If I've built a portfolio and have made some connections, but am still struggling to find work in the web/graphic design field, what else can I do?

Make sure to keep doing work - the more work you do, the better you'll get, and you can show potential customers that you're constantly learning and have a breadth of projects and experiences. Be sure to put up portfolios in different places - places like Coroflot etc. Definitely agree about giving things away, I've also found that blogging and developing a good voice in your field is important. Freelancing is always hard, you might also consider getting a job before breaking out on your own. As an intermediate, though, you might try to contract work with design firms.

Hack your growth. Yes, it sounds like a big sh$%&y buzzword. But look, try something between this things: Free hours. Don't just work for free but anounce it. Really really big. Make a campaign just to give your work for free. But not for everyone. For example: "I'm giving away 16 hours of free work, you need to go to this page and say why do you think you deserve help from a graphic designer. Make a strategy to meet with people. Like mini-consultancy sessions. Put an Ad or a Post on Facebook and say something like "I'm giving away 15-30 min. help sessions with your business. All wednseday, from 9 am. to 8 pm at Starbucks. You just need to ivite the coffee". Make a social product that involves graphic design. For example, choose a very very small project to improve the homeless people problem, some bad sign in the city, a place that you need to be improved. Make a poster or a stencil and print it. There, you just need to link it to your portfolio, website or email. Make a product for sale. For exapmle, tshirts, postcards, prints, sketchbooks or even a whole branding. The logo, the identity guidelines, etc. Hope this works. If you need more ideas you can send me a IM.

The one thing that kickstarted my career was looking up top shops that i liked in the area and asking for a short term internship. You learn A LOT, you make excellent connections and in some cases you get a job offer or some contract work.  If you just graduated and have some help from your family then give that a shot.   Try to look for recognized shops, with clients you like, and get in touch saying you are looking for the internship. if you don't get a response, cold call some of them.  Be persistent (but not annoying) it will pay off. Keep working.  If you want to build a better portfolio, make up some projects of your own. Take a client you wish you had or a client you think needs a better design for their website/app etc. and redo it as if it was your own.  MY wife got here current job and one thing that the creative director liked was that she had done projects (fake ones) for clients that agency has.  Below is her protfolio. http://rogergabriela.com/ Keep working hard on your portfolio and good luck man.

Is your portfolio fantastic? If not, make it fantastic.I'm a decent graphic designer and I know it. Not nearly as good as one I'd want to hire. I don't have that wonderful sense of colors and visual harmony that so many talented visual designers just got. I need to spend a lot of time to get anywhere near what they do in just an hour. But what's more important: I care about great design. If you pitch yourself as a designer, there will be people like me who know good design when we see it and we will be critical. So ask people who will give honest feedback for advice. Good design is a evolutionary process. It takes effort and time. Don't settle for the first draft or version. Don't be a "graphic designer"Highly paid designers don't create designs, they solve problems. Graphic designers on the other hand tend to mostly care about exactly that: graphics. Don't sell design as a deliverable. Sell it as a solution to a wide range of challenging problems. Show that you understand the value of great design. Most graphic designers don't get this at all, despite claiming the opposite. They care too much about the pixels and not enough about the business case or the end users. Combine an understanding of UX and usability with an artistic and aesthetic eye and you won't have a hard time finding work.

Look at graphic design as a tool, not an end in itself. Think about solving problems. Graphic design is part, but not the only part, of that solution. Expand your skillsets. Learn how to do real research and communicate the findings with statistics, in order to craft better designs. Look at HTML, CSS, Javascript, and interaction design. Sign up to give a talk about something you've learned. Start blogging about what you've learned. Take a writing class if needed. Set regular self-improvement exercises like: critique a design, redesign something, write 500 words a day, etc. Publish these on your blog. Learn about different businesses than your own. Network with people who aren't designers. Being able to quickly understand your clients' processes and needs is a way to build rapport and lasting client relationships.

Call up designers you know or companies where you admire their design and ask for an 'informational interview.' This is basically just an informal interview where someone gives you critiques on your portfolio. Assuming everybody is not too busy (which sometimes is the case), there's a good chance someone will meet with you, since designers like to see fresh new work and give their opinions on it. This type of interview allows you to 'get your foot in the door,' which is useful in case the place is hiring and hasn't advertised the position yet, or they know they'll have an opening soon, or they know someone else looking to hire a designer. Also, there's much less pressure on you, since there's no pretense of being accepted or rejected for a job opening.

Get out and meet people. Go to some local business networking events, such as those you'd find through http://Meetup.com. Attend a local chamber of commerce meeting (most will let you attend one free). You'll be able to make some connections and probably land a gig or two (they likely won't pay much because these tend to be full of micro-businesses that are not terribly well-funded, but it'll help you make connections). Take some money from those gigs and join a professional organization--not just for graphic designers, but consider one for freelance writers or other creatives who might need the assistance of a web/graphic designer. Contact non-profit organizations or your local county government offices and offer to do some pro bono work or bid on projects. Keep meeting people and shaking hands. Above all, keep the faith. Where there's a will, there's a way.

The other thing to consider is how long have you had your portfolio and connections. I'm assuming you're trying to break out as a freelancer, which doesn't happen over night. You also have to be very agressive when first starting out to get your name everywhere. The best and easiest way to do this is to join some forums and leave constructive comments on blogs. Even the well-known designers/developers such as Jon Hicks, Jonathan Snook and even Cameron Moll (even though he's back to freelancing now) have expressed the hardships of freelancing and having to look hard for the next project - and eventually ended up "working for the man".

Sometimes can be a numbers and waiting game. Freelance is always a great start. http://ELance.com is a place where you can bid on jobs. Start posting your portfolio in numerous places (have colleagues review it or seek a portfolio review from people who have been working in the field) in the meantime keep designing. A way to keep your design chops going and create new work is to start designing at the crowd sourcing sites like http://99designs.com or http://TopCoder.com to test your design prowess in a competition format. You could win contest money as well. You can see who you're up against and really measure your own talent level.