tompetty

A close friend (in the UK) was approached by a company (In the US) this June with the offer of a job. The H1B process wasn't started until August and he picked up his successful application in mid October. The quota (55,000 or so) goes quickly, but varies by the year and can take several months to be filled completely

I'd never hire a designer that valued Photoshop skills above problem solving, design thinking and usability. Photoshop should be just a tool for a designer. I think as that is where the end product usually comes from, it's seen as the skill that you're buying as an employer. Anyone can learn Photoshop, it's extremely simple, it's design thinking that separates the men from the boys.

Graphic design is multi-faceted and isn't just the process of creating pretty pictures. It's a holistic process encompassing form and function

"We also truly believe in spending on hiring the right talent, contractors or agencies (and paying them competitive rates along with rewarding them with bonuses)."

And yet you recommend crowdsourced design sites like 99designs.com?

"Even our designers have CS degrees"

Just wondering if that's always a selling point? I'm not questioning the unrivalled design talent on offer here, but what about designers with design degrees (and relevant experience)?

Genuinely curious and not trying to be facetious / generalising.

I agree. In my experience there has been far too much emphasis on the negative, whilst taking the positive for granted.

Very interesting to note that praise and recognition are better motivators than financial incentives. Obvious once you think of it, but easy to lose sight of.

I'd guess a problem with having images or URLs not counting towards a character count is the myriad of different interfaces/apps twitter is used in. A lot are text only and it might become a real headache in terms of imparting the information concisely / in a rhythmic and uniform fashion