So, the winter holidays have come to an end, but don’t fret, new year - new opportunities, and I hope you all achieve your goals😉
I often receive queries from designers fresh out of courses, asking how to kickstart their careers and gain practical experience. My advice remains consistent:
aim to secure an internship quickly📌
At the outset, whether it’s a start-up, agency, or company, it doesn’t matter much. Let’s face it, today’s market is saturated with designers holding course certificates, so practical experience matters. Choices might be limited initially, especially for those like me - changing careers without a formal design background and eager quickly to dive into the design field.
From my experience and meeting others in similar situations, I’ve observed that seeking an internship post-course (even if unpaid) could be less stressful and more time-efficient than immediately pursuing a job.
Moreover, actively expanding your network within a team during an internship can also lead to valuable recommendations for your next job, just as it did for me👌🏻
#designjobs #careeradvice #designinternship
Service Designer at @Infineon Technologies and Product Manager at @DSSG
7moI would try to come up with a step by step guide on how companies can create that internship (how to attract, etc), onboard and then how to teach them by balancing actual tasks that they can do during their internship to increase value to the company and learning about the job. There should be a “buddy” for each intern, some kind of tutor. The same way companies define specific tasks that the intern will do, the same should be done for the person that will lead the intern. That leader should also have very specific tasks of what to do added to their responsibilities. And on the manual also teach them how to conduct one-on-one’s (not in general, but specifically for a intern to not loose focus).