Thanks for writing this, Sanjana! I’m so happy you brought this topic to attention. I’d also like to add that one of the biggest reasons students have a really hard time landing an internship is the lack of technical design skills taught by programs like HCDE and Informatics. While we do have amazing courses like Design Thinking, Mobile App Design, User Research, that prepare us for the UX role, I also feel that many non-pure design students don’t get exposure to improving visual design skills. From my experience, visual design matters just as much as process. It’s the first impression you make as a designer to a recruiter that may not fully understand whether or not you are actually a good designer. Many recruiters (who are not design recruiters), will pick portfolios that are visually appealing, even if the student has thorough, high-quality case studies. So no matter if you want to pursue visual design, interaction design, UX, and/or product design, visual skills still matter!