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I'm using Design Thinking to get an internship: Your quick feedback is (again) much appreciated

almost 6 years ago from , Student

Hey DN!

17 days ago I got much appreciated constructive feedback from you here on DN. Now I have a version 2.0 ready: http://ineedaninternship.design/

Let me know what you think!

Process: Since mid September I have been through an empathy phase where I reached out, got insights, defined, build a hi-fi prototype, reached out again (also here on DN), got feedback, refined design principles, made a refined version – and now I’m here.

What I have been working on: - Whole narrative around my internship-period: what can I offer, what are my intentions, who am I - Video on front- and about page as dynamic media supporting the whole narrative - Unfolding works in articles with “challenge”, “process”, and “learnings” - Less rigid Design Thinking mindset, more inspired by it and making it fit for my project - Cleaning

Again: I'm very open to inputs. Thank you for your time! My change-log can be found on my GitHub here: https://github.com/Hoejfeldt/ineedaninternship

All the best, Frederik

16 comments

  • Willem ShepherdWillem Shepherd, almost 6 years ago

    I personally would look at your phrasing of your current position. Right now you are positioning yourself as a 'choice' that another company should make, and by stating that you 'need' an internship - I think you are diminishing yourself.

    I would look at rephrasing it to be focused on the benefit, not your 'requirement to find a job to support yourself'. On this note - a lot of your content is focused on fairly hard to define elements like 'getting practical'.

    I love the energy and approach - but wonder if you would be better suited with content that is more specific to:

    • what type of company you want to work for (culture, projects, location if important)
    • what inspires you - who you are, what interests you
    • less on where you worked, more on what you did there, why, what you learned

    We all want to fail forwards - but there are, IMHO, better ways to phrase that. It feels like an empty attention grab vs a real statement - I would much rather hear that you want to explore, push, expand, challenge your current 'you', than you want to fail and learn from that.

    A couple small notes - you mention 'Please get in touch, if you think, we could be a match!' I would reword this as: - If you think we could be a match, please get in touch - and make the 'please get in touch' a link to your email or some way to contact you.

    When making the statement 'It's both academic and actual work-work as well as projects that are in the making right now.' - you mention 'both' but then say 3 things, your academic, work-work, and projects in the making. I would re-think this statement. As well - 'Feel free to look around' is stating the obvious - instead - maybe an action? - something to stimulate thought about your projects, not sure what haha.

    Sorry for the rambling! Cheers Willem

    8 points
    • , almost 6 years ago

      Much appreciated, Willem. Thank you for your time – rambling here are good ;-) Definitely some valuable notes to move on with. And, yeah, I think especially the wordings and the whole narrative on my portfolio still needs to be worked on, but damn it's hard. I could be more specific and aligned in what I say without making it redundant.

      0 points
  • Giulio MichelonGiulio Michelon, almost 6 years ago

    Love the video

    7 points
  • Jonathan YapJonathan Yap, almost 6 years ago

    I agree with Willem. If you position as design thinking, then you definitely have to think in the perspective of your users, the people that is looking at this = HR or hiring managers.

    It's a bold move to state fail forward, but to a lot of companies, failing is an expensive exercise. That's why people don't setup to fail, but setup the best to succeed. Though, that's where you can tell whether companies are in for the long run to learn fast and improve or take slow calculated risk moving forward. Both have it's own merit, so pick the angle and be ready when someone ask you what comes with the result of failure.

    Talking about writing project shows initiative, but it come across a little bullish (to me). Focus on how you can create value together and be ready for anything. Internships are meant to be a learning experience and you're there to provide that cover for the team you'll be supporting. Think like sports, you have to make bench first before making a starting player, and supporting the team is a sure fire way to go!

    Think of the audience you want to appeal the most. The angle you tap on is great, but now it's just a matter of tightening your story. Your narrative should create enough tension for someone to be intrigue to find out more. Then bring that energy and personality to the table for a in-person session. Good luck Frederik!

    3 points
    • oshi myra, almost 6 years ago

      Totally agree with Jonathan, fail is a bold word to use. If someone is just scanning through your profile, this might create a negative impact. You can definitely make the writing a bit crisp and focus on your strengths than your failures. But cool video, all the best with your internship, you will definitely get it.

      1 point
    • , almost 6 years ago

      Thank you, Jonathan. Some good points and insights in line with what Willem also talked about. I'm taking it all with me!

      0 points
  • Mike StevensonMike Stevenson, almost 6 years ago

    I don't remember the last one fully but I do recall that I didn't like it. This... This I like. Very engaging and it actually captured my attention. Great job! I'm sure you'll find a solid internship.

    3 points
  • Russ BrownRuss Brown, almost 6 years ago

    Mate that video is brilliant, well done & good luck!

    2 points
  • Mikael StaerMikael Staer, almost 6 years ago

    Nailed it! Big improvements over the last version. I'd be surprised if you didn't get a great internship with this.

    1 point
  • Kenneth JensenKenneth Jensen, almost 6 years ago

    I like it Frederik, you'd certainly be in the top of our list ;)

    1 point
  • Jan SemlerJan Semler, almost 6 years ago

    Way better than before, and now i got a face of yours. I will have a deeper look this evening and will try to write feedback :-)

    1 point
  • Frédéric AudetFrédéric Audet, almost 6 years ago

    I have interns every quarter and let me tell you that your approach is better than 99% of them. That video tho. Love it, well done. Make sure to select a place that will let you work on real stuff so you can experience successes and failures. Ask about your mentor and his story. Important :)

    If you're looking for an internship in the product world, give me a call.

    0 points
  • Luca Candela, almost 6 years ago

    I think it's really good work considering that selling oneself is the hardest thing one can do.

    0 points