The Language of Design Internships

THE LANGUAGE OF DESIGN INTERNSHIPS. This publication breaks down the language of job listings so that young designers can spend more time thinking about what they want in an internship, and less time catering to hiring algorithms.

Lively

By Naomi Pleasure-Park MIAMI HEAT

ith chaos.

If you like a team oriented, crazy fun environment that likes to THINK BIG, then continue reading...

w Comfortable

MUST BE WILLING TO HAVE FUN!

NORTHROP GRUMMAN

AOB PRODUCTS

BIG MARLIN GROUP

WE WORK WHERE WE PLAY!

HUNGRY

ENTREPRENEURIAL

Intern perks include snack attacks, cold brew coffee on tap, & sports on the TVs!

upbeat

LIDS

sday" eat Wedne "M ly k e e w Our re all lunch whe is a group r for th e et tog e g ts n e m rt depa vittles. nition and fun, recog RENT KANSAS CITY

Must be a quick learner who can fearlessly jump into projects with little warning.

“Do-it-all” attitude is a must!

MARKET GRID

CUR

We are humbly aggressive lifelong learners.

KCF TECHNOLOGIES

Looking for our next des ign intern who is looking to become the next creative superstar.

YOU'LL LOVE IT HERE IF YOU HAVE A CALM FACE THAT MASKS A BRAIN WORKING AT WARP SPEEDS!

ENERGY LEVEL AXIS

ENVISION THE FUTURE

Team Player

non-traditional

GOLIN

KANSAS CITY CURRENT

Doesn’t see obstacles, only opportunity

INDEPENDENT

CRE

EK

CARO L I N A

self-starter

You’ll be invited into the trenches, learning the beauty and pain of copywriting, design and big-idea generation.

WEAR MANY HATS

IDEA RANCH

Real projects, not busy work.

motivated

BANYAN

EXPERIENCED

ATTENTION TO DETAIL

Other duties as assigned.

No experience necessary.

You can learn on the job.

This may be the fastest work environment you will ever experience in terms of growth, decision-making, and time to impact.

T POSTNE

You will be held accountable to an exceptionally high bar.

Reserved

HIGH LEVEL OF MATURITY

We expect interns to bring a head-down, elbows-up work ethic.

THE GASP COMPANY

SPRING HEALTH

humble

Flexible

ROCKSTAR

BESTLOGIC STAFFING

driven

Time management skills that would put a clock to shame.

Our interns need to be professional, courteous, pleasant, reliable, dependable and well groomed.

BIRMINGHAM BARONS

This person must be able to manage moderate to high levels of stress.

LHM SPORTS + ENTERTAINMENT

RIGIDITY AXIS

Lively + Flexible

Lively + Pressure Cooker

Reserved + Flexible

Reserved + Pressure Cooker

FIG. 1: CONTINUUM OF WORK ENVIRONMENTS.

Pressure Cooker

THE APPLICATION PROCESS. Exploring how search prioritization methods minimize the time and effort spent on the entire search process, with advice from students who went through it and landed a job.

125

100

75

50

25

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

TIME MANAGEMENT

Discipline

Respondent #11, ID “In my opinion, job boards are a waste of time. I’d start with connecting with real people and companies so that you won't be thrown into a pile of 100 applications.”

low pressure Respondent #32, VCD “Don’t just apply for the sake of it. Internships are also not the end of it all and don’t feel pressured to apply to a lot just because others have been applying.”

FLEXIBILITY

Location

Respondent #29, IxD “I’d start early, and not hold onto too many expectations.”

streamlined Respondent #37, ID “In the future I'll spend more time networking and talking with professionals to find jobs rather than spending hours on LinkedIn and job boards. ”

Culture

MAIN SEARCH PRIORITY

Applied to everything

150

150

125

100

75

50

25

1

NUMBER OF JOB APPLICATIONS

2

3

4

5

6

7

LENGTH OF JOB SEARCH IN MONTHS

Each horizontal bar pairing represents one respondent

FIG. 2: PRIORITY VS. APPLICATION COUNT.

8

9

SKILL BREAKDOWN. Analyzing skills and qualities tend to fall at which levels of requirement. Can be compared against individual levels as a general assessment of application readiness.

d

e Requir

THE OTHER AI Easily the most required hard skill, most design internships will want you to be at least “knowledgeable” about Adobe Illustrator.

PEN TO PAPER The most frequently required soft skill is written communication, typically (in 62% of listings including the phrase) preceded by the qualifiers “excellent” or “strong.”

Illustrator

Written Communication

Photoshop

Time Management

Attention to Detail THE WORKS

InDesign Willingness to Learn

While not as popular as listing a specific Adobe program, many positions will ask you to be proficient in the whole suite.

You can safely assume they mean the “main” ones.

Positivity

Adobe CC (Whole Suite)

Social Media

Independent

Portfolio

Google Suite

Color Theory

Microsoft Office

Multitasking

KEYFRAMES NOT SO KEY? Unless explicitly marketed as a motion or video internship, most positions consider any animation or video editing software to be a plus for applicants.

Interest in field

MacOS

AutoCAD

Typography

Presentation Skills

UX/UI concepts

Figma

Premiere Pro

After Effects Photography Second Language

A Plus

Copywriting

Customer Service

Storytelling

HTML/CSS

WordPress

Marketing

Traditional Art AR/VR

Adobe XD

Publication Design

Work Experience

Tends to be required

Hard skills

radius = popularity of skill

Soft skills

Tends to be a plus

Tends to be preferred

FIG. 3: REQUIREMENT INDEX.

Working toward Bachelor’s

PREFERRED

FORMULA OF A DESIGN INTERNSHIP LISTING. What you might expect when you plug “design internship” into an online job board.

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us and acclaimed branding studio with PretendEmployer is an ambitious ambitio

expertise EXPERTISE ranging from logo design to brand copywriting and social CREATIVITY to all its work, media management. PretendEmployer brings creativity to deliver maximum impact for clients and reach a diverse diverse customer base. [Insert aspirational company tagline here].

2

PretendEmployer is looking for our next Design Intern who is looking to become the next creative superstar. We are seeking someone who is motivated and interested in what's going on around the curious, highly motivated SELF-STARTER that not only world and how it impacts brands. You are a self-starter TRENDS but could create a few, too. Do you have experience understands trends, with Adobe Creative Suite? Looking to use your skills to help brands be culture If so, PretendEmployer is lookmore creative and connected to culture? ing for candidates just like you!

3

AUTHENTIC Our paid, full-time internship is designed to give you the authentic experience of working in a real branding studio. This will be a 3-month long internship chock full of valuable valuable learning opportunities. Sound like you want to work with us?

4

You must be a junior, senior, or recent college graduate.

You must be available to work a full-time schedule, Monday–Friday, 9 flexibility as needed. a.m.–6 p.m. ET, with some flexibility This is a hybrid position with an expectation to work in our New York office at least once a week.

Mission and vision statements are concise yet high-promising phrases that describe where a company sees itself now and in its future endeavors.

2

IS THIS YOU?

This is where they tell you who you are—that is, if you are the archetype of an intern they have dreamed you up to be.

In this section, employers list more descriptors, this time outlining the kind of employee they’re seeking.

The point of these terms is to tell you the type of behavior that could help you be a successful intern at their workplace.

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QUICK SUMMARY

LOGISTICS

The minimum qualities or abilities the employer expects in an applicant.

5

REQUIREMENTS

Subjective measurements of required hard and soft skills.

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6

Familiarity with video editing software a plus.

Interest in copywriting strongly preferred, but not required.

Experience creating and maintaining a WordPress site preferred.

Social Values

Keep an eye out for terms referring to social ideals, such as diversity, creativity, or ambition—these are often used in the place of a straightforward list of values.

A pithy abstract.

Fluent in Adobe Creative Suite (InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop). enthusiasm passion, and curiosity.

Must show enthusiasm, Must have the desire and willingness to learn new skills.

PROACTIVE thinker, always bringing in new ideas.

You’re a proactive Strong desire to collaborate, with a positive positive demeanor.

Sensitivity to trends influencing popular culture and design.

Time Management

THE HOOK

Here, the employer gets your attention with their impressive values, missions, and characteristics.

3

5

Behavioral Quality

1

PREFERRED, A PLUS

Knowledge or qualities that *might* help you get a foot in the door in the application process.

Company Acclaim

FIG. 4: EXAMPLE LISTING ANALYSIS.