Interview...

While Jethro was weaning Choccy off his crack habit (it was only washing powder - how funny are we?!) I had my interview with the large design agency that specialise in freelance work in Vancouver.

I had to do an InDesign test which I was slightly daunted by. InDesign is the new design package that's taken over from Quark Express and every graphic designer worth his or her salt is now using it. I downloaded a trial copy for 30 days and did a bit of practice on it - not so bad, as it's similar to other design packages like Photoshop in the way it operates.

Well, I didn't count on having to do the exam in points and picas - measurements I haven't used since University... what happened to using mm's,cm's and inches?!!! Plus I had to work on the document in the way that they wanted, rather than the way that I like to operate.

I struggled with the whole exercise, which was very frustrating as I could do the whole layout in Quark standing on my head! They gave me an hour, during which I got half of it done, which made me feel A: pants, B: like a total failure and C: like I'm never going to get a job!

They were very nice and said that they could see I obviously knew what I was doing, and gave me an extra half hour to finish, in which I managed to get it all done. Then we went over my portfolio, and I think they liked it. I had to talk through three of my strongest pieces and what I achieved with them.

We'll see... I'm not feeling overly confident about the whole process but I am squirreling away in the evenings practicing my InDesign skills so I hope I'll get better. One thing is for sure, you have to be super cheesy here and super confident in your interviews using phrases like "I am aggressive in my approach to all things business."

I have a sneaky suspicion that I am too "British" to work here.