Christine M. Piotrowski - Professional Practice for Interior Designers

A journalism career is possible for interior designers who are very good writers or who have had training in journalism. The position might be with a large city newspaper or a trade or shelter magazine. Some designers who find their way into full‐time journalism positions might also serve as design critics.

Many of the skills that an interior designer learns can be applied to visual merchandising, display, and exhibit presentation. Department stores, retail specialty shops, mall management corporations, galleries, and trade show coordinators require merchandise displays. Department stores have in‐house visual merchandising departments to oversee their constantly changing merchandise displays. Others work for exhibit companies that specialize in the coordination and setup of trade show and convention displays.

As a final note, this section has provided just a glimpse at the wide variety of opportunities in the interior design industry. Many of these career options are possible with a degree major in interior design, whereas others require at least several years of experience in the field. Some also require additional education, training, or advanced degrees for eligibility. Several other specialties that might be of interest to readers are listed in Table 5‐5.

TABLE 5‐5. Additional career options related to the interior design profession

www.asid.org/careersAmerican Society of Interior Designers

www.careersininteriordesign.comCareers in Interior Design

www.interiordesigncanada.orgInterior Designers of Canada

www.iida.orgInternational Interior Design Association

www.bls.govU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Commercial interior design

Contract interior design

Facility planner

Goals

Personal branding

Personal goals

Personal mission statement

Professional goals

Residential interior design

Strategies

1 Marilyn has been working very hard for the past nine weeks with a very difficult client, Mr. Norton, owner and developer of a facility for Alzheimer patients. He constantly challenges her suggestions and has already demanded four major changes in the specifications of products and three changes in the equipment plans for the common areas for the facility her firm is designing for his company. His primary argument is that she is overspecifying materials, using “expensive” products when cheaper ones would do—at least as far as he is concerned.“You have not even come close to staying within the budget we discussed at the beginning of this project. I insist that you find something besides that expensive cubicle curtain and drapery fabric and find me a cheaper chair for the dining room,” Mr. Norton exclaims. “It's not that the cubicle curtain and drapery fabric is expensive, but it must meet a certain level of code compliance, which this one does. Less expensive chairs will not hold up to the special needs of the residents who need an armchair,” responds Marilyn. “I don't care about that!” explodes Mr. Norton.

2 Sandra was hired by Hayden Residential Designs four years ago. She started as an intern and was promoted to designer a year later. Because of her exceptional sales results, she was promoted again just six months ago to senior designer. A month ago, Ms. Mill, the design director, discussed with Sandra some problems that clients had been expressing about Sandra's performance over the past several months. Sandra was told at that time that she needed to correct the attitude that clients complained about. Yesterday another client called the owner, Jim Hayden, and was very angry about some things that Sandra said at a meeting.

3 Mark made a point of setting and reviewing his goals every three months. He even took a day during a weekend to go through the effort. Yet, Mark felt like he was not getting anywhere. He finally took a long look at what he was doing and his goals and discovered that he started many things to get moving toward his goals, but never seemed to finish up what was needed to fully accomplish them.

1 1. Covey, 1989, p. 106.

2 2. Tracy, 2003, p. 7.

3 3. Canfield et al., 2000, p. 61.

4 4. Covey, 1989, p. 97.

The job search is always a time‐consuming and stress‐producing period. Whether you are an individual about to graduate and are seeking your first job in the interior design industry, or a professional looking for a new challenge, the job search must be done with thought and planning. This job‐search process starts with the material that was covered in Chapter 5.

The interior design profession does ebb and flow with the economy. When times are good—meaning there is a generally robust economy—the job seeker may find that it takes longer to find a position, not a short time. This is because employers are probably not looking for anyone except very experienced designers. When the times are bad—meaning a slow or even recession‐hit economy—employers can find more possible employees since more people may be out of work due to layoffs. Yet this will likely mean a longer time to find a job.

Critical to the job search are strategies related to understanding how to use social media and online tactics to locate possible positions. Resumes, cover letters, and even portfolios have changed. Being prepared for the job interview is still vital and common courtesy has not changed in relation to follow‐up.

This chapter has been refocused to discuss online and social media tactics. However, the reader should also look for references noted in the general references and engage in online searches. Students will want to take advantage of services offered by campus placement offices as well.

After completing this chapter you should be able to:

Explain the importance of an organized job search.

Explain how an informational interview can be helpful to your overall job search.

Explain the purpose of key words and develop a list of at least 10 key words that could be included in a resume or cover letter.

Discuss the purpose of the resume.

Discuss how a resume prepared to be posted online will vary from one that will be paper (mailed).

Draft your resume with emphasis on a career objective or career summary.

Explain why an entry‐level designer should place educational achievements before work achievements on a resume.

Discuss why it is important to be careful about what kind of personal information is included in the resume.

Explain the purpose of a cover letter and list what it should contain.

Outline the types of items that are most often included in a portfolio.

Discuss the benefits and disadvantages of creating an electronic version of your portfolio.

Explain why a portfolio is never finished.