How to go from intern to full-time designer
There are a lot of design internships out there and it’s incredibly important to make the most out of the opportunity. If you’ve decided, like I did, that you want to work at the company as a full-time designer there are different steps you can take to get there. While I was a product design intern at Button I was lucky to be in a supportive environment. But it was clear that I had a long way to go before being hired full-time. Today, I’ve separated what I wish I did, with what I actually did, while interning in order to land a full-time design role at Button.
7 things I did to go from intern to full-time designer
This might be the most obvious tidbit of advice but have you asked if your company is hiring somebody full-time for the position? Make sure that everyone from the top to the bottom of the organization knows that you want to work full-time at this company. Don’t be afraid to ask your manager or boss about opportunities for growth or simply state, “I love this company and want to work here after the internship.” Be clear and be persistent.
Now that you know that your company is hiring for the position you want, it’s time to start planning on how to get it.
Set yourself up for success by organizing a well-defined plan for tackling your short-term, long-term, and personal goals. Reaching goals and being accountable is one of the most important aspects of being a full-time employee who makes meaningful contributions to the business. Employers want to ensure that they are hiring dedicated individuals who have an innate drive and passion for achieving.
I forced myself to look at a calendar and figure out how many months, weeks, and days were left until graduation. In my mind, I saw myself joining Button right after graduation. To jump start my goal setting process I reviewed job descriptions for product designers and documented the types of skills that companies look for. What did I have? What was I lacking? What could I improve on?
In meetings with my manager I asked what are the x, y, and z things that you are looking for in a product designer? I added those to my goals list as well.
Yay spreadsheets!
During weekly meetings with my manager we reviewed my progress against this list. We would review each goal, discussing the failures and successes I had made so far. This gave my manager insight into how I deal with roadblocks, how I prioritize my work, and better clarity into my future goals.
Lastly, I asked my manager, “if I applied today would you hire me?” “Why or why not?” I admit these questions are not easy to ask but these are the right questions.
This was by far my biggest hurdle to get over. Asking why requires introspection and a short-term and a long-term strategic mind. The question, Why asks us to give the design a purpose. In his book “Shape of Design,” Frank Chimero repetitively hits on this point.
“The How question is about a task, while the Why question regards the objective of the work. If an artist or designer understands the objective, he can move in the right direction, even if there are missteps along the way. But if those objectives are left unaddressed, he may find himself chasing his own tail, even if the craft of the final work is extraordinary.”
-Frank Chimero, Shape of Design
But hold up, you’re probably thinking (like I was at the time) “I went to art school, why should I think about product strategy?” That mindset prevented me from seeing the value in asking Why for a long time. By asking Why you are getting down to the root problem that you are hoping to solve. Want to redesign that website? Have a design for a flashy new sign up form? Ask yourself Why until the true problem is clear.
There are definitely enough posts on Medium (like this one) on gathering constructive feedback, but the best lesson that I learned is to formulate your questions before you seeking someone’s opinions. If you are going into a design review stop, think, and document the questions you need answered to move forward in the design process.
Also, seek feedback from those who don’t typically work with designers. Those are the folks who you will need to seriously impress, because your value isn’t obvious to them. Ask them out for a coffee and get there thoughts on the project you’ve been working on or about designers who’d they’d enjoyed working with in the past.
Train yourself to have an extremely critical eye. Is that icon a pixel off? Do we have all of the states for this new form? Does this design fit into the existing UI system?
The difference between an intern and a full-time designer are these seemingly minute details. The best way to train your eye is to look at a lot of different things. Get on dribbble and examine the posts you admire and the one’s you don’t. Go to a museum, art gallery, or book store and look, absorb, and reflect then review your own work.
Another way to look at this is that if you are consistently critical your own work, you will be a better feedback giver and taker. What does that mean? Those design critics will get a lot easier.
It’s really easy to slip into that post-college lull, feeling lazy and lethargic lacking any motivation to read let alone study something new. But its important to keep the right perspective. College gave you a foundation in a discipline, this case design, but you are just beginning to build your career.
If your company is like mine and has a #reading Slack channel, read everything. Seriously, maybe you don’t think it is important but your co-worker who posted it did. Did you read it and still don’t understand how it applies to your company? Reach out to that co-worker and say something along the lines of “I really enjoyed that article you shared, but I had some questions about it — want to chat about it sometime?”
Part of what makes an effective product designer is being able to take in short-term and long-term goals of the business and revenue teams, digest them, and take action to help achieve these goals with a product mindset. In my situation, I consumed everything I could get my hands on. I read articles on marketing, affiliate systems, competitors, large tech companies, VC funding, and the impact of raising capital on a business. At first reading, these topics was challenging but as I made it a habit, it became much easier. Now, I can think strategically as a product designer and how my work connects to the company’s objectives.
Take a step back and evaluate your work environment, what makes you different from your co-workers? What special sauce, per say, do you bring to the table? Do you have skills, hobbies, or interests that could be applied to the problems that your company is facing? How can you make a mark on the company culture? All of these questions are essential to finding opportunities to grow your leadership skills.
When I started my internship at Button, we were a small team of six each with specialized disciplines. I saw openings all around me to apply my abilities and passions to the company. When the need arose to onboard new employees during a hiring push, I volunteered to investigate and design a personalized First Day book (more). Later on, when Button decided to hold TAP Conference, I jumped at the chance to utilize my communication design and theatrical background (more). What was most important was that I kept an open mind and willingness to take on small and, eventually large projects that enabled me to apply my abilities and side-passions.
Above all, what makes you a valuable candidate is all of these skills combined and elevated with your distinct background and personality. Companies, especially startups, want a diverse set of employees who together strengthen the team and product. Reflect on your talents and look for small and large opportunities to lead. At the end of it all, even if you don’t get that full-time role, your leadership, time management, and interpersonal skills will have developed, plus you’ll have some great portfolio pieces 🎨📒.
Special thanks to Patrick N. Lewis, my manager, editor, and mentor, who’s always been there for my never-ending questions, jokes, and gifs of hedgehogs.
