Name: Gemma
Degree: Communication Design, 2.1, University of Portsmouth
Other qualifications: None
Current job: Art Editor, Redwood Publishing

1. What does your current job involve? Describe a typical day at work.

I design an award-winning parenting title for the charity NSPCC. Along with page layout and graphic design, I am involved with photo shoots of everything from celebrities and real life to food and products.

2. What other jobs have you had since graduating (including any others with your current employer)?

A few weeks after graduating I was fortunate to be offered a job as junior designer for the launch of a celebrity title, Reveal magazine. From this I moved within the same company to work on Real People as senior designer and am now with my current employer.

I will soon be leaving my current position to work on the newly launched food and lifestyle magazine for Morrisons.

3. What do you like most about your current job?

Being in control of the magazine from cover to cover, deciding how things should look, what needs to be photographed or included, what colours and graphics to use. It has given me real confidence working alone on this without the support of a design team, proving that I am more than capable of the job.

4. What do you like least about your current job?

It can be a little stressful at times when meeting deadlines and reporting to the client. Working for a charity like the NSPCC can also prove difficult when designing; what can I include? What can’t I include? Sometimes we have to cover stories relating to a tricky subject, for example child abuse, and finding a suitable case study who wants to be photographed or images to compliment the copy can be a nightmare.

5. What are the most important skills required to do your job?

Although I design alone on this title, I have to have good communication skills with the rest of the team that work on the magazine. I need to be well-organised and self-motivated.

6. What made you choose this career path?

Projects at university helped me realise what I was really interested in, and after taking time to organise work experience with various companies I knew 100% that that was the route I wanted to take.

7. What did you want to be when you were 12?

A vet!

8. What is your long-term career goal?

To stay within this industry but whether in publishing or some other visual media I don’t know. Having watched a TV programme last night I am considering other options of where my skills can take me.

9. What’s the worst job you’ve ever had?

I have had quite a few, from working in the Little Chef and call centres to picking fruit. They were all awful in their own way but helped me make some money and to realise what it was I hated!

10. What one tip would you give to someone currently at university wanting to pursue the same sort of career as you?

There are so many people wanting to work in magazines, whether writing or designing. What I would say is get as much work experience and as many contacts as you can – this will help you stand out from the crowd when it comes to applying for jobs.

Don’t be afraid to move around from job to job, company to company; everyone does it and it helps you move up the ladder and ultimately to make more money.