Internship Information for all students (finding, preparing for, etc.)
Below is a growing list of diverse design agencies, manufacturers, and consultants where our Product Design majors have interned during their studies. Internships are usually done by students who have completed their Sophomore or Junior year of courses in the major and students usually do at least 2 internships before they graduate, and some have done more. Having an internship on a resume gives a student the credibility they need to show future employers that they are a good catch! Explore these and also reach out to the Career Center on campus or the Chair of the department to get some other options, but NETWORKING is the best tool to finding internships for a student. Talk with you professors about good strategies and opportunities for networking, or reach out to one of our alumni.
List for strategies:
Sites for finding internships
Indeed: don’t put in too many parameters so that you can see all internships offered get informed.
Coroflot: great site for finding product and industrial design focused internships. Again, limit the parameters to just “internship”.
IDSA: linked to listing with Coroflot
Go directly to a company website (Nike, 3M, UnderArmour, etc.) and find their “Career” page and look for internships directly.
List of where students have interned
List of strategies for finding out and applying to internships in Product or Industrial Design:
Year to year process:
Sophomore Year
Meet with the Chair of the department during your Sophomore year, Fall semester.
Meet again with the Chair in the spring semester of your Sophomore year.
Start networking, looking at the opportunities that exist for internships, and talk with other professors and alumni during Sophomore year.
Junior Year
Meet with Chair at start of the Fall semester
Start looking for internships on postings in October of Junior year. Companies have a budget to find an intern for the following summer in the Fall semester!
Apply to every internship that you remotely are qualified to do so that the odds are in your favor of getting an interview. Don’t think about where the internship is or what it is. The goal is to get as many interviews as you can.
Again, focus on getting as many interviews as possible.
Practice interviewing so you get really good at it.
For every 30 applications, 1 interview is a result. For every 3 interviews, 1 offer will be the result. Play the odds so they are in your favor!
Do your first internship in your Sophomore year or your Junior Year. If you get one in the summer after your Sophomore year, do a different internship in the summer after your Junior year. Get experience in a lot of diverse places! This helps a student to figure out what they want to do.
Senior Year
Start looking for the final internship to start right after you graduate! Students can do an internship for up to 6-8 months after graduation. Internships often turn into a full time job offer!