My internship requires me to create and design content, assist with projects, and collaborate with faculty. The faculty come to us with an idea or a project in mind, but they lack the design abilities that we do as designers to bring their ideas to life. It’s a fantastic way for faculty and students to connect and share new ideas. My supervisor is in charge of organizing our weekly team meetings and assigning us to work for a faculty client. This internship was suggested by a former professor who emailed us on the last day of our last semester, Fall 2022. I was already nervous about finding an internship for the Spring 2023 semester, so I applied right away. During the application process, I was required to obtain letters of recommendation from my professors, and my professors were aware of the internship and agreed that I would be a good fit.
I chose this internship because it would be my first graphic design internship, and working for a school appeals to me. I received an email from the team shortly after applying, asking when I was available for an online interview. During the online interview, I was asked a series of questions that I found interesting because they were different from what I was used to being asked. They were questions like, “What was one project in your portfolio that you would change and why?” and “Was there a team project you worked on where you disagreed with your teammates?”. These questions were great because they made me think about my work. After speaking with the team, I had a one-on-one interview with the supervisor, who gave me an overview of the internship and what is expected each week. This interview lasted about an hour, and at the end, I was told that if I got the internship, I would hear back by the end of the week. The interview was on a Wednesday and the next day, Thursday, and I found out right away that I had gotten the internship. I was relieved and excited because this was the only internship I applied for.
Following my acceptance, I was informed that I would be required to participate in a week of online training. The online training included me working on a personal project and then with the other new intern to demonstrate to the team how well we work independently and as a team. We had to present our work to the rest of our design team on the last day of training and get feedback. Overall, it was a really fun and new experience doing this because I had never been in a design internship before, and I feel lucky to be surrounded by inspiring design teammates from whom we can learn.
