• look for studios with bars nearby—preferably on the
  ground floor.
• ask your professors which firms are best, and then ask for letters of recommendation.
• find a place close to your apartment, so you can sleep a few extra minutes each day.
• hunt for a firm that doesn’t clash too terribly with your
  design philosophy.
• Google Maps > “local design firms”.

• present a poster series featuring you wearing silly hats.
• bust out your typographic “experiments,” sit back and wait for the praise.
• show screen grabs of a web project from your sophomore year… of high school.
• walk through a family of packages that took all night to comp (and it shows).
• unfurl a cumbersome info-graphic, drop the names of your “famous” instructors.

• introduce your idea by explaining your inspiration.
• scribble out some rough thoughts while everyone else presents their directions.
• size up the guy with the clipboard to see whether he’s your new boss.
• throw out a few jokes before diving into your concept.
• say nothing—just pass around your Moleskine and wait for the outpouring of praise.

• send what you have, and explain the rest in the email.
• power through and send the design to the client. You thrive under pressure!
• wait until Monday to send the layout. You can’t be expected to stay late on a Friday!
• grab a drink with co-workers, duck back into the office later to send that last email.
• get it done, and get it done before 6pm. Like always.

• demand an explanation, and then mentally cross them off your “future clients” list.
• offer to take him out for a drink and work out a design that he might like.
• sleep. You’re just going to stay up again tomorrow night.
• do exactly what the client asks. After all, the customer is
  always right.
• offer to re-design the brochure. Ask questions, and look for opportunities to educate the client.

• never mind the file, growl at the printer to fix the colors ASAP.
• double-check your file, discover it’s not your fault, then chew out the printer.
• double-check your file and make sure you didn’t mess with it while less than sober.
• double-check the file and your notes for the printer, then call the printer.
• tell the printer to go ahead — you don’t want to stop the job and hold things up.

• flit from group to group—charming, networking and downing free wine.
• find the most influential-looking circle of people and hand out business cards.
• show up just before the awards ceremony begins (and before the bar closes).
• stand close to your work, wait for someone to criticize it, and then pounce on them.
• eat the free food, wonder what you’ll eat tomorrow.