1/ Determine what your skills are.

Are you good at drawing, layout, painting, or what? What do you do with your free time? What programs are you comfortable with? What are your interests? How could they be used to make you a valuable commodity at work?

2/ Keep up with technology.

Read the latest trade magazines. Fill out every free subscription card and lie through your teeth. Why, yes... my company has 400 Macintoshes and, yes, I do specify every bit of software for them. I get about ten magazines at work, and they’re all valuable, but cost nothing. Attend seminars whenever possible; tell your current employer that you need to attend in order to increase your skill set, and become a more valuable employee. Join your local SIGGRAPH chapter.

3/ Analyze the market.

No, I don’t mean the Kroger. Find out what skills are being sought out. Learn that skill. Be creative. Figure out how you can learn it on the machine at work, or that “obsolete” one at home. Borrow the manuals. Trade your time for experience. Be eager.

4/ Be aware of “niche” markets.

People are making money and expanding their portfolios by doing all sorts of things. Some are creating graphics for the World-Wide Web. Others are making rendered type for commercial television producers. Still others are producing printed work for all sorts of clients. Who out there uses graphics and can use your services? Be creative.

5/ Write a clean, concise resume.

Back before I started freelancing, when I still worked for a traditional production company, I would sometimes amuse myself by looking through the piles of rejected resumes. They’d always be good for a quick laugh. It’s amazing what people consider important to put on their resumes.

Here are some suggestions. Work experience is most important, so put that first. Try to leave out any positions that don’t relate to the position you’re trying for. Use a spell checker. People don’t care about marital status, height, religion, eye color, allergies, or what you did in high school. People are interested in what equipment and programs you’re proficient with.

6/ Make a portfolio of some sort.

If you’re a visual artist, you need a visual example of your work. These can be prints, a video, traditional artwork, files on floppies, or even a CD-ROM.

If you’re a television Graphic Designer, make a tape. If you’re an illustrator, make a representative collection of your drawings. If you’re a you’re a baker, make a tart (but make sure that it’s compatible with your potential employer’s tastebuds).

You’re not going to have great examples starting out, but start one now and it’ll improve. At least you’ll be able to show it to someone and say, “See! This is what I can do!”

7/ Do an internship.

I don’t necessarily mean a traditional, structured internship. Rather, start out at an entry-level job that’s related to your field and work your way up. Be a little patient and learn your trade. There are no shortcuts to experience. Do some grunt work until you are capable of doing the glamorous work.

8/ Surf the internet.

I assume that you know this if you’re reading this. Read the newsgroups related to your interests. Don’t be a pest. You can usually learn more by lurking around and reading stuff that by opening your virtual mouth once too often and sounding like a moron. If you run into someone who you have a question for, write them a polite email. I make a habit of replying to every civil inquiry I receive.