Comments on: Don’t allow yourself to be abused by employers (What I would tell interaction design students, #4 in a series)

By: Kim Goodwin

Kim Goodwin — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 05:47:36 +0000

I agree with much of this. Kaleem is also wise to point out that employment agreements can be negotiated, within reason–ask to see the agreement before accepting the offer. Many companies will just hand it to you to sign along with the health insurance paperwork in your first day.

One part of your advice I’d flavor a bit, Peter. It’s appalling to expect junior designers to kill themselves as many firms do, but it’s also important to recognize that a brand new designer may sometimes struggle to finish what a more experienced designer could do in 40 hours. Any consultancy, especially, requires a pretty high level of productivity. So…also consider asking how long it generally takes new designers to get down to the number of hours that are generally expected. A few months may be reasonable; a few years is not.

By: Sam Ladner

Sam Ladner — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 21:02:05 +0000

Bravo, Peter, for voicing important yet often unspoken truths about employment in design industries.

I know you’re familiar with my research on time use in interactive agencies ( http://agencytime.wordpress.com ). Your comments here have a lot of the same dynamics as time use — design agencies are companies that are adrift in 21st century capitalism, just like everyone else.

You rightly point out that being publicly traded affects working conditions deeply. The founder of SAS (Fortune’s No. 1 company to work for this year) told The Economist that he doesn’t want “some 28-year-old analyst” to tell him how to run his business. I agree.

I would encourage you to write the other side of the coin: what design managers should provide new hires. No. 1 on that list, I argue, is an honest discussion about compensation. No one disputes the legitimacy of a company’s need to be profitable (well almost no one). Being honest about profitability / utilization rates is important.

Additionally, design managers need to really know their values — and live them in hard situations. When you publicly declare that you value innovation above profits, you make certain kinds of decisions. I exhort all design managers to do an audit to understand the “virtue gap” between where they think they are and where they actually are.

By: Nate Bolt

Nate Bolt — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 20:45:01 +0000

These are all solid questions, but taken all together they have a slightly negative tone for a design student in this economy. Just don’t forget to add other questions that have a more positive note, as well, in between these questions. Something like, “Can you tell me about your favorite designer to manage – what made them successful?”

By: Kaleem

Kaleem — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:13:04 +0000

Sadly, these questions often go unasked by many experienced professionals, not just students.

I would add a couple of things, more as directives than questions:

1. When an offer is made, people should read the contract. It’s surprising how few do.

2. Ask questions about anything that you are not comfortable with or that differs from what you discussed. Simply accepting the terms of a boilerplate contract is not necessary. If you are not comfortable with the terms, negotiate. Most companies will be open to reasonable changes. If the employer insists that there is no room for negotiation, or tries to pressure you to sign, you have a good idea of what your experience will be and how you will be treated.

Much like a society, companies are judged by how they treat their weakest personnel, be they interns, contractors or employees.

Thanks for sharing these questions, Peter. I’m certain you’ve spared someone from an abusive employer.

-K