4 Tips to Land Your Design Internship
Happy Monday everyone and welcome to my very first blog post. I have been thinking about doing something like this for a while now so I can connect and share my experience with as many people as I can. A little background about myself, I am a second-year student at Miami University majoring in Interactive Media Studies (IMS). IMS sits at the intersection of design, technology, and business. Within this major, I am focusing really hard on design, and only recently have I discovered a love for digital design, in other words: coding, UI/UX and all that good stuff. I am so excited to make this switch over to digital from print as it’s presenting a whole group of challenges that I can’t wait to tackle. This blog will serve as a dump for the happenings along my journey as well as any tips or insights that I can share. I hope you like what you read and please leave a comment if you’d like me to cover something. Enjoy!
Finding an internship is hard. Dive into a field as saturated and dense as design and it’s practically impossible to find ones that interest and engage you. I am beyond grateful to have an amazing internship this upcoming summer. I will be working closely with several incredible startups providing them with design services. I have been lucky enough to have access to amazing mentors who have guided me along the way. However, I realize that not everyone is this fortunate. That is why I have prepared the 4 things that helped me get my internship. Hopefully, these help you too:
Go Above and Beyond the Required Work
So for my internship, they gave me the challenge to create a postcard, (in a style and brand that I don’t typically work with) after the first interview and the constructive criticism they gave me, I thought it would be a good idea to go back and do what I do best, iterate iterate iterate. I came up with two more postcards and sent them to the manager. A week later I was offered an internship with a highly regarded startup accelerator.
Do Your Research
In my case, not only was my employer looking at my resume and portfolio but also the project they had me work on. The company that I’m interning for specializes in marketing and branding so I knew that whatever I did it would have to match the challenge’s brand, PRECISELY.
Like I mentioned before, the brand aesthetic that I was working with was different than what I was used to. My manager also didn’t tell me much about the company to simulate what the actual projects would be like. Because of this, I researched the heck out of this brand. I picked apart their website, looked at some of their pitch decks, and even emulated their illustration style. I did everything that I could to make it look like I worked for this company.
Have Client Work
As a student, I completely understand that the majority of your portfolio work may be class project based. That being said, having a few pieces that are actually being used will be extremely beneficial as well. This shows that you have experience working with clients and understand how to communicate with them. I would do everything you can now to get at least one client based job. Just to show the employer that you understand how that relationship is supposed to look. This will go a long way as they won’t have to teach you how to talk to those you’re pitching or presenting to.
Show Them the Value You Can Bring to the Table
Companies are looking for the individual who can add the most value to their company — it’s as simple as that. They are looking for someone who can go in when the company is at point A, and take them to point C.
During your interview, show the employer that you have what they want and more. For me, this was my client experience and my knowledge of branding. I explained to them my branding process, the depth that I go to in order to communicate a company’s resources, processes, and values into their visual image. I did all of this while showing them the work that reflected these skills. By highlighting the skills your future employer is looking for, you are going to leave a lasting impression on them.
So that’s it! Work extra hard, do your research, have client experience and show them what you’re worth. This is by no means a complete list but it’s 4 things that really helped me and I know they will help you too. Hopefully, there were some people that took the time to read this, and if you did, thank you. I really appreciate it. Follow me on Twitter to find out when I post again and have a great week!
-Ben
