the supervising faculty member will already have discussed this issue with the employer, so work tasks will already have been generally determined. However, not all internship locations include all the tasks that might be of interest to the student. For example, few internship positions allow students to work directly with a client.
Sometimes students get their expectations of what they will do during an internship confused with the reality of the internship. As I have told my students in the past, you get the internship (or job) because of what you are learning in school. However, the employer is uncertain of your ability and must be shown on the job what you can do—usually in a gradual way.
Of course, the internship experience is different for everyone. Certainly, some internship positions give a supervised intern responsibility for project work. Often these spots are in firms that go through extensive, competitive application processes for any interns, as they often also hire the student upon graduation. Most locations gradually involve students in assisting with parts of projects, doing such things as researching products or drafting parts of plans or other design documents from sketches by more senior designers. They may have the intern attend meetings with clients to silently observe and take notes, and/or perform other tasks that are all part of the professional experience; however, all the intern's work is supervised, and firms rarely give the intern final decision‐making tasks.
It is very important for each student to carefully consider what she hopes to gain from the internship. This helps the faculty supervisor connect students to the types of firms that most closely match student interest and ability with what the firm needs. For example, having a student do an internship at a firm that primarily designs small commercial spaces when the student is really interested in residential design is clearly a mismatch.
It is also important to note that the student is expected to meet the general policies of the design firm. That will mean meeting a business dress code, arriving on time, keeping track of time worked on various tasks, attending appropriate meetings, and observing any other business regulations applicable to any employee. Students should remember that the internship is in a way an “audition” for a job although a job at the end of the internship should not be automatically expected. The student “hat” and attitude should be checked at the door before entering. This is a time to be sure you act as if you are a professional interior designer, as many firms hire interns at the conclusion of their internship term or after graduation.
LIFELONG LEARNING
Regardless of the type of interior design one practices, professionals must be ready to embrace lifelong learning. Technical updating is a paramount need for most designers. Others may want access to topics related to a specific design specialty. Business owners often seek professional education on business practices. Like all other professionals, interior designers should seek out continuing lifelong learning opportunities.
Professional education generally is represented via seminars, workshops, lectures, correspondence courses, online seminars, webinars, and intensive professional studies that meet individual needs. These continuing education offerings are available in almost every topic and area of the profession.
Educational programs that provide continuing education units (CEU) furnish short‐term coursework in a wide variety of topical‐interest areas. This is the most common way for professionals to obtain lifelong learning opportunities. CEU classes provide a means for professional interior designers to remain current in the practice of interior design. Courses that provide CEU credits are those that have been approved by a reviewing body. Not all seminars and workshops provide approved CEU credits.
Continuing education is also very important because jurisdictions that have passed licensing or title registration acts require continuing education for maintaining registration. Professional associations also require continuing education for their members. The exact requirements vary, and it is the individual's responsibly to understand any licensing board or organizational requirements. In most cases, these entities will require approved CEU credits.
Continuing education courses are held for anywhere from one or two hours to perhaps a full day, and a participant will earn one‐tenth of an hour of credit (0.1) for each hour of the class. These courses and workshops are also developed to be of differing difficulty. A course may be very basic in nature, meaning that anyone is likely to gain from taking the course. Advanced courses generally expect that participants have some to fairly extensive knowledge in the subject matter. Many of these types of programs are also available as webinars hosted by various providers.
Educators, interior design practitioners, and other experts in many fields teach continuing education courses. Participants should investigate the provider of the program to understand the speaker's expertise in the topic.
Continuing education programs are offered by local professional associations, provided as part of trade shows such as NeoCon, from industry vendors, independent providers, and allied professionals. Programs approved for continuing education credit are reviewed and approved by the Interior Design Continuing Education Council (IDCEC). A list of those programs are available from their Web site www.idcec.org.
Lifelong education comes in other forms as well. Here are a few examples:
In‐house learning opportunities where senior designers provide educational information to staff members.
Distance learning classes offered on a wide variety of topics from colleges and universities around the world.
The research and preparation time required to prepare a seminar or to write an article.
Entering design competitions that require a new design, such as the design of rugs or a speculative interior, rather than one done for a previous client.
Community service participation (discussed later in this chapter).
PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION
A professional competency examination is one of the criteria of a profession. The examination that has been the standard for competency testing and certification in the interior designer profession is the NCIDQ examination. This examination has existed since the early 1970s and is administered by the CIDQ.
Professional associations in the 1960s expected their members to pass an examination for competency. The early professional organizations, such as the National Society for Interior Designers (NSID), favored licensing to restrict practice to qualified professionals, whereas others favored qualifying examinations. An examination was devised by the American Institute of Decorators (AID) and in the 1960s, prospective members of the AID had to pass the examination for professional membership. Because of philosophical differences, NSID designed and utilized its own qualifying exam.
The CIDQ was formalized in 1970 joining together credentialing bodies throughout North America. After several years of discussions between CIDQ and the associations, the NCIDQ was organized in 1972 and became an independent corporation in 1974. Its purpose was to maintain standards of practice and develop a means of testing competence for legal qualifications for licensing and title registration. This examination is fully recognized by the major professional associations in the United States and Canada, as well as the IDEC, IDCEC, and the CIDA. The NCIDQ examination is also the primary examination in those U.S. states and Canadian provinces that have licensing, certification, or other registration statutes. Competency requirements in other nations are controlled by each country. Someone who wishes to work internationally must be sure they will be able to work legally.
CIDQ is not a professional association like American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) or International
