interns.design is getting an upgrade in 2021
Discover more from interns.design
interns.design is getting an upgrade in 2021
Introducing new initiatives for interns.design in the coming year, starting with a Newsletter and Design Recruiting Database.
Hi & Happy New Year! I’m TK, the founder of interns.design.
You’re receiving this because you previously subscribed to stay updated with interns.design. I’ve now moved the mailing list over to a hip Substack!
If you’re no longer interested in staying updated, feel free to unsubscribe here. Wishing you the best in 2021!
If you’re not a subscriber yet and want to be, put in your email here:
If you’re still here, thanks for being interested! In this piece, I’ll reflect on interns.design and what’s coming in the year ahead.
interns.design first started as a Dropbox Paper aggregating design internships. When it started spreading to other schools, I launched the site in December 2018 to help students find paid design internships and career resources. Since then, the site has grown tremendously with ~5,400 monthly visitors, with design opportunities ranging from contract, internship, and new-grad roles. The site has connected more than 35,000 students to companies of all sizes.
I recently conducted a survey of 100 users and people rated interns.design an average of 9.11/10 as helpful with a median score of 10.
And I’ve received great feedback from students and founders:
“Hey! Just wanna thank you for building interns.design, the website took a LOT of the stress away from finding internships and helped me find my current one @withprimer :)" - Jess, Design Intern @ Primer, Incoming @ Lyft
"interns.design is fantastic - I found that I could connect with some of the best emerging design talent there." - Sara, Co-founder @ Alloy Automation (YC W20)
Looking ahead to 2021
In 2021, I want to build more for the growing community. My goal is to make interns.design the go-to site for all aspiring and emerging designers globally.
Design Recruiting Database
Recently, I launched a new initiative to create a database of designers who’re looking for opportunities. It’s a one-stop application for designers. I will then share this database with recruiters and founders who are looking to hire great design talent! You can submit your portfolio here. Already has 150+ portfolios!
Substack Newsletter
Another initiative I’m kicking off is doubling down on the Newsletter. Since founding, there’s always been a “Stay Updated” button that has accumulated 2,600+ people with 200+ new subscribers every month. However, I’ve only sent 1 email ever in September 2019. I plan on changing this in 2021 and share new design opportunities and resources to people’s inbox. I’d appreciate it if you shared this with your communities!
Other Initiatives
I’ve also brainstormed ideas like open-sourcing compensation data across internships and new-grad roles at companies (~40 data points so far). Another is to create a Slack, Discord, or some sort of community to keep people in touch. Or host more portfolio reviews, 1-1’s, and events with the community. Lots more to do!
That’s it! I’m looking forward to seeing how much interns.design grows in 2021 and help more students kickstart their design careers. Connect with me on Twitter @thetkkong for opportunities and design advice!
Have ideas on how we can make interns.design better? My DM’s are always open or send me a message to tk@interns.design.
Excited to learn & grow with all of you,
TK