The sixth post in our series, Brief Interviews with Assiduous Mules. Read past interviews with Jessie Char, Shawna Seth, David McCreath, Nila Salinas, and Paula Chang.

You applied to only one job (Mule, of course) and got it. Okay, hotshot, what’s your top tip for those in the job hunt slog?

Twitter. Almost all professional studios and designers use Twitter. I was offered my first full-time web design job (with Mule) back in October, but I’d been job hunting since Spring 2009 when I first signed up for Twitter. I started by following authors of New Riders books and then went through each of their Following and Followers lists. I followed designers that did work I wanted to do. Designers like Oliver Reichenstein, Khoi Vinh, Trent Walton, Meagan Fisher, Russ Unger, and Dan Saffer. I figured out who was who and how they were connected by reading their tweets and blogs and studying their portfolios. I then made a Twitter List of studios that I might want to work for. Mule had been on my radar for a while, because I’d followed Nicole Jones’s sassy writing about content strategy. I liked the thoughts on the Mule Blog and read it regularly, so when I interviewed for the job, I already knew what Mule was about and why I wanted to be a part of the stable.

It’s also important to keep an up-to-date and neatly manicured portfolio. Your portfolio should show only your best work that is relevant to the job(s) you are applying to. And part of your portfolio should include a blog or examples of your professional writing. Writing is arguably the most important communication skill for any professional, no matter what discipline you work in; even if you only think of yourself as a “designer”, consider writing as part of your portfolio.

Be sure to read my post about choosing your ideal design job for my thoughts on the importance of work culture and mentorship.

You have an MA in Rhetoric, Composition, and Professional Communication. How does that influence your work? What was the best thing you gained from grad school?

Editing. Having to crank out 30-page research papers complete with lit reviews taught me the importance of just getting it out. It’s easier to understand what you’re trying to convey when you get the words out of your head and into Pages. I was fortunate enough to stumble into a research fellowship writing for an online transportation magazine. My editor had a background in technical writing and worked with engineers, but she also wrote children’s fiction. She would meet with me every day to talk about my writing, and it wasn’t uncommon for me to rewrite a 1,200 word article six or seven times. It could be exhausting sometimes, but when I compared the different versions, I could see the improvements. Writing is a form of design, and good writing, like design, is about having a good, iterative process.

What would you say is the information designer’s most pressing concern in every project?

Listening. I need to be attentive not only to clients, but also to my co-workers. It’s important to hear what they say, what they’re not saying, and what they actually mean. And when I’m not clear on what they’re trying to tell me, or I think they’re not clear on what it is they’re trying to communicate, I’ll slow things down and ask them to clarify their point.

If you could teleport one place/animal/person from Iowa to SF, what would that be?

The Café in Ames, Iowa. It was my favorite restaurant while I was in college. Whenever my friends and I debated where to eat dinner, The Café was the place that everybody always thought of, but didn’t want to suggest because we’d just eaten there last week. It’s that good. Compared to the nice restaurants I’ve been to in Chicago, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, D.C., Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco, I’d still say it’s my favorite place to eat for the quality of food, consistently excellent service, and inexpensive menu.

What’s your favorite bike ride to take in the city?

My route to work. Every day I ride down Post Street to Second Street to get to the studio. I grew up on a bicycle (and enjoyed BMX when I was younger), so moving to a bicycle-friendly city like San Francisco is a dream for me. Last week I flipped my hub to fixed gear. The idea of riding fixie always scared me a bit, but it’s actually fairly easy and has made my commute more interesting and challenging.

Tweet | Written by Tina Lee on May 3, 2011 |