Here are our top tips to get an internship at top interior design company in Dubai.
A history of amazing interns:
As students start to narrow in on the finish line of their degrees, were often asked, “How to get an interior design internship in Dubai?”
Today we thought we’d offer some practical advice to young students. As one of the top interior design companies in Dubai, we love taking on new and ambitious young talent. We’ve had a history of taking on lots of young interior designers over the years, from all walks of life and many of them have gone on to work for us full-time. Including Nicola Fahy, who joined us as an intern in 2012 and went on to be named the Middle East’s Young Interior Designer of the Year at the Commercial Interior Design Awards in 2020, whilst at FINCH (then called Studio EM).
Be you with your interior design internship application!
Make your application personal, show your personality, we invest in people first. I know it seems like an obvious point, but we received over 70 internship applications over the last year. The truth of the matter is, you wouldn’t believe how many were a copy and paste applications. Sometimes with the wrong company name in them, which is wild. In addition to this when elements of the body of text are highlighted randomly, it’s clear to see where FINCH has been substituted for another company’s name. Moreover where a project that inspires has been replaced. These applications simply end up in the bin.
Whilst it may seem brutal, it’s just the way it is as we view it as a lazy option to mass applications, cheekily, we do love to be courted by prospective interns. This is advice for FINCH, but I am more likely to respond to a smaller letter that’s truthful and passionate, than something that’s long-winded and full of hyperbole.
If an email came through such as “Holy shit your Costa Coffee project in Al Seef was amazeballs, I have to intern at your studio” it’s way more likely to be considered than a long-winded letter that’s chatGPT inspired:
“I hope this message finds you well. My name is [Your Name], and I am writing to express my interest in potential internship opportunities within your esteemed interior design firm. As a dedicated and passionate individual in the field of interior design, I am eager to gain practical experience and contribute to the innovative projects at [Firm’s Name]”
This is just so boring!!!!
The Inimitability of Creativity With Interior Designers
Creativity is key, here’s a snippet from an article where I discuss the Inimitability of Creativity
“After a year of extensive interviewing and team expansion, the conclusion is inescapable: creativity is an innate skill that can’t be instilled but can be cultivated. While we can teach software use and process adherence, creativity remains a natural talent, a spark that we look for in our hires. You cannot teach creativity. For designers looking to move on in 2024, I would suggest that you do a deep dive into your portfolio, critique it, and re-work it, showing the absolute best of your creativity and thought process. Less is more when it’s awesome.”
The premise is this, show us something truly creative and passionate. A lot of university projects are boring unfortunately (not your fault) and most of them focus on long narratives, and “theory”, with pages and pages of samples, materials, theories, ideologies. My tip, skip the starters and go straight to the main course. Crack out a few sketchup designs or sketches of projects that get you going, I’m all about the visuals, an internship is about me teaching you the next aspects and the technicalities. But I cannot teach creativity, so if the. Portfolio is flat, in the bin it goes.
Standing out as an interior design intern is about being yourself!
I mean this, again personally, I think it sucks that no one put their hobbies down anymore, or if they do, they’re boring and obvious. Here are two great examples of hobbies biting someone in the ass and hobbies getting someone an interview.
An application said “voracious reader” which I can get on board with as I love reading, so I am thinking, ok we can vibe. During the interview, I didn’t ask, “What’s your favorite book” It’s too easy a question, I simply asked, “What are you reading right now?” stunned silence… ok, “What’s the last piece of fiction you read?” silence again, then an answer was plucked from the air. It wasn’t because the candidate was nervous, because they were incredibly confident and rehearsed, but the point of the question was a curveball to get through the rehearsal.
No one should lose an internship because of this, but when you’re one of the top interior design companies in Dubai, and offering one or two internships a year, we do split hairs when coming against a candidate.
This candidate lost our narrowly to another, and that candidate, in her CV, listed her 5 favorite movies, which I thought was super cool and original and gave me a deeper insight into that person. I too am a movie buff, so we spent 15 minutes at ease talking about movies, I got a good vibe, and they were super creative, so this interaction tipped the scales in her favor. Something that many people would see as being innocuous became a deciding factor. So please don’t overlook this element of the application.
What do you want out of the internship?
I think this is a great question and one I often ask because if we’re giving up our time and teaching you, I want to know what you want out of it. Do you want to learn more technical stuff, be involved in the build process, or really dig in on FF&E. Our interns don’t do bitch work, you don’t make coffee and do errands, you work and work as a part of our team, so this question carries a lot of weight.
International applications:
You’re overseas and you wondering how to get an interior design internship in Dubai, it’s not going to be easy so here are some tips from us. Our internships are paid, but not to the level to afford for you to live the high life of Dubai. We only really consider international applications if:
– You have a support network in Dubai
– You understand the culture and work environment of the Middle East
– Self-sufficiency is key, we’re busy running one of the best interior design firms in Dubai. We want you to hit the ground running. We don’t have the capacity to organize your travel and boarding etc… some others might do that, but we don’t.
The support network is key as Dubai can be quite a tough place to work, especially in the summers, and with so many transient expats and so much going on, we want to make sure that you have a great life outside of work. We want you to thrive during your time here and it’s hard to do that if you’re isolated and have no support network.
These are the key points for FINCH for someone looking for an internship as an interior designer in Dubai and I hope you find them useful.
May the odds be in your favor!
