4 Reasons You Should Get an Internship in Design

If you’re looking to start a career in web design or graphic design, you’re most likely already hard at work teaching yourself the basics or taking courses to further your knowledge or to work towards a degree. While coursework and practice is undoubtedly helpful to teach you the ins and outs of your desired field, there is much to be said about hands-on experience.

Internships are a great way to set a foundation for your career. Not only do they give you experience that many—if not all—employers look for in potential candidates, but they are great for learning skills that coursework and at-home practice can’t teach you.

Here are 4 reasons why landing an internship in design will help you grow your career:

1. Build a Portfolio

Experience is priceless when you are looking to get hired. While a degree is definitely helpful, many employers looking to hire a new designer review the applicant’s past experience. In a survey done by Meta Q, it was found that out of 85% of business owners who said that they would hire a designer without a degree, the majority clarified that they would only hire a candidate with proven experience.

Since internships may only last for a few months, they are a great way to build up work for different companies and allow you to build up a range of abilities.

2. Learn New Skills

Until you’re in the “real world”, there’s no way that you can be 100% certain that you know what to expect. Coursework and personal practice will get you so far, but you may be missing out on tools or languages that you might not learn or be well versed in that your ideal job may require you to know.

Not only will learning about field-related tools help you build your resume, but interning will also allow you to work in a way you’re not used to—creating for someone other than yourself. “Interning before getting a job in design and UX can be extremely beneficial because up until that point, you likely haven't designed with the customer in mind,” shares Dan McAuliffe, Manager of Conversion Optimization and Digital Business at Dyn. “While in studying design in college, or freelancing on the side, you've been creating for your professors, your classmates, or your clients. However, when employed at company in a visual design or UX department, you need to design for beyond yourself, beyond your boss, and even beyond your business. You now need to design for the customer, the often unheard voices whose approval is critical to the success of your design.”

3. Find Out What You Really Want

Getting to experience different work environments will ultimately allow you to pin down what your ideal job would be. Working for a startup will most likely be quite different than working for a larger corporation or non-profit.

Not only can you vet out what type of company you’d ideally want to work for, but also determine what type of design work you’d like to do. Working for an agency can get you more client-based work while working for a customer-driven business will give you the chance to work on different projects like designing for the company’s website, products, or marketing collateral. Taking it a step further, B2B versus B2C companies may also provide different deliverables and may affect the tone of work that you get to do.

Through interning, it’s easier to test out different work environments and better understand what type of company you would thrive under.

4. Network

Being able to work under experienced designers who have been in the field can not only help you while you’re working by giving you a mentor, but you can build up your personal network for when you’re job seeking down the road.

Not all companies are in the position to hire their interns into full-time positions, but that shouldn’t deter you from taking an internship. The relationships you make at an internship may be able to introduce you to their own professional connections who could be looking to hire.

If a company can’t hire you after your internship completes, staying in contact is a great way to keep your name at the top of their minds if an opportunity should ever open up. Also, staying on as a freelancer can give you even more opportunities if the option is available.

Ready to start interning? See if your college or professors can refer you to any open positions they know of. Also, check out college.monster.com to find internship postings, entry level positions, and more information on what you need to know about interning.