Competition for job opportunities is the norm in every career. Employment opportunities are becoming more elusive as Kenya produces more graduates, year in and year out.
Hunting for graphic design jobs in Kenya is not any
different. The demand never matches the supply. There are more graphic
designers than jobs, which results in high competition for available jobs.
For you to stay ahead of the competition, you need to
sharpen your skills and knowledge from time to time. Ensure that you are on par
with the current developments in graphic design technology, as well as any new
features being released.
As a graphic designer, you can decide to start your own firm
where you will be sourcing for your clients or get employed. Whatever way you
choose to go, you will need a platform where you can quickly get your clients
or jobs. These platforms save graphic designers the hassle of finding clients
and jobs. Luckily, these platforms are now easily accessible, and you can
search through their lists to help you get clients if you are working on your
own or to finally pursue your full-time career as a graphic designer.
Outlined below are some of the best places to find graphic design jobs in Kenya.
Looking for design jobs online and not getting any luck? I’ve compiled a list of 10 awesome sites for you to find your next client or employer. I have found graphic design jobs on some of these sites, either through clients approaching me or successfully bidding on a post. I’ve included a healthy mix of contest sites like 99 designs, freelance bid sites like Upwork, and search alert sites like Brightermonday. Here are the top 10 sites you can trust to find your next design job.
Google Job alerts
Google job alerts is probably the best tool for finding
current job posts online. It allows you to customize a personal alert for a
query, e.g “graphic design job” and you’ll get email alerts as soon as you want
them. Even more awesome, you get to select how often you want to get the
emails, filter sources like blogs or news sites, and choose your region. Google
does the work for you and searches the web for new jobs as they are posted and
send you custom alerts as frequently as you want. What better way to stay ahead
of the game?
99designs
99Designs is a competition site that connects clients to
designers in a competition format. The client who needs a design, posts a brief
and designers on the platform get to work designing. The client then chooses
their favourite design and the price money goes to the winner. Their pricing
for clients starts from $299 to $1,299 depending on the client’s budget.
Designs can get from 30 to 1000 or more designers competing. It allows
the clients access to a large number of designers that they wouldn’t be able to
reach otherwise. Clients can also reach directly to individual designers or
hold private contests but not outside the platform. As convenient as it is for
clients, designers who don’t get their designers picked (most of them) may not
be too happy. However, the competition format means the designer who wins gets
paid more than if they were on freelance sites like Fiverr and Upwork.
Designers also get ratings and ranks for the number of competitions they win
which exposes them to more clients looking for high-quality work.
Designhill
Designhill is quite similar to 99designs. The client posts a
brief with a price for competing designers and the client then chooses the
design they like and the winner gets the money. Designhill does not seem to
have as large a variety in briefs as 99designs as it’s not as popular. However,
it has less competition for designers and that’s a great thing. You stand a
better chance to win contests and climb the ranks. Their pricing for clients
starts from $249 to $999. They also have one-to-one projects where clients can
reach individual designers directly. Another great feature is their print shop
where designers can sell their designs on merchandise like t-shirts. This means
you can earn passive income as you participate in design contests. Neat.
Upwork
Upwork allows clients to hire designers and other workers to
complete a specified job. The client posts a job and the platform recommends
designers for their project. The designer has a profile that outlines their
skills and experience and a portfolio page to display their kind of work.
Clients can browse the designer’s profile and invite them to view their job and
submit proposals. The platform allows designers to send invoices and receive
payments. The clients can hire for short-term tasks, recurring projects or
full-time contract work. Pricing is agreed between the client and the designer
and upwork charges a fee for a certain amount billed e.g 20% for $500 billed.
Fiverr
Fiverr began as a job posting platform where freelancers
would complete the clients tasks called “gigs” for just US$5. They have since
diversified and have job posts that begin from US$5 up to thousands of dollars.
It’s not dedicated to design but you’ll find a number of posts for design work,
similar to Upwork. The platform hosts millions of gigs, but their filtering and
recommendations make it easy for both designers and clients to navigate. Just
like Upwork, you are able to create a profile showing your skills and
experience that prospective clients can view. They have project-based pricing
rather than hourly rates and provide protected payment methods.
Peopleperhour
Peopleperhour is a UK based company that shares a lot with
Upwork and Fiverr. The client posts a project and the algorithm matches them to
suitable designers and other freelancers. The designers submit proposals and
the client reviews them and picks a designer to work with. Projects start
from 5 pounds and the site allows for both fixed and hourly rates.
Brightermonday
Brightermonday is a job search site that helps you find work
opportunities in Kenya. Designers are able to find vacancies at established and
new companies. Once you see a listed job that interests you, you can open it to
read about the company, the job description and requirements. You’ll be able to
find both part-time and full-time jobs on the site. You can be able to apply
through the site after signing up. Another good feature is the email
subscription that notifies you of new jobs in your field as they are posted.
That way, you can be the first to apply and get a head start.
The Star Kenya
The Star Kenya newspaper has a great job section in its
classified page on the website. At any one time they have thousands of
vacancies posted on their site. You can find jobs in your field, showing the
company that’s posting the vacancy and sort them by location. It acts like a
search engine and finds jobs posted on other job sites. You might find some
listings to be outdated because the site seems to have some latency as it finds
jobs on other sites. They also have email alerts you can subscribe to.
Creativepool
Creativepool is a global community for creatives. On the
site, you’ll find jobs posted by companies, ranging from start-ups to large
multinational companies like Sky, Amazon and the BBC. Designers and other
creatives are able to create profiles and post their projects for prospective
clients to find. It also has social media like functions like followers and
likes. It’s also more than just a job site. Creatives are able to connect with
each other and share ideas. The site has a great blog and magazine with intuitive
articles for every artist.
Behance
Behance is predominantly a portfolio site for creatives
owned by Adobe, a company pretty much every designer is familiar with. It is
designed to be a visual experience and images and videos reign supreme, not
long boring resumes. It’s a great site to find inspiration. Almost every top
designer in the world is on it and every large company looking for creatives is
probably on there too. You get to see new trends and stay on top of your game.
Your profile and projects you post that build up into your portfolio are what
attracts clients to you. The site also has a Jobs listing page with thousands
of vacancies posted. You’ll find remote jobs, full-time and permanent work.
Barely any of them are Kenyan companies but you can still try your luck
especially with the remote posts. It’s very important to have a profile on
Behance and if you post projects regularly you are bound to get clients, Kenyan
and International, in your inbox looking to get some work done.
LinkedIn
LinkedIn is known as the professional social media. It’s a
social site for professionals to share work, posts, articles and everything
else you do on Facebook… but professional. You create a profile and share
updates, your skills, job experience and education level among other details.
You can then view other professionals in your industry and find companies. The
site allows companies to post vacancies on the jobs page and you can filter out
jobs that fit you and apply. You can also get email alerts for new jobs in your
area. Many Kenyan companies post their vacancies on their site. Check it out.
Conclusion
There are a host of other sites you can find jobs in,
including individual company websites. These are my top 10 picks based on my
own experience and recommendations from other designers. Whether you chose
contest sites like 99designs, freelance sites like Fiverr or Portfolio and
social sites like Behance, it all depends on your skills and dedication to the
craft. There’s a lot of designers looking for work and you have to work hard
and smart to get good jobs and offers. And a bit of luck as well. But luck is
of no help if you aren’t ready to grab opportunities as they come. One more
important thing, as you search for graphic design jobs, remember there’s people
out there looking for a naïve desperate designer to scam. Make sure you avoid
getting duped and don’t send money to get job offers. If you are working on
platforms like 99designs, Fiverr etc please try not to reach out to clients or
receive payments outside of these platforms or you could get banned for life.
You also risk getting scammed by the client. Good luck on your job hunting, and
don’t ever give up on your passion!