Art Jobs

Employment Status Info:

Full-time:
You can find full-time art jobs that you like to do at Art Fortune, just browse the state you are interested in and browse the list of art jobs. The advantage of full-time art jobs is greater job security and health and retirement benefits. But note that often a graphic arts career as a full-time artist involves a lot of ‘sideways’ moves, rather than ‘upward’ moves, because you will often find better work (or wages) in a similar position in another company. Room for advancement is sometimes limited in a graphic design company or department because the design groups tend to be small, with only one or two levels of management.

Part-time:
Often part-time art jobs are a good way to acquire different kinds of experience in related fields and ultimately gain leverage on your future. And you will have the time to continue taking classes, or do an internship with your ‘dream’ art job. But you may not be eligible for benefits, and there is little opportunity for advancement. Pay is usually entry level pay and some art positions that are part time only can even be seasonal. Make sure you ask about the hours a part art job requires. Part time can be anything under 40 hours a week.

Internships:

An intern (also known in Quebec English as stagiaire) is one who works in a temporary position with an emphasis on on-the-job training rather than merely employment, making it similar to an apprenticeship. Interns are usually college or university students, but they can also be high school students or post graduate adults seeking skills for a new career. Student internships provide opportunities for students to gain experience in their field, determine if they have an interest in a particular career, create a network of contacts, or gain school credit. Internships provide the employers with cheap or free labor for (typically) low-level tasks (stereotypically including fetching coffee for the office), and also the prospect of interns returning to the company after completing their education and requiring little or no training.

An internship may be either paid, unpaid or partially paid (in the form of a stipend). Paid internships are most common in the medical, architecture science, engineering, law, business (especially accounting and finance), technology and advertising fields. Internships in non-profit organization such as charities and think tanks are often unpaid, volunteer positions. Internships may be part-time or full-time; typically they are part-time during the university year and full-time in the summer, and they typically last 6-12 weeks, but can be shorter or longer. The act of job shadowing may also constitute as interning.

Free-lance / Consulting / Contract Work:
If you want to work entirely as an art consultant or free-lance graphic designer, etc; you need to do more than just start handing out your business cards. You must start your own business.
It’s not that complicated. First, you choose a business name, also known as ‘doing business as,’ or a ‘fictitious business name,’ Then you must search the records at Corporate Commissions office in your state to make sure that nobody else is using that name. (There is a small fee.) Then you must publish the fact that you have started a business, which means you take out a little classified ad in one of the legal newspapers. (Another small fee.) You must get a resale certificate (or ‘seller’s permit’) from the State Board of Equalization. Now you are officially permitted (required) to collect sales tax for the state of California. The State Board of Equalization will help you out with all of the above procedures.
One advantage of working as a freelancer is that every expense towards your business becomes tax-deductible, from transportation to postage to supplies to computers. You can charge what the market will bear, and usually that’s triple or quadruple what you’d make as a payroll employee, partly because you have a higher overhead. Graphic designers’ rates usually range from $35 - $100 dollars per hour, and may go much higher, depending on expertise and reputation. The disadvantages are that you don’t have any job security, your income fluctuates wildly, your paperwork increases, you pay more social security, and you pay for your own benefits.