Guest blog post by Ben Wood
As university ended and job hunting began, I wasn’t planning on interning. Like the rest of my peers, I was aiming to jump straight into a job and start earning. After spending many hours tailoring my portfolio, CV and covering letter to different jobs advertised with no responses, it began to sink in that I wasn’t going to get a job that easily in today’s creative industry.
Suddenly interning seemed like a good idea.
I interned at two agencies over a six month period. Both were huge learning curves on a daily basis and were an important stepping stone, lifting me from design graduate to junior designer skill level. I gained confidence and experience, which lead to something that had eluded me previously: job offers.
I accepted one of the offers and haven’t looked back. Ultimately, I don’t believe the door to a job would have been opened without interning, because it gave me a chance to show off my skills to a potential employer, whilst building a rapport with them – a win-win situation for both parties involved.
Why an internship rather than a job?
Like many other sectors, the creative industry is highly competitive and jobs are few and far between for the huge volume of graduates fighting for space. Therefore, the few roles that are on offer are demanding more and more, with commercial experience becoming a must-have. This wipes out a large number of the jobs on offer before you’ve even started applying.
An internship is the perfect stepping-stone
Internships are an excellent way to gain valuable commercial experience. You can use your time interning to adjust to the faster-paced world of real life after university. It also gives both you and the agency a chance to ‘try before you buy’, without any major financial risk to the agency. This does however mean that internships can be very attractive for employers in the current economic climate and you need to be careful – if you feel that the company is just using you as cheap labour, it is time to get out and move on to something new. Most companies have good intentions though, so don’t be put off if this happens.
Where to look for internships
There are plenty of websites to help you out, including general jobsites such as The Guardian and Total Jobs and university careers sites. Most industries will also have specific jobsites; for a creative internship, try Creative Pool, Design Week or It’s Nice That. Get a list of sites bookmarked and remember to check back regularly. Tailor your application to the specific internship criteria and you’ll give yourself the best chance you can to climb onto the first rung of the career ladder. Good luck!
Ben Wood is a Graphic Designer at Remedy Creative in Tunbridge Wells