I too agree about learning on your own time, even when you have a job that doesn’t require you to deploy certain skills.

I use my personal time to read new books, explore techniques, etc. that I can apply when given a new project to work on. Not only does it impress the boss, but also helps you build your portfolio/resume for future jobs.

Too often they just want to show me what they’ve done for school projects. I ask them what they’ve done in their own time, and 9 out of 10 have nothing to show me. Well, I know for a fact mid to upper level agencies want someone that has enough passion in what they’re doing, that they’re constantly creating.

I’ve told many students, that even if design wasn’t what I did for a living, I’d still do it. I love it, and it drives me to create. If you don’t have that sort of passion, you’ll end up working in-house for a company that specializes in mass mailings and catalog design. Not the most exciting career, but you’ll get paid well to use the skills you learned in school

this could be a valid work offer but 7 out of ten when anyone can bid on the project. You have two problems ahead (possible I know)

- the client has no budget or thinks anyone will do it well under the going rates. Or has no prior experience dealing with the real desingers that ask money worth their expertise and time.

You get this:
- very talented people that dont know what to ask and are blinded to the offering, and are willing to do it free or almost free.

But how will you communicate with each other, you dont get paid so you wont do more than design time. There it goes wrong, you need to give advice to your client and that costs extra time. I recommend to always ask a reasonable price. Your client needs to be reasonable too, and there you need to convince the client what you are worth to his project! And I know one thing or more about it!

Sorry, couldn’t resist