I guess I was pretty lucky in getting a job here at RJDA; in fact, I was offered the job two weeks before the degree show.

Rob Walker, the MD, had contacted Derby Uni in 2004, when I was in my final year, to let them know about a vacancy they had for a junior designer. Leo and Tracy told us about it and I decided to apply, not really expecting much to come of it – but within an hour of sending across my CV and work examples, I received a call asking me to go for an interview.

The interview was pretty intense and I got a good grilling about my work! Now I know this is how they operate, to see how you respond. I think the key for me was that I was confident about the work in my portfolio and I had good reasoning behind it all. I showed lots of variation and skills in my portfolio which included work I had done in uni, my commended YCN project, various competitions I had won whilst at uni and freelance bits I had done such as bar / club flyers etc in my spare time.

First impressions really count when applying for a job, and when I had my interview, they said that my work stood out from a lot of other applicants who had been in the industry for years. It's all about how you present your work – now when we advertise, it is always the portfolios that stand out, ones that have an element of personal branding to them rather than just pages of work examples.

My first few months at RJ were an eye opener – learning how a design agency works, learning new programs, working to tight deadlines and grasping how the full print process works – a lot of these things were new to me coming straight from uni but I picked them up quite quickly.

My top tips for getting a job:

• Put the hours in.
• Learn the programs – especially Adobe creative suite.
• Know your fonts.
• Keep up to date with current styles.
• Create your own brand / logo to apply to your portfolio.

After being at RJ for a year an opportunity arose for me to get into web design, something I had always been interested in but had no experience in at all. I asked if I could apply and was given the opportunity. I went on an introductory web course in Nottingham paid for by RJDA and I really enjoyed it. Since then I have taught myself everything there is to know about web, and I now run the web design department here.

My day-to-day tasks are a perfect mix of design, logo concepts, web design, flash, video for the web etc – so everyday is different for me and has a new challenge.

I have been here 6 years now and have seen the company grow from just 4 staff to 30+ and I had a helping hand in recruiting fellow Derby uni graduates and the Creative Sauce Competition. Good Luck!