How to get the perfect Art/Design internship

I have been hiring design interns for many years, and in that time I have learned many things that would be helpful to pass on to those looking for a great internship experience. A great internship can give you real-world experience that will help you learn not only what kind of company you want to work for and how it actually works, but what kind of skills you need to build in order to compete in today's job marketplace.

An internship can also provide you with great portfolio pieces as you start looking for an actual job in your chosen industry. It can also be a stepping stone to a full-time job at the company of your choice. At Arkadium, we have hired several of the shining stars of our internship program, and one person who started as an intern is now a VP of the company.

After seeing so many applicants make so many easily correctable errors, I am offering some words of advice to help you land that perfect position. Here is my checklist every art/design internship applicant should go over before pressing "send" on an internship application:

• Read the job description carefully and do everything it says. If it says include a picture of a donkey in your portfolio, make sure you include a picture of a donkey. Some places include things like this to make sure you are paying attention. A great design intern is someone who pays attention to details.
• Make sure you are addressing the right company. There is nothing worse than receiving an application addressed to Imodium when you are applying for an internship at MiraLAX.
• Include an online portfolio. Don’t just send a bunch of jpegs (or worse, a bunch of 16 color gifs). For a design internship, you are broadcasting how you will make decisions for the company with every choice you make. Just sending a bunch of files means you haven't thought about how to present yourself. Design and art is about presentation. The way you are presenting yourself will tell companies how you will present them. Unless you are looking for a position that includes web design, it's ok to choose a template from Squarespace. If you can't afford that, link to your pages on Behance or Dribbble. (Personally, I would not use Deviantart.) Choose a platform that is designed well itself and that industry professionals use. Only use video reels to show animation or motion graphics work. If you expect me to look at your static portfolio as a video reel, I am not going to look at it.
• Include things in your portfolio that are in line with what the company does. You want the company to know that you understand what they do, this what you do, these are the sorts of things you want to learn more about, and these are the things you can help with immediately. If you are looking at a position that includes interaction design or UX, make sure your portfolio is intuitive and easy to use.
• Do not include these things in your portfolio:
  • Life drawings. I love seeing that you can draw and it is very important to your development as an artist, and I am sure you are very proud of them, but this will not relate to anything anyone is going to ask you to do. It just tells me that you have nothing else to show that is more relevant.
  • Guns/tanks/bloodandgore/sex/your D&D character portrait. Unless you are looking for an internship at a FPS specifically making guns, I do not want to see a portfolio of nothing but guns. There is something about college that makes everyone want to draw skulls and blood. There is literally nothing that says immaturity more than a bunch of gross disgusting stuff. Even if I was a horror movie maker, I would want to see you can do the other things rather than a bunch of disembodied arms. Also, you may think you are unique, but literally 60% of portfolios make this mistake.
  • Stuff that looks bad. Your portfolio should be telling me that you know what "good design" looks like. If you have a question about the quality of something, don’t include it. If you don’t have enough stuff that is unequivocally good, do some more work. Your portfolio should be saying whether or not you have good taste.
• Be aware that I am not going to read anything. When I am looking at design portfolios, I am literally looking at hundreds of them at a time. I have no time for reading anything. I look at your work and how you are presenting yourself, I give you a rating and then I move on. The ones that I have rated as acceptable (and to give you a frame of reference, that might be 5 out of 100) I will then go through and read their information more carefully. Bottom line: you should include well written information in your portfolio/resume/cover letter, but don’t count on anybody reading any of it.
• Don’t make spelling/grammar mistakes. I know that this is counter intuitive to what I just said, but as a design intern you need to project that you pay attention to details. If as a portfolio reviewer I see any of that, you are out.
• Be responsive. When they contact you don’t wait a week to get back to them. Respond right away. You are in competition for this spot with several other great candidates. If you are the one that doesn’t respond, it makes everyone else look better. Even if you have other companies that are your higher preference, write back and let them know what is on your mind. Be honest, I know that you have other places you are considering.

The bottom line for any internship is that the supervisor will be thinking "Will this person be useful to our department right out of the gate or will we have to hold their hand the whole time?" An internship is not school. The people at the company have a job to do and while you will learn a lot, they cannot spend all of their time teaching you. Do not include lines like "I don’t know how to do X, Y, and Z but I am a fast learner" that translates to you being a lot of work to make useful. When I only have a couple of months to spend with you, that isn't a very good return on the investment of my time. Everyone is a fast learner, I need to know that you have the basic foundation to know how to do what I need you to do.

If you keep these things in mind and create a totally kick ass portfolio and conduct yourself in a professional manner, you will probably be a top tier candidate for an internship just about anywhere you want. It’s a great stepping stone to landing yourself that perfect job and the beginning of a great career in design.