With due respect and appreciation for the three internships I’ve completed so far, I believe the need to learn former practices in web design is less important than in most other career paths. However, there is still essential knowledge that only an internship can provide. Here are some of the pros and cons I’ve come to realize from my last few summers:

The Gravy:

• People skills. Learning effective communication and team work is necessary both in life and work. A determined, self-motivated individual could probably learn as much about web design from Google as they could at any internship, but discovering the value of personal interaction and cooperation can only be had in a group environment.
• The mechanics of business. There is no better place to learn how a business functions than a peek from inside.
• Alternative perspectives. An extra set of eyes is sometimes the best solution to solving a problem. Especially when first starting out, receiving feedback and having someone or a group of people to bounce ideas off of will rapidly speed up the learning process.
• Contacts. Like the old adage, “It’s not what you know, but who you know.” Assuming you show effort and are dedicated to your internship, you’re likely to gain a positive relationship with your employer and probably other businesses that he or she works with or speaks to. Word of mouth will often generate the majority of your work opportunities.
• Reputation. An internship allows you to build your portfolio and expand your learning in an environment that isn’t as demanding or expecting as your first full-time job. The percentage of being hired by the company you intern for is also very high and may lead to other employment options you would not have had or found elsewhere.

The Mauritius Dodo:

• Students are going straight from college, or even high school, to garage start-ups.
• With the rise of Web 2.0 came a slew of online resources and services, most of which are free to use. With the flourish of web communities and open-source tools like Ruby on Rails, it is becomingly increasingly easier to be a web designer. Whereas five years ago it would have taken thousands of dollars to create an application, today’s server fees and capable open-source tools have drastically reduced the cost of actualizing an idea.
• High quality web deisgn makes use of current standards and practices. The requirements to being a successful web designer are less reliant on past knowledge or experience than most traditional jobs. For example, a young entrepreneur would benefit more from a summer reading Dan Cederholm’s Bulletproof Web Design than an internship fiddling with the nested table layout of Company XYZ. While it would be good to know how to handle something like the bugs of IE 5.0, you’d be better off researching how to design for the next browser or mobile devices because that’s where the web is heading.
• Adding to the above, the idea of interning for free or with minimal compensation is a joke since it is often the company who would gain more from a fresh, current thinking intern than the other way around.

What are your thoughts or experiences? Where do you see web related internships 5 years from now?

I’ve been known to advocate the importance of using your natural talents to propel you through life. Our innate strengths are often what we use most, mainly because they are the things that come easy to us. Regardless, I haven’t duly credited drive, which is equally, if not more, necessary in succeeding (whether at work or in life). For example, I love to write and would consider it an area I’ve excelled at from an early age. However, if I’m given a college English assignment that has no interest to me, I won’t do very well at all. On the other hand, computers and technology have basically been non-existent to me growing up. I hardly touched a computer until I came to college and now web design has grown to be a large part of what I do.

Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

Whether you play games or not, the Gears of War trailer is incredible. Surprisingly, Gary Jules’ Mad World fits very well.

If you’re looking for some inspiration, the guys over at Vitamin have some excellent interviews available to listen to (or read). Recently featured: design and UI expert Jeff Veen, Design Lead at Google. Also, if you haven’t previously visited Vitamin, be sure to check out their other helpful resources.

I‘ve had a lot of school work lately and plenty of long nights keeping on top of it all. When it comes to writing papers, here are some quick tips I’ve come to love:

1. Change the background color of your Word document (Format>Background>More Colors) from white to something less harsh on the eyes. I find a dull green or beige works well and retains good readability (mine right now is set to #cccc99). For extended periods of time in Word, it’s much less straining if you ditch the white.
2. Unfortunately, my computer speakers died the first week I returned to school this year. On the plus side, headphones are what I would recommend for helping drown out distractions from other kids, cars, or whatever your situation may include. Also, I find that I can type faster if I can’t hear the sound of the keys clacking (weird, huh?). The type of music is crucial, which I explain in further detail in a previous post about writing. Basically, pick songs that utilize more acoustic instruments than vocals. You don’t want to be processing what the band is singing about, but instead use their tunes to block outside noises.
3. Take small breaks. It’s like giving yourself mini awards. 40 minutes writing, 10 minutes for [fill in the blank]. Play games, watch tv, grab some food, whatever gets your mind off work. Cameron shares some great advice in one of his older entries about unplugging yourself when you get stuck for ideas.
4. If you need to reach a minimum number of pages, set the text size to 10pt and page zoom at around 150% before you start typing. When you’re a couple pages shy at the end and can’t think of anything else to write, it’ll be a nice surprise to switch back to 12pt and find out you’re done.

My 10 minutes are up, back to the grind…

I’ve actively been thinking about working freelance full-time, whether immediately after graduation or following a few years in the corporate world. Not knowing the decision I’ll make seven months from now, I felt it good to document some thoughts prior to taking the plunge in either direction.

Backtracking to earlier this summer, I had the fortunate opportunity of interning for Michael Yacavone of XeniumGroup. The work level was advanced and built off the assumption that my two previous internships and innumerable Googling nights had taught me something. Over the course of three months, I learned from a business perspective the pros and cons of being self-employed. I worked mainly from my dorm room on campus with minimal commute to Mike’s office in Hanover, NH. With a XeniumGroup-loaned MacBook, recently updated Windows machine, and fast internet, it was pretty cool to wake up and have all my resources in the same room.

By the end of (an always-too-short) summer, I had led the completion of 6+ websites, including research, design, and implementation of: information architecture, XHTML/CSS, accessibility, usability, search engine optimization. Each site was tested on over 54 browser/platform configurations and hand-coded with clean, W3C compliant markup. The grand hurrah to my internship was a trip to Rails Conf 2006 in Chicago, IL, all expenses paid. Thereafter, I practiced and played on small RoR applications.

The power of “No.”

To mollify the bills an unpaid internship can’t satisfy, I continued freelance work after hours and rarely declined project offers (1st mistake!). Work melded day into night and slowly invaded weekends until it wasn’t uncommon to be on the computer for weeks at a time (2nd mistake!). Approaching 350+ internship hours on top of managing my own clients, burnout abruptly set in.

Project management is essential, as is balancing work with life. It seems like a no-brainer, but the pure beauty of a well organized schedule is not apparent until you have more work than could possibly get done. Equally crucial is a thorough evaluation of each project opportunity rather than blindly accepting every work offer.

Advice for the upcoming student

Back at college, the school required all students who completed summer internships to present a summary of their work and what they had learned. Between preparing my PowerPoint and talking to some Graphic Design friends, I’ve assembled some tips (in no particular order):

Competition: Never think your work is good enough, no matter how talented you are. A good goal is to always try and have the “best” project in the class. This might sound cocky, but as long as you’re not rubbing it anyone’s face, it’s a helpful source of motivation. I grew tired of seeing mediocre students get praise so it made me work even harder to be recognized. Also, remember that even if you climb to the top of your class, there are students studying in schools across the globe. Never be satisfied; there’s always room for improvement.

Ask Questions: Surround yourself with intelligent individuals and share knowledge. Never be afraid to ask questions. Take advantage of speaking with professors and students since, after all, you’re paying to be at school. Make the most of your time. The people you know and positive connections you make in your school years will be invaluable when entering the job market.

Don’t follow the crowd: Grades are number one, but don’t forget to investigate subjects of interest outside of class as well. Your classmates are all learning the same exact material as you, so break away from the herd and discover your own talents. I can’t stress how beneficial this is. Not only will you be enhanced with new learning, but self-teaching is an important skill to have. The number one problem college grads and interns have is keeping busy. When they’ve finished one project, they are unsure of what to do next and sit idle. Employers and supervisors don’t want to baby-sit so learning to be self-sufficient is vital and surprisingly hard for a lot of people. Probably because they’re used to having assignments handed to them rather than analyzing what needs to be done.

I earned my Hatchling internship partly because I had some 3-D renders on my portfolio site that I did with Cinema 4D, a program I was playing with for the sheer fun of it. When you discover your own areas of interest, two things will happen: one, you’ll learn a lot about the subject because it is one you enjoy, otherwise you wouldn’t have picked it, and two, chances are it’ll be something you’re already good at. Most people like doing the things that come natural to them, not what is difficult. Identify both your strong and weak points, improve the areas you struggle in, and use your natural talent as a springboard.

When I came to school freshman year, I looked at college like a job. Have fun, date, do whatever, but don’t forget that what you come out with after four (or more) years is what you’ll be offering your first employer. Today is all about specializing and having brains over brawn. The more you teach yourself, the more you cram in your head, the closer you’ll get to a $100k job instead of $30k. Life isn’t all about money, but unfortunately, it’s a major factor in how well we live. Family is everything for me and the ultimate achievement, in my view, will be one day having my own (touching, I know). But the truth is, my wife and kids aren’t going to live in a cardboard box, so money does play an important role.

Online portfolio: Your own little corner on the web, a place you can direct potential employers to look over work examples, resume, or other significant information. Without online presence, your work appears less credible, as if to say, “My portfolio wasn’t good enough to have its own website.” For those short on time (and/or patience) for web design, I would highly recommend taking a look at Carbonmade.

Back to my opening query, is it better to dive into creating your own business, or join the corporate scene and then branch off? If you’re in the same predicament, Andy Budd, Jonathon Snook, and Cameron Moll have some insightful reads. How this last year at school unfolds will most likely be the deciding factor for me.