Recruiters
Graphic Designers don’t fit the mold, they tend to run solo or congregate in like-minded groups. With this being the case, recruiters don’t typically deal with designers on a regular basis and as a result, don’t understand how to find work for them. Unless you are lucky enough to have a good connection with a recruiter who knows you personally and feels confident placing you, don’t bother going this route.

Job boards
Your first stop when visiting online job boards should be The Society of Graphic Designers of Canada. Jobs from across Canada are available from a variety of industries. You will also be assured that the design of this website is pleasing to the eye which I’m sure is something you’ll appreciate. Continuing on the tour of job boards, be sure to drop by Freelanceswitch.com and Krop. Both of these sites list design opportunities, however they may or not have local relevance for you.

The Classifieds
It’s important to scour the classifieds, as archaic as that practice may sound, some of your best leads could come from kijiji.ca or craigslist.org. On Kijiji, you will discover the best results by searching your city for graphic design positions. On Craigslist, the well organized categories will allow you to visit art/media/design or web/info design for jobs that may be up your alley.

Career Finders
Perhaps the most traditional of online sources for jobs of any sort are websites like monster.ca, workopolis.com, and regionalhelpwanted.com. Monster.ca is seemingly the most useful of these as it provides you with the ability to save searches and receive frequent email updates that match your specifications.

Outsourcing Sites
The ubiquity of world wide internet accessibility has given rise to the concept of easy online outsourcing. Finding work, or finding talent is as easy as visiting sites like getafreelancer.com, elance.com, and odesk.com or even crowdspring.com (which is more a contest website than a job website). You will find a lot of work on these websites but you will also find a tremendous amount of competition as you are bidding against like minded professionals from many different economic situations . If you are planning on finding work via any of these sites, be prepared to work for a lot less than you may be accustomed to.

Aggregation Sites
Without a doubt, your most useful tool in fighting unemployment is the rise of aggregators in popularity and functionality. These are websites that do the searching for you, visiting all the websites you’d want to check and assembling the results for your review. There are three websites that do this job quite nicely. SimplyHired.ca, Indeed.ca, and Eluta.ca are great places to continue your search without expending the effort of clicking from site to site.

Good luck! Your dream job is out there somewhere, you just have to find it.

Item #1: A Swashbuckle from Veer – $65.00

Give the gift of typeface with this stylish belt buckle. Perhaps if the graphic designer you are shopping for does not wear belts (or pants), you might consider a hoodie instead. Heck! Anything from the store at Veer seems like a good choice.

Item #2: Keming Mug from Cafe Press – $14.99

If design isn’t your cup of tea, the premise of this mug may be lost on you. To let you in on the joke, kerning is the space between letters and if you move an “r” too close to a “n” you end up with an “m”. Your graphic design may find this quite funny and if you’re looking to impress him or her with fancy design jargon, this mug has “perfect” written all over it.

Item #3: WIFI Finder from Think Geek – $49.99

This is the perfect gift for someone that’s always on the move. This Digital WiFi Detector has a backlit LCD screen that provides information on signal availability and strength as well as essential network information. It will help you find out everything you need to know about a hot-spot before you set up shop.

Item #4: A Magazine Subscription – price varies

Why not give them a magazine subscription to a Design magazine like PRINT, STEP, or Applied Arts? There’s no better way to say “Merry Christmas” than with some good old fashion inspiration.

Item #5: A Houseplant Twitter Transmitter from Think Geek – $99.99

If a Twitter obsession is part of the daily routine for a Graphic Designer you live or work with, this gift will not only help keep him or her organized, it could save the life of your plants as well. This DIY Twitter kit will internet enable the plant of your choice. By subscribing to it’s Twitter feed, it will provide notification when it needs water, if you’ve over-watered it and provide periodic updates.

Item #6: Virtual Laser Keyboard from Think Geek: $159.99

Connect this to any Bluetooth capable hand held device and project a laser keyboard onto a flat surface for fast message notation without having to rely on a tiny keyboard. It even makes real clicking sounds!

Item #7: USB Keys from Mimico.com – $34.95

Why not stuff a stocking with a designer USB key? They come in all shapes and sizes and always seem to come in handy.

Item #8: Books – prices vary

You can’t go wrong with an interesting book. Can you? Here are some helpful suggestions:

• In House Design in Practice by by Cathy Fishel
• Beyond Trend, How to Innovate in an Over-Designed World by Matt Mattus
• Creative Sparks by Jim Krause
• Caffeine for the Creative Mind by Stefan Mumaw & Wendy Lee Oldfield
• Women of Design by Armin Vit and Bryony Gomez-Palacio
• The Web Designer’s Idea Book by Patrick McNeil
• Inspirability by Pash

Item #9: A Print of a Raccoon in a Suit from Etsy: $15.00

Why Not? It’s a little bit random but who doesn’t like raccoons? It’s hand drawn by Berkley Illustration.

Item #10: A Goat from World Vision: $75.00

That’s right. A goat. Because everyone needs to be reminded from time to time that it’s not all about them. This gift will provide milk, cheese, and yogurt to a family in Haiti or Kenya.

Good luck with your Christmas shopping!