A bit of frustration

As part the HFO we completed at the beginning of this year I decided that I would opt to contact and visit only large companies and agencies as part of the portfolio visit section of the PDP. Last year we had to complete only two visits and I ended up going on about 6, which really helped me get a rounded view of my work and where to push the projects. What I found as a result is that I only really visited smaller agencies (apart from The Chase) and as I have progressed through the course I have found myself to sway towards working in a larger company or being the part of a bigger team instead of a small.

Source: (gallivantingaround.co.uk)

I also decided towards the end of last year that I would like to be based in London when I finish the course so I waned to try and build some contacts down there. What I have found is that larger companies are much, much harder to get through to. Each company I contacted meant verbal interaction with the office and a lot of the time being past through a series of people before even getting an email address of the person to contact. Many of these then resulted in no reply, even after a follow up or in some cases me forwarding a sample of my portfolio to them. It has been good practice in just calling people up and getting used to speak to different departments, even if it did feel like going round in circles sometimes. As a result of this I have ended up only securing 2 portfolio visits in London, which I am abit annoyed and frustrated about, but I guess the demand from students to see companies there is much higher.