In our area of expertise – recruitment – word-of-mouth can be the most important reason for someone to apply to DESIGNERDOCK. People learn about our jobs through different channels such as job-portals, our website, the DD-Newsletter or social media tools like Xing, Facebook and Twitter. With just one click they inform friends who are looking for a career-change about the job. And one more click and their application is on its way to us. Since its founding in 1996, it is safe to say that at least half of all applications we have received have come through the recommendations of other candidates. Something which we are very grateful for – thanks!

But that’s not the end of the recommendation process. Because we in turn recommend our candidates to our clients, and our personal assessment of the candidate is at least as important to the potential employee as the candidate’s CV.

And while we’re on the subject of recommendations: we are of course always happy for you to recommend us, and express our gratitude in the form of great gifts.

evali / photocase.com

An agency-day without overtime is like a holiday without travel-time – you might want to avoid it, but the two are rarely separable. And while we’re on the subject: how necessary is that time which we sacrifice from our much prized free-time?

Let’s look at it this way: how are you going to avoid it? Anyone who has chosen the agency life usually knows what they’ve gotten themselves into. There are the horror stories about choleric bosses and “exploitation-agencies”, and it’s no secret that you probably aren’t going to get out of the office at 5pm any day of the week. But perhaps the overtime is a good investment. A bit like a life insurance policy: you pay in to it a bit at a time and after a certain period it usually was worth it. And then you get the nice life you have earned: success in the workplace, recognition from your peers etc. etc.

Yes, how often have we sat in endless meetings, the same thing being chewed over again and again? Meetings which would have been over in half the time if people didn’t love the sound of their own voices. One could have got back to being productive and creative hours earlier instead of finally getting back to your desk at 4pm with a full head and an empty stomach. But that’s how it is sometimes. And also the peer-group pressure and the snide remarks like “only working a half-day today” when you start to pack up your things just before 8pm. And that after you’ve worked well all day.

But what choice do we have? No pitch, no account. No account, no job. Perhaps it is possible to optimise the processes and to train the clients to make reasonable deadlines. But then where would the legendary agency-stories come from?

According to the Helpguide site, you may be on the road to burnout if:
- Every day is a bad day.
- Caring about your work or home life seems like a total waste of energy.
- You’re exhausted all the time.
- The majority of your day is spent on tasks you find either mind-numbingly dull or overwhelming.
- You feel like nothing you do makes a difference or is appreciated.

Burnout is THE malady of modern society. It doesn’t happen overnight, but sneaks up on you like a python which gently wraps itself around you. It is particularly common among society’s ambitious, the hardworking and the perfectionists. And it hits those who have been fired particularly hard, gnawing at their self-esteem, especially when one asks why one put in so much effort and overtime only to see it go down the drain! When executives are incapacitated by burnout it can cost the economy millions. Doctors have calculated that between 20 and 30% of all people of working age suffer from burnout in their lives. So there are lots of good reasons to do something about it. And: even small improvements in the workplace can help to stop this trend.

Many companies have already recognised the problem already and try to reduce the levels of stress of their employees. And that with some success. Information about the prevention of burnout as well as support for those who suffer from is on offer from a variety of associations, institutes, coaches and counseling centers. But each individual is also able to avoid burnout before it takes hold: by first signs of fatigue, lethargy and tension the emergency brake can already be pulled.

Tests, information and a list of workshops can be found in English at helpguide and in German at Burnout Institut Norddeutschland.

During MCBW, companies and organizations of different branches of trade demonstrate the multifaceted significance of design along supply chains as well as everyday life of people: From the renowned iF trend conference 2012 to the “Creative Dialog spanning Generations” on the subject of universal design, and an exhibition with workshop “Too good to waste”, to a typographically culinary local tour of Large Market Hall Munich and a visit at the atelier of light-designer Pfarré Lighting Design and Lichtlauf GmbH – MCBW offers a broad range of design related issues for experts as well as for consumers. Furthermore BMW provides unique insights into the world of its product designs and design process. As a highlight, designers of BMW Group Design will be working live and daily on a 1:1 clay model of the new BMW 3 Series.

“We are glad that we are able to get such a varied and innovative program together with more than 60 partners going,” says Dr. Silke Claus, Executive Officer of bayern design GmbH und organizer of MCBW. “I am convinced that we will experience an internationally appealed event that illustrates forward-looking trends and developments in domains of design, economic power and creation of value.”

Program are fixed and for further information click here www.mcbw.de.

Your DESIGNERDOCK teams from Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart, Vienna and Zurich!

Amongst the speakers of TOCA ME design conference are Golan Levin, artist, composer, performer and developer, and Evan Roth, co-founder of Graffiti Research Lab and FAT Lab (Free Art & Technology Lab). Furthermore, Anita Fontaine & Geoffrey Lillemon of Champagne Valentine, Vera-Maria Glahn & Marcus Wendt of the multidisciplinary design studio FIELD in London and Mate Steinforth of SEHSUCHT Berlin give insights into the processes and techniques of their creations.

TOCA ME design conference is accompanied by an exhibition of works by local heroes such as Mario Klingemann and C100. Real exchange instead of virtual networking will take place in the lounge where the participants of the TOCA ME design conference have the opportunity to get to know each other, to exchange ideas and to finish the evening in a chill-out atmosphere with live DJ‘s after the end of the presentations (ca. 22:00).

The TOCA ME design conference is an important venue of the first Munich CreativeBusiness Week (MCBW) taking place from 7th till 12th February 2012. TOCA ME design conference is funded by bayern design and the Bavarian State Ministry for Economic Affairs, Infrastructure, Transport and Technology. The event is also supported by Designerdock.

Organizer of the Design Conference is the Munich-based design studio TOCA ME, which operates in the fields of print, web and event design for the last 10 years. By means of the Design Conference TOCA ME has always strived to create a common communication platform for national and international designers. It has been TOCA ME aims to create with the Design Conference for national and international designers will share a common communications platform.

More Information and Tickets: www.design-conference.de

Artists:
GOLAN LEVIN, pittsburg, usa – www.flong.com
EVAN ROTH, paris – www.evan-roth.com
VERA-MARIA GLAHN & MARCUS WENDT / FIELD, london – www.field.io
ANITA FONTAINE & GEOFFREY LILLEMON / CHAMPAGNE VALENTINE, amsterdam – www.champagnevalentine.com
MATE STEINFORTH / SEHSUCHT , berlin – www.sehsucht.de
MARIO KLINGEMANN, münchen – www.quasimondo.com
C100, münchen – www.c100studio.com

Address: Berlin Weissensee School of Art, Buehringstrasse 12, 13086 Berlin

29 WAYS TO STAY CREATIVE from TO-FU on Vimeo.