Currently writing my critical journal based on student placements one section of writing focuses on whether students should receive pay. To gather more evidence and research I decided to contact Mark Stringer of Bourn design to ask his professional Opinion.
Put simply, there are more graphic design graduates then there are jobs. This means graduates need to be aggressive when getting a foot in the door - get noticed, get a job, work hard and long, learn, get proof of GOOD commercial work in folio. The biggest factor is experience. When a grad starts, the learning curve in the first 12 months is very steep. The agency has to spend time hand holding the graduate. Given that a majority of agencies are 5-10 people in size this is a substantial drain on resources. If a graduate is lucky enough, we generally take them on a 3 month trial to see what their ability to learn quickly is. In this time we pay their travel expenses.
It all sounds really cold but its just the way things are. The agency has to consider taking on a designer with 2-3 years experience for 17K or a graduate with zero experience for 14K - if this was the case the grads would never get a foot in the door as the agency would always choose to spend an extra 3k. The good news is that if you are good and learn, your wage rises very quickly over 2-5 years. If you move into a creative director role or start your own business in 8-10 years that is when you start to see the financial reward as well as job satisfaction."
