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Pinterest’s Product Design Apprenticeship: A Q&A
Pinterest’s Apprenticeship Program was created in 2016 to create opportunities for candidates from non-traditional backgrounds and underrepresented identities to enter the tech industry, including people who identify as women, Black/African American, Latiné or Hispanic, American Indian, Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian, and/or Pacific Islander and LGBTQ+. Through on-the-job learning and collaboration with an assigned mentor, apprentices navigate challenges at Pinterest and develop the skills they need to be successful full-time employees. In 2021, Pinterest expanded its Engineering Apprenticeship Program to support the Products Org with roles across Product Management, UX Research, and Product Design.
In this post, Amy Lima, Pinterest’s first Apprentice Product Designer, and her mentor, Alan Walker, answer common questions about the Apprenticeship Program, as well as share tips and advice for aspiring applicants.
[Pinterest]: How are you connected to Pinterest’s Apprentice program? Tell us about yourselves.
Amy: I’m a first-generation American and college graduate who was working in the music industry before pivoting into design. I took an online bootcamp during the pandemic and applied to Pinterest’s Apprenticeship program on a whim after…