How to Land UX Internships: A Comprehensive Guide

The journey from UX student to UX professional can often feel daunting. The knowledge acquired in academic settings can significantly differ from the practical design skills needed in the workforce. With many employers seeking candidates with at least 1-2 years of experience, aspiring UX professionals often wonder how to gain that initial foothold. Landing a UX design internship can serve as a crucial bridge, providing practical experience and setting the stage for a successful career.

This guide offers a comprehensive roadmap for securing a UX design internship. It covers essential steps, from self-assessment and skill enhancement to networking and effective application strategies.

Questions to Ask Yourself Before Getting Started

Before diving into the internship application process, it's crucial to clarify your goals and preferences. Here are some questions to consider:

Why Do You Want an Internship?

Reflect on both your short-term and long-term career aspirations. Are you aiming to gain entry into a prestigious company, seeking additional training and guidance, or navigating a competitive job market? Your answers will influence your search and application strategy. Asking yourself these questions can influence how you start looking or where you apply.

Paid or Unpaid?

While unpaid internships can offer valuable experience and potential for future employment, it's essential to assess your financial situation realistically. Luckily, most internships these days are paid. However, some unpaid positions can offer even greater earning opportunities down the road with a permanent position in the company. Consider the amount of effort you're willing to invest without immediate compensation. While the opportunity to obtain some highly valued experience in the field is appealing, it’s best to be realistic about your current financial situation and the amount of effort you’re willing to put if there is decreased or no pay.

What Size and Type of Company?

The skills and experiences you gain can vary significantly based on the size and type of company. Interning with a smaller organization or start-up can offer the chance to be involved from the very beginning of a product or idea all the way through to its first final draft and continued iterations. You may be able to assume greater responsibility within your role at a smaller company and have more direct access to the customers that will use your product. Bigger companies (think Google or Adobe) provide the ability to work with bigger teams and learn from multiple industry professionals. You may have access to more advanced resources or programs and get to see how the UX design process works on a larger scale.

Consider these company types:

Product-based company: These organizations are involved with creating either a physical or digital product for businesses to sell to consumers or other businesses. These are jobs like helping design the newest Samsung Galaxy phone or the latest Nintendo system.
Service-based company: A service-based company works on providing software to clients that fills their needs and fits their priorities. This may include working on better Firewall software, easier to use electronic medical records programs or more efficient information technology systems.
Design studio: This is where you’ll find the design process to be heavily esteemed and utilized. Design studios work to create the best possible product for their clients no matter what it is. Here is where you might be able to design an updated logo for the NBA or a more innovative pair of Sony headphones.

Enhance Your Skills

While internships recognize that you're not expected to produce senior-level work immediately, demonstrating a commitment to growth and a proactive approach to skill development is essential.

Design Skills

Boost your design knowledge and expertise by participating in daily design challenges or taking courses in Sketch or Adobe. You can also read different design books or magazines, watch a documentary or series about design, and subscribe to influential YouTube channels that help get you thinking like a pro designer. Anything that shows you are actively working on your design skills and staying attuned to the growing trends in the industry can help increase your attractiveness to hiring managers and get you a position as an intern.

Auxiliary Skills

Auxiliary skills are those that don’t quite fall under the umbrella of design but are still related to the field somehow. For instance, you could take a course or train in coding, HTML, CSS, or JavaScript or get familiar with some web building software like Wix, Webflow, and Squarespace. Investing some time into studying topics like interviewing skills, business ethics, public speaking, or copyediting can put you in a better position to secure an internship.

Read also: Unlock summer legal internships

UX Design Bootcamp

Finally, if you haven’t already done so, a UX design bootcamp can be incredibly helpful in developing the skills you need.

Develop Your Brand and Portfolio

Your skills and passions, motivators and values, achievements and goals, and where you are in your career journey thus far are all topics to explore when cultivating a brand that fits you. Showing who you genuinely are and what type of designer you aspire to be can positively influence your chances of being accepted for an internship.

Online Portfolio

Your portfolio will probably be the biggest representation of who you are and what you can do as a designer to a potential hiring or project manager. This is where they will look for culture fit, past experience, and what you can bring to the team. While you want your portfolio to be unique and show your individual style, there are a few industry standards that hiring managers may expect to see: usually three case studies that display your expertise in design, prototyping, and information architecture and research. Getting your portfolio to showcase your best pieces of work accurately and portray your personality can take some work. If you’re having second guesses as to whether your portfolio is visually appealing or user-friendly, ask a friend, former teacher, mentor, or colleague in the field to take a look at your work and give some feedback.

Online Presence

Sharing posts from big-name UX influencers or voicing your opinion on the latest prototyping tool shows that you like to stay up-to-date as a designer and have a good grasp of different UX concepts. Evidence of your interest in the UX industry outside of the office or school environment lets employers know you are serious about your career and your desire to learn.

Side Projects

You may be looking for an internship to provide you with the hands-on skills most employers look for when hiring a UX designer. However, some internships prefer you to have a bit of experience under your belt before being accepted as well. Try looking into doing some UX-related volunteer work or take the time to bring your own projects or ideas to fruition. You can also do a little freelance work by asking around or posting your services on sites like Upwork, Craigslist, or a local social media page. You never know who may need some help improving their UX!

Expand Your Network

Now that you’ve made sure your skill level and personal brand are well-represented in your online presence and portfolio, it’s time to put yourself out there!

Go to Networking Events

Attending local UX events is a great way to connect with other designers. Having meaningful interactions with other UX students and professionals can help you learn more about design and give you insight into what other people’s experience in the field has been like. Networking events can also offer the chance to meet with people that may know of a potential internship opportunity for you.

Join Online Communities

While it’s great to be able to attend in-person networking opportunities, online design communities can be just as beneficial. Take some time to make sure your page is open to recruiters and hiring managers. Posting links to your resumé and online portfolio lets people know you are serious about looking for work and gives them a quick and easy way to see your credentials. Follow the companies you want to intern with and you’ll be able to see their latest job openings and connect with their employees.

Network with Individuals Who Share a Similar Background to Yourself

I wanted to discover what past students, who completed my program, were doing other than academia. Then, I reviewed the profiles of people who appeared from my search, to see what they are up to, post-schooling. A majority of them became UX Researchers.

I asked a handful of them if they’d be willing to have a short chat over video conference, so that I could learn more about their UXR career. Most were up to it! Before each meeting, I made sure I prepared thoughtful questions. Some examples include, “What led you to a UX career?”, “What does the day in the life of a UX researcher look like?”, “How did your academic research skills translate?”, “What surprised you the most about a UXR career?”, and “What do you love most and least about your job?”

Another way to find UX mentors is on adplist.org. It is a site dedicated to scheduling sessions with UXers for free. You can even filter who you’d like to speak to, such as by their title, company, and country.

Speaking with UXRs is really how I began to discover the meaning of User Experience (UX) research. Not to mention, I was pleasantly surprised to have learned that with my academic research experience, I was qualified for the job.

One of the major pieces of advice I got from the UXRs I spoke to was to try to get a UX internship before the completion of my degree, because:(1) The UX job market is very saturated, so an internship can be a valuable step to break in.(2) Most internships want students (not recent grads), so there is no better time than now to shoot my shot.

Apply for Internships

Optimizing how you look for internships and apply for them can make a huge difference in how easily you find the internship that’s right for you.

Look on Multiple Job Boards

Sticking to one job search site like Indeed or Monster can limit the number of internship opportunities you come across. There are many other job boards you can use to broaden your search, including AngelList, Glassdoor, ZipRecruiter, and more. Looking for a remote internship position? Having in-person conversations with different hiring managers often leaves more of a lasting impression than an electronically submitted resumé. As a bonus, you can also explore lots of different internship opportunities and have the chance to ask questions about the position directly.

Apply to All the UX Research Internships You Can Find

I was told by many UXRs that it is very hard to even get a UX internship. However, they encouraged me to apply anyways because I had everything to gain and nothing to lose.

Another advice I heard is that referrals are key. But, at the time, I really just discovered what UX was and unfortunately I didn’t know someone who was hiring.

Instead, I started to apply to every UX research intern position I could find. I must have applied to about 50 companies, spanning from my country, Canada, all the way to Europe.

Emphasize How Your Unique Experience Translates to UX Research and Is an Asset for a UX Team

I didn’t just apply to places by submitting my current resume. Instead, I engaged in a lot of self learning to inform myself on what UX jobs entailed. This ultimately helped me tailor my resume (and know what I was getting myself into).

But, I didn’t want my applications to make it seem like I am someone I’m not. Instead, I marketed why a UX team should take me on because of my non-traditional background of psychology. My master’s thesis was on the psychological outcomes of video conferences, so I used that to my advantage. I expressed how I am deeply interested in researching technology from a human-centred perspective. In other words, I showcased how my academic work would translate nicely to UX, and how I could bring my unique psychology perspective to the table. In fact, the team that I joined did not have any psychology expertise, which played a significant role in their decision to hire me.

And don’t worry if you are not a Psychology student or haven’t researched technology. Instead, you should make your own argument why you’d be a good addition to a UX team. Explain clearly and with enthusiasm why you’d be a good fit for UX and specifically the company you are applying to. It worked for me…And lucky for us, there really is no clear linear path to becoming a UX Researcher, anyways.

Don’t Give Up

Like I said, I got rejected from most of the companies I applied to. It only took one to want me to call myself a UX Researcher for the past year. So just keep applying.

And, if you feel as if you are not a good candidate, then make yourself one! Do your own project related to UX. It’s way more impressive that you conducted your own study than had to do one for school or a job.

Also, please don’t let other people’s opinions get you down. Although I heard that many people didn’t receive an internship even after years of applying, I still got an internship on my first cycle of applying, without knowing anyone! So, don’t rely on other people to do the heavy lifting for you or be your source of motivation.

Also, you don’t know how many times I was asked, “Did your school help you get the internship?” No! My degree didn’t incorporate any sort of internships in the curriculum. But it didn’t matter…In fact, the company that hired me was totally impressed that I found internships for myself, despite not needing one to graduate. So don’t let your schooling be your excuse for not applying.

Be Prepared for a UX Research Interview

When I received invitations for interviews, I had a feeling they weren’t going to consist of the standard interview questions, such as what are my biggest strengths and weaknesses. I was right.

More often than not, UXR hiring managers wanted to know what sort of research projects I’ve worked on, such as the one I’m most proud of and the one I was most challenged by. They wanted to know what methodology was used during these projects.

Most importantly, the hiring managers wanted to ensure I could convey a clear and concise summary of my projects that explicitly project key insights. You want to be prepared to walk interviewees through projects you’ve worked on and what to do with this information, because that is what the job of a UX Researcher does regularly.

Also, during my interviews, I was often asked what I’d like to learn on the job and/or what I already knew about UX. My answers were well thought out, stating that I would like to transition my rigorous academic research skills to a quicker paced UX environment and I gave specific examples of such. But remember if you are asked similar questions that you aren’t expected to know everything as an intern, so don’t act like it. No one likes a “know-it-all”.

Most interviews ended with the hiring manager asking if I had any questions for them. Nothing says you are not interested or unprepared like having nothing ready to ask. My go-to question was, “What were the past interns’ biggest learnings and challenges?” I loved posing this question because the answers given provides an insider view of the role, allowing you to know exactly what to expect if you are hired.

Lastly, most UXR hiring managers want to ensure their candidates vibe well with the team and company culture. Nowadays, a big part of the hiring process focuses on personality. I am not going to give any tips on how to be a pleasant person, as it should come organically.

Getting Ready for the Internship Hunt

When do UX design internships for summer usually open? When did you start applying? Design internships can open as early as August to as late as March. Companies mostly hire on a rolling basis, so people shouldn’t wait till the last minute.
What job materials did you prepare to seek an internship in UX design? Resume and portfolio. I only wrote a cover letter for companies I really wanted to work for. I’ve heard that companies randomly decide whether or not to look at your cover letter. If you apply to 100+ places, cover letters are impractical to do.
How did you tailor your resume for this role? I had many iterations on my resume. Based on a lot of suggestions, I decided to focus on my role on projects as well as the impact I had. If you have worked on products or features that have shipped, mention the metrics you tracked to measure success. For instance, if your work led to an increase in monthly active users, you should say that.
How did you tailor your portfolio for this role? Let’s start with the landing page of the portfolio. There are different ways to design for the first impression - some like to show their work directly. Some will use more creative ways and show the strengths they want to emphasize. For example, coding some captivating animations or creating some illustrations.

Interviewing

What was the interview process like? How did you prepare for different types/stages of the process? I interviewed with about 10 companies. Recruiter call to understand your background, interests, and tell you more about the interview process. 2nd and 3rd (if any) rounds are technical interviews that usually involve a portfolio review. You talk with hiring managers for one of these interviews and with other designers in the other interview. If you had a design challenge, you’d also discuss that in one of your initial technical interviews.
What surprised you during the interview process? Whether you land an interview or get an offer is sometimes out of your control. There might be many reasons why you didn’t succeed at a particular company’s application. Talk to others who are in the same shoes as you and keep applying to stay motivated.

You Got an Internship! Now What?

Landing a UX internship is something to be proud of! Take some time to acknowledge your dedication and hard work. However, having a career in UX design takes a constant desire to keep learning and improving your design skills. Interns and senior designers alike can benefit from adopting an always-learning mindset. While you work as a UX intern, keep striving to become a better designer as well as meeting and learning from other designers.

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