An internship you could complete in a day — Forage; a review.
For the past 4–5 months, I’ve been going through a job search in the hope of landing myself a placement year in industry or an internship — it has been demanding to say the least. I knew job searching was difficult but I didn’t realise how mentally exhausting it actually is, especially whilst in uni full-time, and an industry as currently saturated as UX. Safe to say I’ve gotten much better at not taking rejections personally compared to when I first started.
When I heard about virtual internships through Forage, it almost sounded too good to be true; a self-paced virtual internship that can be completed in 4–5 hours, with no application process, and all for free? It was too tempting not to try — this is my review.
The first one I tried was the Accenture North America Product Design, where I was asked to iterate and design a new lyrics feature and page for a music player application, then create a design rationale to present to stakeholders. I completed this in around 2 hours and it was a great start in improving my design and prototyping skills, as well as learning to rationalise my design decisions.
The second one I tried was BCG X Strategic and Experience Design. This simulation was slightly more advanced, with a focus on user research. It allowed me to create a strategic research plan, and review research data to create personas and formulate design concepts.
The third and final simulation I tried was Electronic Arts (EA) Product Management. This tasked me with learning more about KPIs and their relevance in the game industry, and developing a data-driven pitch about KPIs and user segmentation assessing specific business problems related to a strategy RPG mobile game.
This allowed me to research how KPIs are used effectively in game design and development context, and how user segmentation is key in tailoring product marketing strategy to different user groups.
Final Thoughts
Personally, I would say Forage is a great platform for students and anyone on entry level work, to take initiative in their learning and building professional experience. Although these were only short simulations, they helped me familiarise myself with the tasks I might face in a real work environment.
There’s no grading or required assessments, so there’s the trust that you’ll complete the tasks properly instead of passively clicking through for a certificate, and no — you don’t get paid for 2 hours of work. However, I still think it’s an interesting add-on to online courses and certifications, as part of my skill-building process.
[this is a personal review meant for informational purposes only, not affiliated with Forage]
