“At 28, you are absolutely not too old for this industry”

Creative Career Conundrums is a weekly advice column from If You Could Jobs. Each week their selected panel of professionals from the creative industry answers your burning career questions to help you navigate the creative journey.

This week’s question:

“I’m 28 years old graphic designer and I’ve been working at a marketing agency for three years. The stuff create here isn’t cool at all. But the experience I’ve had helped me to understand the workflow of an agency and how to work faster to get better results. But I don’t have too much to show on my portfolio because I’m working nine-to-five and I can’t show the work that I’ve done here. I feel like I'm running out of time if I want to pursue a bigger dream or work in a bigger or “better” agency that gives me better experience.

Am I too old already for this industry?”

Kat Wong, founder of career change platform Oh Yeah:

I think a few folks are screaming at their screens in response to your age question. But I’ll refrain from initiating caps lock and calmly state: at 28, you are absolutely not too old for this industry.

The experience you’ve gained in the last three years has not been a waste. It’s all functional or technical expertise and you’ve also grown attributes that are invaluable in all workplaces and agencies. That’s what you’ll be assessed on first when it comes to future job interviews.

Demonstrating your deep knowledge of efficient workflows and the quality control that brings great results is what they really need on a team. Showing how you’re able to handle multiple deadlines under pressure, or how you approach cross-functional collaborative work are all required competencies that any recruiter or leader wants to get from a future employee. You could be the greatest creative in the world, but if you don’t demonstrate how well you work on a team and deliver, they’re not going to get you on board.

Despite your current place not being quite your creative palette, it’s actually shown you what area of creative development you need support on, and this now allows you to identify which agencies could support and nurture you on that. Do they have an internal scheme or commitment to develop emerging creative talent? Start strategically thinking about the agencies, which may not be your dream big gig, but could be the stepping stone(s) to get you there, whilst you gain more creative credentials on your portfolio. As a reminder – all agencies and industries have NDAs and can’t show the work publicly. But what can help to demonstrate your taste is showing your creative interests via your socials. Any employer will be doing their own due diligence including their social media background research on you. For further help, read the previous CCC response I shared on competing with others in the job market.

The truth is, you have a very long career ahead of you, and it will take you on many twists and turns to take every stepping stone towards your dream gig. As someone who left Apple at the age of 47 to roll the career dice again – I promise you, you are not running out of time. In fact, the fun is only just beginning.

In answering your creative career conundrums we realise that some issues need expert support, so we’ve collated a list of additional resources that can support you across things that might arise at work.

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