Photo by Thomas Hafeneth

There’s a lesson they don’t teach you in college.

Two years into a soul-sucking job, I decided I’d had it and began applying elsewhere. I did this for almost six straight months. Then one night, after the fifth rejection email, I realized something I wished I had learned months before. I had to bend the rules or nothing would change.

I had to put fake work into my portfolio.

To someone who’s been in the business for years, this seems like table stakes — its what grown ups call “spec work”. But to a fresh-out-of-college designer it wasn’t a naturally learned lesson. Primarily, this is because design schools and professional organizations — like the AIGA — put a large amount of prestige on the art and craft of the work. Creating made up work feels wrong or unprofessional to starry-eyed young designers.

The other reason is that no teacher ever tells their class it’s ok to create spec work, or how to go about doing it. Sure, you’ll create tons of fantasy work in studio, but designing something that truly resembles a professional, client-paid project is an altogether different animal.

How to begin the process of choosing what type of spec work to make and how to get it finished depends on the job you want as well as your work style. My approach is outlined below, and while it’s tailored to my career, it can hopefully provide a baseline for you to work from.

Analyze the jump.

Where are you at and where are you going? While this sounds like a line from a Dr. Seuss book, it’s the basis for which projects you’ll be picking and how many you’ll need to supplement your portfolio. My graphic design degree naturally placed me in a job designing print projects, but — being a video game junkie — I had a passion for animation and interfaces. Therein was my jump: how do I get a new job in digital media if I’m not getting any experience with it in my current one? I realized I’d have to create spec work that showed I understood the challenges and tools involved for designing for screens.

Choose your project.

Next, you’ll need to determine which pieces to add to your portfolio to ensure it has the most competitive edge. You’ll need to do some homework. First, look into the company you’re trying to work for. Find what brands they work on, see what they’re passionate about. Look at the type of work they provide clients: if their portfolio is full of mobile apps, don’t design a Web site, as they’ll be looking for someone who understands the limitations of small screens and touch interactions.

Steer clear of offensive or irrelevant work by researching trends — what’s the world excited about? Which brands are taboo and should be avoided? Be honest about your own interests, because coming home and making spec work is going to take all the passion you can muster. As a lifelong musician, I chose to redesign the interface of Garage Band. It included a band manager platform for discovering and managing gigs, plus a subscription service offering music lessons from famous artists — something they’ve recently added.

Make time.

If you did the previous steps right, the spec work you chose should feel like a dream project. And it better, because you’ll be spending all your non-work hours doing it. The more you make time, the quicker you’ll finish.

When my day was over, I was home working on spec work until three in the morning. But since Garage Band was a tool I loved, and music was my hobby, it felt satisfying to show my personal take on how the software could be reimagined.

As an additional source of rocket fuel, use your imagination to your benefit. When it’s 1:00 am and you’re sitting at your computer with no Red Bull and even less hope, close your eyes and picture being at the new job — but not too long, or else you’ll fall asleep. Fantasize about higher pay, new coworkers, better projects, a swankier office — whatever you’re craving at the new gig.

Channel your critics.

Don’t forget to seek feedback often and early — and from a diverse audience. Show your alumni, send it to friends at other jobs, post it on Instagram or Behance. Ask if the work makes sense and how it could be improved. As a side benefit, the exposure might even get you noticed by the job you have your sights set on.

Lastly, simulate the interview beforehand: look up potential interviewers on LinkedIn and familiarize yourself with their background. Predict any questions they may have about your work — what holes would they poke in your projects? How would you respond while keeping your cool?

Finally, be sure to think through the execution of your work. If it’s well received, the interviewers will want to know your thoughts on how it actually works. This kind of thinking is the biggest difference between college work and real work, but it’s realistic. If you worked there, you’d have to solve the same problem. Look into API’s, technologies, and coding languages that could potentially build your idea. As an added bonus, it’ll show you know how to speak developer.