This week on the blog I’ve got a book review for you. In with the Interior, Design Crowd is a comprehensive guide on how to get a job in interior design at any point in your career. The book is written by Lucy Painter who runs Studio Recruitment. Lucy helps graduates and designers make the perfect match in furthering their careers. This goes hand in hand with helping design studios to build their teams in line with their plans for growth.

A respected industry figure Lucy also has a regular column in Interior Designer magazine. She has judged the Design Week Rising Star awards and hosts and comperes the Restaurant and Bar awards. The book brings together her 15 years of experience as a recruiter in the interior design industry helping designers whether at graduate or the most senior level to get the right job in interior design.

Before we start I’m obliged to let you know that this blog contains links to buy the book from which I will make a small commission. If you’re happy with that then let’s dive in and take a deeper look.

About In with the Interior Design Crowd

Starting with the foreword and the inspiring story of how Lucy built her business over the last 10 years. Not all plain sailing, however as any business owner will tell you, resilience is a key ingredient in the recipe for a successful enterprise. It is this same kind of resilience and preparation that it takes when you set yourself the task of planning your next career move. The infamous quote of Benjamin Franklin is picked out early in the book’s pages – “By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail”. One of the key elements of successful preparation is set out as best informed as you can be and this is really one the best ways the book can help you with your job search

How to Get a Job in Interior Design

The book is set out in 10 easily digestible chapters. Each chapter tackles a specific topic of the recruitment process. I recommend that you read the book from start to finish, however, if there is one sticking point you need to tackle in your job search then just dip in to the chapter that covers what you need.

To summarise the book in a simpler way I’m dividing it into four sections

1. Practical Job Search Skills

Chapters 1-6 cover the practical skills that you need to prepare for your job search. Having seen hundreds of CVs over the years Lucy is able to impart some great tips on how best to present your CV and portfolio. As well as innovative ideas on how to stand out there is also advice on mastering technology. These include tips such as how and when to use pdfs, websites and online portfolios to present your work.

Moving on through this section Lucy then explains exactly where you should be looking for work. This covers how to research and target businesses you want to work with. It also explains how to use LinkedIn to get a job in interior design and how it is an invaluable tool for networking. In addition to online networking through LinkedIn and social media it’s important to be visible in the real world so there’s tips on networking through interior design events too.

2. Interview Preparation

As Lucy says of interviews in the book, “Preparation is absolutely Key.” There’s many challenges to overcome in an interview — unfamiliarity, difficult questions and negotiating your salary are just some of the things you can find advice on here. Best of all the advice is from studio bosses in the interior design industry. These next 3 chapters cover advice for junior, middleweight, and senior designers. They feature business owners and senior designers answering questions such as, “What do you look for when interviewing for a junior designer?” and “How does the role of associate differ from that of a senior designer?”

With real life examples, these questions are not just informative for job seekers. They also provide valuable insight for everyone involved in the recruitment process. Looking to expand your team? You’ll find really useful observations here of what to look for in designers for every level of your team. From technical and personal skills, learn from the experiences of others how to define whether someone is right for your team.

3. The In Crowd

In the final section of the book we meet some interior designers who tell us about their career in design. Additionally they allow us to take a look around their portfolios and relate personal experiences of working as a designer. It’s a great cross section of the industry with designers from residential, commercial, hospitality, and retail all sharing their stories. All of this is complemented by beautiful portfolio pieces of photography, original concept illustrations, layouts, CAD and 3D designs.

4. The Directory Listing

Finally at the end of the book there is a really useful directory listing. This contains around 300 interior design and architecture practices in the UK all categorized by specialism. There is also a listing of their web addresses so you can research them.

Whatever you do in life investing in specialist advice or expert help makes you reach your goals quicker. Your career should be no different. The niche advice in this book is unique in our industry. It helps with planning your job search by breaking it into bite size pieces you can tackle more easily. With tons of tips from industry insiders, it could also put you streets ahead of a competitor in your job search.

Useful Links

Buy a copy of the book on Amazon

Looking for work or thinking of expanding your team? – Jobs in the interior design industry – Studio.eu.com

Follow on instagram – @studio_lucypainter

Follow on Twitter – @Studio_Lucy

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