I work as a graphic designer. Most of my career has been freelance but I've worked full-time for design agencies also.
I am currently looking for a new full time role, but there is one thing I'm unsure if I should bring up during a job interview.
At my previous job, the briefing process would involve a project manager giving me my brief face-to-face. Most of the time they would have a brief written out for me so I wouldn't need to take notes very often.
I used to struggle with this process because my communication skills aren't great. I would often take in what they were saying to the point where I felt like I understood what I was doing, but I would often find myself asking a lot of stupid questions and the PMs would lose confidence that I'd understood them.
It felt like it all happened too fast and I just can't think of the right questions in those situations or repeat back to them what they've just said.
My preferred way of working...
When I've taken on freelance projects, the vast majority of the time it works like so:
- Client (often a design agency) will email me a brief
- I read through the whole brief at my own pace
- I call the client to discuss further (if necessary)
- I start work on the project and email / call them with updates as I go along
- Client often has no issues and finds me very reliable to work with
I'd much prefer if I could find a job that allowed me to work this way.
I'm thinking of asking 'what is your briefing process like?' at job interviews, but I feel I could be talking myself out of a job if they feel I'm no good at face-to-face meetings.