Internships! Why I have to do them!?

Are you studying graphic design? Do you ask yourself about: When should I do an Internship? What are they for?

I remember that I had that utopian dream of seeing myself as a creative designer, designing creative advertising for a very important brand. Working from an office just for me or sharing it whit creative team. In a cool environment. Drinking coffee and having a mega-creative atmosphere. Finding how to do your internship in a company allows you to deflate that bubble, to have the true vision of what a work environment really looks like. This is not only for designers. It applies to everyone!

Your day to day is often different from how we usually paint us when we are in college or at the U.

Once you are sitting at your desk you realize that the whole thing has his own rules!

When should I do them?

I studied Graphic Design in Nicaragua and I have to thank several companies; in which I started to work as an apprentice. They opened the doors for me to be who I am now. In fact, the first appointment I had was provided by NOC. A creative agency whose main base was web design. However, they also designed advertising, editorials products, and others.

And all this when I was studying the third semester of my graphics career at the U. I practically did not know not much at all. The U recommend me to start an Internship once you had approved the third year of your studies.

"The best thing is to already have a basic idea of the software you are using, most of the work as a graphic designer is on a PC."

What will I gain?

I must say, that despite having started early, I took a number of advantages. This was practically my school. All  I was learning theoretically at the University I could put it on practice in a real environment.

In my case, I learned a lot about the software's they used. How to prepare files for the print. Another point was that I have seen how you did work in an agency. With all that experience and new knowledge, I was easy to ask the Professor for more information and to clear better my doubts.

"Work practices are an opportunity to gain experience, improve skills and gain knowledge about the area you are studying."

I did work for NOC  3 Months then I continued looking for another company. It wasn´t really easy to find a workplace where I could work and do not have problems with the U. I had a class schedule partitioned between mornings and afternoons.

I got lucky and  I started to work for a Print company called  EMCOR. There I learned how the printing press looked like and what role the graphic designer played in it. I ended up with a contract.  I learned there more than I could imagine. Having responsibilities on my back taught me to be more cautious and responsible for what I have to do. This is also a good field to test yourself how to serve customers.

Any Recommendation?

If you are studying graphic design, I recommend you to start searching for a job or an internship. I started my first Internship when I was beginning my second year at the University and I ended up in a company when I left the University. In summary:

• the amount of knowledge you get in practice is worth of all your effort. You do not lose, you win! :)
• You can apply your theoretical knowledge and evaluate why they worked or failed.
• Skills and experience acquired are very valuable in the labor market.

"My best recommendation is that you do your internships in a company that does exactly what you are interested in. If you like the design of web pages, look for a company that does this"

In the end, if you have not liked at all a company where you have done an internship and you have decided that this is not the way you would like to go, you can always change to another company that makes something different in Graphic design. Or in the worst case, change you career! Although it's better to know what you're getting into than to suffer the rest of your life in something that was not what you expected!