Getting Your Foot in the Door

You can’t get a job without experience, but you can’t get experience without a job. It’s a never ending cycle!

This is a major issue facing students and new designers every day. So, how do they get experience? Well, for the last few years we have worked in partnership with Cancer Support Scotland, offering a 3-month internship to help new designers get a foot in the door of the creative industry. During this time, the intern will work on a number of design projects for Cancer Support Scotland, effectively acting as their first point of call for any design needs.

This is a great opportunity to gain experience while working in a creative environment, getting help and advice from the SHINE designers. The experience gained is invaluable and our last three interns have gone on to get permanent jobs.

We are actually looking for our next intern, so if you are interested (or know someone who is) follow this link.

Hear from our previous interns…

“I loved my time at SHINE. I was tasked with working with Cancer Support Scotland and given the creative freedom to create new materials for the charity and help them evolve as a brand. Thanks to working with the team, I was able to expand my knowledge of digital and print design.
I was also given great advice and this helped me get a job within the design industry and thanks to them I now work as a Graphic Designer for RHA.”

David MacLellan – now at RHA Audio

“The Cancer Support Scotland internship was a brilliant experience and I would highly recommend it to anyone starting their career in design.

The internship was based at SHINE, and I produced promotional material for Cancer Support Scotland including newsletters, posters, leaflets and direct mail.

Not only was I able to improve my design skills, but I also had a fresh body of work to include in my portfolio at the end of my placement. The staff at SHINE were really friendly, helpful and supportive in giving me feedback on my portfolio and assisting me in preparing for job interviews.

As an added bonus, working with Cancer Support Scotland not only means you are contributing to a really great cause, but you get to work with a really great bunch of people!”

Angela Kirkwood – now at Whitespace

“As a young and new designer, I struggled to get my foot in the door in the world of design. Most companies didn’t want to gamble on someone straight out of college, so I knew I had to get some experience or get someone to take a gamble on me.

Cancer Support Scotland were willing to do just that. In this internship, I not only gained vital pieces for my portfolio, but as it was based at SHINE, I was able to gain crucial experience of working in a design agency and learn from the other designers. They were very helpful and patient – particularly as I did ask a lot of questions!!

To any designer wanting to get a start in design, I would recommend this internship. It will build your portfolio, increase your communication skills and you will find companies take more interest in you, particularly as you have taken ownership of a company as a client and worked in the real world hitting deadlines.”

Michael Palmer – offered a full-time position with SHINE