Employers should do better as should applicants

Gokmen Saban Karci’s letter (Letters, DW 1 December) asking for a decent response from creative directors to designers’ CVs hit a sore spot. As Saban Karci says, we get lots, and on the rare occasions we advertise, even more.

The profound depression brought on by the general standard of both the CVs and the work should not mean that we don’t treat everyone seriously and respond courteously. I hope we do, but suspect we don’t always. If we don’t, it’s not egotism. It’s more likely we’re very busy, and our clients come first.

In our case, as a small agency with big clients, the personality, drive and size of brain are as important as the design skills.

You’d be surprised how irritating a dull, badly spelt CV with scrappy bits of work included can be. When someone has obvious talent, and presents themselves with wit and creativity, we do reply and say thanks – even if we need someone a bit more experienced at the time. The details are filed. “That’s the kind of person we may need in the future” is heartfelt, not a cop-out.

The conclusion is we’ll try and do better, but some designers and graduates need to do better, too.

Candy Wallace

Creative director

Templar Downie

candy@templardownie.co.uk