manage to win the contest you’ll make a good bit of money for the time invested. BUT, as you’ll learn if you choose to compete, the chances of winning are small, even for great designers. Before you know it you could be making 20 different revisions to the design and spending 30+ hours, only to find out that they like someone else’s design slightly better. It’s not that you fear losing the contest, it’s that so much time invested without guarantee is going to take away time you could have invested elsewhere. Of course, win or lose this could be a good place to fine-tune your designing or start of working for a client but I wouldn’t recommend it over freelancing for specific businesses.
Alright, now onto the job sites!
Smashing Jobs
It goes without say that Smashing is one of the top design blogs on the web and their job list is the same. You’ll find many different fulltime and freelance jobs in both the design and programming fields.
Behance Joblist
http://www.behance.net/joblist
Behance has become one of the most popular professional design sites on the web. Many businesses list jobs here in a ton of fields. The Web Design and Web Development list is always worth looking at as it has a long list of open positions including jobs at many noteworthy companies.
Authentic Jobs
http://www.authenticjobs.com/
This is a nifty site with job listings specifically for Web Designers and Developers. You can sort between full-time, contract, freelance and internships. They also have a free app on the Apple App Store which I have found extremely convenient for when I have a minute between classes or elsewhere.
Monster
Monster has become one of the biggest job listing sites on the web. While I have found that it sometimes doesn’t have as many jobs as the sites listen previously, it is still great for finding jobs around your area.
On a final note - don’t forget to check your local newspaper! They often have listings for jobs you wouldn’t find on the web and it is almost guaranteed there aren’t as many people seeing it as there would be on a site like Monster. Also, look for businesses based on your location through sites like Google. Simply typing in “Web Design Madison,” (replacing Madison with your town) will give you a list of different studios in the area. Shoot them an email inquiring about open positions, internships or even just advice on how to get started in the field.
Hope this has been helpful for you all. Good luck!
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