Pursuing a graphic design career allows you to enter many industries. You can seek employment in marketing, animation, brand design, UX design, and many other industries. Internships help you get a taste of what it’s like to be in the field and put all your knowledge into practice.
In terms of job outlook, graphic design is a career that is expected to grow 3% between now and 2032. But it’s the skills that you develop during an internship that can help you stand out when applying for jobs. What skills will you develop?
Technical Skills Enhancement
College and university teach you the foundation of the technology that you’ll use in your career. When you enter into an internship, you’ll need to work more in-depth with the key software that you’ll use daily, such as:
- Adobe Photoshop
- Adobe Illustrator
- Basic coding (HTML, CSS)
You’ll also learn how to use many of the collaboration tools that help global companies work seamlessly across offices.
Technical skills are always evolving, and the demands will change over time. Interns will enhance their skills far more than they can in the classroom by applying their knowledge in new, exciting ways.
Creativity will also improve.
Creative and Conceptual Skills
Entering graphic design internships abroad opens you up to new, exciting ideas. Your approach to certain concepts may be completely different from someone else’s approach. You can:
- Learn from others
- Gain new insights
- Discover new approaches to concepts
Creative and conceptual skills are often best learned with a hands-on approach. Your internship will help you think and work in an entirely different way. Interns often walk away from their experience with a new understanding of:
- Color theory
- Composition
- Typography
Attention to detail and other professional skills that will help you in your graphic design career will be honed, too.
Networking and Collaboration
Through your internship, you’ll make new professional connections and have opportunities to collaborate with others.
If you’re working with an agency like Capital Placement, you may also get assistance with networking and building meaningful connections in your host country.
Mastering your networking skills and learning how to collaborate with people from all walks of life will make you a valuable asset in the workplace.
Those connections you make may even lead to job opportunities or mentorship post-internship.
Cultural Competence
An international internship will immerse you in an entirely new culture. If you want to make the most of the experience, you’ll need to be open-minded and accept that things are done differently from your home country and culture.
That open-mindedness and tolerance will serve you well in your career as a graphic designer. If you’re tasked with creating graphics for companies in your host country, you will already be familiar with the culture and how to create designs that will appeal to them.
Your cultural competence will make it easier to work with professionals from across the world.
Personal Development
An international internship will provide you with ample opportunity for personal development. You will find yourself in a new country with a new culture and, potentially, with a new language. You’ll step far outside of your comfort zone, and that’s where the growth happens.
Without your usual network of friends and family, it will be up to you to solve problems and navigate your new life on your own.
By overcoming these challenges, you will learn and grow as a person. Your self-confidence and self-reliance will improve.
Additionally, your exposure to different cultures and ways of doing things will help you become a more open-minded person.
In Conclusion
Through an international internship for graphic design, you can develop a number of essential skills that will benefit you throughout your career and in your personal life. Exposure to different cultures, perspectives and landscapes can inspire your creativity, enhance your professional skills and foster personal growth.
The connections you make during your internship may lead to opportunities for employment and enhancing your career in the future.
