Phase2 Technology is so excited to announce our new BuilDesign Studio Internship. This program is built on the premise that the best developers, designers, and experience analysts understand a lot about the whole ecosystem of how these disciplines work together in a digital agency setting.
Our plan is to train a group of interns on all of these disciplines before pairing interns with mentors in their strongest discipline for an intensive working and learning experience. Right now, we are looking to hire interns who are interested in traditional design and experience analyst disciplines. These skills are often overlapping, so if you fall anywhere on the spectrum from traditional design, web design, information design, to user experience design, we would love to talk to you! PLEASE NOTE: You do not have to have all of these skills. There are several opportunities, and you will be paired with the right one for your skill set.
The Departments
The BuilDesign Studio is hiring development interns in addition to the design and experience interns from this application process. Ultimately, you will be paired with either our Creative Services team or our Experience team. While the majority of your work will be for one department or the other, you will have the opportunity to work in both (as well as a little development!) Here is some information about our departments and the work you would be doing for them.
Creative Services: Creative Services delivers valuable creative assets in the form of design, branding, writing, and other creatively delivered items to enable Phase2 teams to better serve our customers and prospective customers. Some of the projects you might work on as a Creative Services Intern include:
Sales proposal design and layout
Presentation deck design
Custom gifts and cards for clients
Custom packaging
Video projects for clients
Designed materials for events
Business card design
Brochure design
Coordination with printers and other vendors
Internal brand development efforts
Client research
Brand alignment analysis
Infographics
Process graphics
Data visualizations
Content editing
Content development
Open Atrium demo content and design
Note: web design experience is not required for creative services, and you do not have to code.
Experience Team: Phase2’s Experience Team is focused on digital strategy, user experience design, testing, and training. Here are some of the projects you might work on as an Experience Intern:
Stakeholder Interviews
Data Analysis
Usability Testing
Content Auditing
Process Modeling
Strategic Services
Backlog and MVP Definition
User Stories
Requirements Management
Knowledge Management
Artifacts, e.g. Personas…
Information Architecture
Wireframing, Prototyping, Paper Prototyping
User Workflows (Cores and Screens)
User Acceptance Testing
Eligibility
This program is open to students and recent graduates in a higher education design focused program (undergraduate juniors and seniors or graduate students preferred). Must be able to commit 16 hours per week from June through the end of October.
Skills & Attributes
Ability to work with a team and as a part of a larger process
Ability to create quality work on tight deadlines
Attention to detail
Love of beautiful things
Understanding of digital agencies
Knowledge of open source web
Career aspirations in web fields, design, analyst, marketing, or sales
Excellent problem solving skills
Ability to express Phase2’s differentiators and strengths through design
Copy editing ability, knowledge of grammar, ability to edit for consistent voice
Desire to explore the intersection of design, development, and experience principles
Willingness and attitude to help customers find workable and pragmatic solutions.
Intellectual curiosity with an interest in learning new technologies and practices.
Superb verbal and written communication skills.
Creative Services Specific:
Graphic design skills
InDesign intermediate to advanced knowledge
Photoshop intermediate knowledge
Illustrator intermediate knowledge
Understanding of marketing and brands
Desired Experience Specific:
Understanding of most basic and some advanced Internet technologies.
Experience illustrating information and user interface mechanisms.
Understanding and personal experience with social media and other current online trends.
Experience developing requirements, use cases, user stories, etc..
Experience managing expectations and facilitating discussions.
Experience leading and facilitating training sessions.
Experience providing direct customer support and assistance.
The Details
School Credit: School credit is determined by your school, but we are very happy to help in providing the documentation you need to make it happen.
Schedule and Time Commitment: The program requires a commitment of 16 hours per week from June through the end of October. Hours can be scheduled around your school commitments but generally must occur during regular business hours and on a consistent schedule. Special projects and continuing apprenticeship may be available between terms and after the program is finished.
Work Setting: Interns will spend the majority of working time in our Portland office, located in the Pearl district. We will provide you with an iMac or Macbook with all the goodies to use on your Phase2 projects. We have an awesome office, and you will benefit very much from having access to all of our talented folks.
Compensation: $16 per hour, recommendation letters, school credit if applicable.
To Apply:
Interested? Fantastic! Here is how to apply. We are looking for seriously talented people to spend 16 weeks with us learning about design and experience in our world and offering hard work and creative ideas in return. Here’s what we want to know about you.
Please answer questions 1-6:
1. The Basics: Your name, phone number, email address, website/blog/ (if you have one)
2. Education: school, program, major, how far are you through your program and what do you have left?
3. Work Experience
4. Gold Stars: What accomplishments of yours have you been recognized? This can include awards, scholarships, publications, online kudos, recommendations, testimonials from others, etc.
5. On the spectrum from traditional design, web design, information design, to user experience design please note roughly the spot that matches your interest and skills.
If your check mark on the spectrum above is on the left side of the chart, please answer: What is your experience with InDesign? How about Photoshop and Illustrator? If it is on the right side, please answer: Explain your knowledge and experience with user experience design. If you can’t or are just too too excited to choose, answer both!
Please answer any 3 of these questions:
Why do you want to participate in this internship?
What are your career aspirations?
What do you think Phase2 is all about? What do we have in common with you?
What is your experience with copy editing and grammar knowledge?
What are you unsure about with this program? What concerns you the most?
What are the three most awesome things about you?
Oxford commas: for or against? Explain yourself.
What makes you burst with geeky excitement?
Portfolio
We want to see your work! Please submit up to 10 pieces, and for each one include any context you want us to know, the program you used to create it, and the time you spent on it. Here are some ideas (please feel free to deviate from this list)
Print design work
Typography exercises
Brand and logo studies
Advertisements and brochures
Promotional videos
Packaging design
Wireframes (interactive or static)
Process or workflow diagrams
Infographics
Content Models
User Stories
Personas
A sample of CSS, SASS, or any other code you’ve written
A website you’ve built or something else on the internet!
Authenticity and creativity highly encouraged.
Format
Please submit your response to the questions and queries above in a digital format (the more creative, the better!) The format, layout, length, and creative approach are up to you, just make sure it is your own work and it reflects you and your style in the best way possible. Have something awesome you want to include that requires a different format or is not requested above? Feel free to send it along in addition. Check with Caitlin and Chris first if it requires specific software or technology to view.
Submittal Instructions
To: Caitlin Loos and Chris Wright
E-mail: cloos@phase2technology.com and cwright@phase2technology.com
Subject Line: BuilDesign Studio_(your name)
Include: A brief note to introduce yourself and a link to your application submission (Dropbox, Google Drive, attachment, etc will all work)
Timeline
Applications due: June 15 by midnight
Interview notification: June 19 (we will let you know either way)
Interviews scheduled: June 22-26
Internship start: June 29
Next Steps
We will get in touch with you by June 19. If you are invited to interview, we will want to chat with you in person, talk to a few references, and evaluate your and skills.