How to Get a Placement


Step 1 - Ascertain what job you want to go into - we did a personality test after listing a multitude of different career paths and figured out which jobs fit our personality results - my personality was ENFP - T - Campaigner. The jobs which fit it best were freelancer, studio founder, creative director etc. because the campaigners are enthusiastic, observant, creative and good communicators. 

Step 2 - Research - Take the time to pick studios which you like and that you think there’s a chance you could get a placement with. 

Step 3 - Contacting - Really consider the way in which you contact the studio - how can you do it in a way which is appropriate and personal to the designer/studio? If the studio does a lot of physically printed posters, send in a screen print. If someone is a digital designer, send them a design online.

Email is very convenient and you can plan what you want to say, however it is easy to ignore and therefore can be less effective. If someone had their number one their website you should definitely call them because it sets a good impression and you get an instant response - if you do this you should make a small script just so you can refer to it and remember what to say. Its also a good idea if you are going to email someone to get a friend or tutor to check it and read through it.

How to write a professional email:

  1. Make sure the email address sounds professional 
  2. Make the subject line searchable so people can search it to find it
  3. Proeffesional greeting followed by warm up line eg. “Hi (name) thanks for your email”
  4. Keep the email short, who are you, why are you writing and what questions do you have - keep it to one paragraph - attach portfolio as pdf
  5. Strong close - thank you so much for taking the time to read this email, I appreciate your feedback - ‘sincerely’ or ‘best’


Always be confident, clear and succinct - you’re not trying to sell your portfolio you’re trying to sell yourself so your portfolio doesn’t have to be vast and incredibly developed.

A week is an appropriate amount of time to follow up on the email. 

Draft Email for Dream Placement 

Hi (name)

My name is Dan Jackson and I am a Graphic Designer currently studying at Leeds Arts University in my final year. 

I am contacting you today because I am a great admirer of the work your studio does and I would really love the opportunity to come and do a placement with you for 1 or 2 weeks. 

I am fascinated by branding and visual identity, I love the design process for creating visual identities; using simple yet distinct visual devices and applying these across many touchpoints. One thing I find very engaging about design is the breadth of projects; the design process is always different when the subject/client differs and I find it intriguing carrying out research for new projects and turning this research into visual aspects of a design. I have a passion for music and love designing record sleeves so I found the covers you did for (name) and (name) really exciting. 

I have attached my cover letter and portfolio for you to look through, I would really value your feedback. I appreciate that you are busy and probably have a lot of people emailing you for placements, however I think I would be a good fit for a placement at your studio and would really enjoy the opportunity to come and see what you guys do and what I can get involved in,

Best Wishes,

Dan Jackson

@dan.jackson__

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