Melissa was asked by a woman at work if she'd answer some questions pertaining to Melissa's job, as this woman's daughter was doing a project. So, I am pasting Melissa's repsonses to these questions. It gives you a good idea of what Melissa does at
HKS, Inc day to day. I AM SO PROUD OF THE WORK THAT MELISSA DOES DAY IN AND DAY OUT, SO PLEAE TAKE THE TIME (IF YOU WANT ) TO READ THIS. --------------------------------------------------------------------
What does a typical work week look like? Our office hours are 8:30 to 5:30, but typically I work 9:00 to 6:00 or 6:30. The week usually consists of: emails and phone calls, conference calls and meetings, drafting on the computer, designing thru sketches, space planning (placing furniture on the floorplan of the building). About 97 percent of my job is computer drafting with about 3 percent left for furniture and finishes. There are other people who could say the opposite. For instance, right now I am working on a seven story building in Utah and we are getting the documents and drawings started for the construction set (blueprints). My main responsibilities for this job have been changing the floorplans as needed to reflect the clients requests and working on the space planning for the cubicles for the 1800 employees. We have four people on our teamtwo mostly design, two mostly space planningand we meet with the client very frequently, so things seem to be changing constantly, getting tweaked to get us where the building needs to be.
Can the work week be flexible? Yes. As you saw above, I am typically late to work, but I stay late to make up for it. Usually, this is only until 6:00, but dependent upon deadlines, sometimes you stay later. Our firm has a flex time policy, applicable to special situations (not including 8:30 is just too early for me to get up!) Our department is nice about time outif you have a personal errand to run during the day, they assume youll make up the time later; we dont punch in or punch out. If you do contract or free lance work, or if you represent a fabric or furniture line, you could set your own schedule.
What kind of preparation and training are required? I learned AutoCad in college then got my BFA in Interior Design. Typically, colleges will require an internship during the junior or senior year. If you want to be an Interior Decorator, you do not need to have a college degree, but experience or mentorship under an experienced decorator or designer helps. (Decorators are not typically responsible for constructing spaces; they stick to finishes and furniture. Interior Designers are typically qualified to construct walls in a space. Some people who call themselves Designers are usually not licensed to be called Interior Designers, but may think their job description goes beyond decorating. Interior Designers typically do not like to be called decorators!)
What is the minimum entree level preparation? To be an interior designer at our firm requires a degree in interior design, interior architecture, or some equivalent.
Do you work nights and/or weekends? Sometimes, dependent on the deadline. Nights more often then weekends, and not too late or too often with nights. I know several people in my department come in to work almost every Saturday and/or Sunday, but in the two and a half years Ive been here, I think Ive only done that twice.
What are some demands that might be presented in the work place? Deadlines that may be sooner than can be done in eight hours a day, which means overtime. Juggling more than one project at a time. Satisfying the clients expectations without painting yourself into a corner with a deadline that is unobtainable or a design that is not constructible. Having to design and redesign a space several times to fit space expectations, client expectations, changes to the building based on budget changes, etc.
Do job demands interfere with family life? Sometimes, especially with an 11 month old son. When a deadline is set and you and your team (or sometimes just you!), sometimes it takes long hours to get the job done. Theres been a few times Ive been late home and missed feeding William and putting him to bed, but I try to avoid that when I can. I try to not let the responsibility of my job interfere with the responsibility of my family, but I know I spend more daylight hours during the week at work than at home (then again, I live in The Colony and work in Dallas, so commute has something to do with that!). The way I put it to people is trying to balance professional responsibility with personal guilt my job will never be more important than my family, but I have to work to pay our bills.
Are there any potential hazards in this field? Not daily hazards. When you visit the jobsite, you have to wear a hardhat and protective glasses and watch your step, but other than that, no life threatening hazards.
Are there any physical requirements in order to become an interior designer? No.
Is this an equal opportunity profession? Yes. (I know its a stereotype, but there are more women than men in this profession!)
Are there any high school courses that would help prepare a person for this major? I think my art classes were valuablelearning about color and space and form. Anything that lets your mind expand creatively or challenge you to think things through.
What are the beginning and potential salaries for an interior designer? I think the starting salary straight out of college is around $28,000 to $34,000. I think experienced interior designers can make over $100,000 a year.
What are some of the primary benefits of your job? Im getting to draw and draft on the computer, which I love. Technical benefits available are health, dental, and vision, vacation and sick leave. Most of the people I work with are nice too and very good at their job and are willing to share and teach.
What are some of the most important fringe benefits? We get bonuses almost quarterly. Our firm also gives Beer Fridays, a summer picnic, and a big Christmas party for the employees. We have lots of lunch and learns where reps will bring in products to show us or have continuing education seminars.
What are some personal expenses in being an interior designer? Gasoline! (Or maybe thats just me!) Seriously, if you are free lance, your expenses could be your computer, the CAD program, plotting/printing costs, etc. In order to be a beginning interior designer, you have to go to college and get your degree, and in order to call yourself a designer, legally you have to pass your NCIDQ test, which costs about $800. There are also organizational fees if you chose to be in ASID (American Society of Interior Designers) or IIDA (International Interior Designers Asso.), which are a hundred or so dollars a year dependent on your professional standing. The firm covers our expenses related to jobs (airfare, food, and hotel stays for out-of-town meetings).
What do you see is the potential job market for the next 5 years? 10 years? For the past couple years, we are busier than we have been in our firms 30 year plus history. This seems to be a continuing trend. (The industry was crippled greatly by September 11th and is obviously now starting to recover.) Since Interior Design depends very much on the social economics of the time, its easy to understand that if people are broke and businesses suffering in the future, the demand for design may go down. A lot of the work going on when times are tough is downsizing firms or reconfiguring offices. Health Care remains pretty steady Ive been told. There seems to be a growing demand for recreational/ travel resorts and sports architecture, which affects interior design. A big emphasis lately has also been on the aging of America. With the Baby Boomers coming of retirement age, there will be a drop in the workforce of older, experienced professionals. The market is changing because of this: the closed offices and a sea of cubicles is being replaced with smaller stations in an open office (laptop computers dont need as much room); the boss in an office scenario is being replaced by team or mentor mentality. The younger generations care more about their amenities than their moms and dads didin a few recent projects weve done, the companies have placed a lot of importance on employee areas such as fitness centers, food courts with coffee bars, general stores and post offices on campus, day care centers, etc. I think its a profession that is becoming more popular and respected and less trendy and fluff. (Of course, with all the design shows on tv, more people are becoming braver at being their own designer so maybe our profession becomes more consultanting. I doubt this though, as jobs of any large scale need the organization that would come with architecture and interior design working together.)
Is this job market fairly evenly distributed across the U.S. or is it geographically limited? Jobs for Interior Designers tend to be around large cities. However, dependent upon what type of design you want to do, Interior Designers can be employed at architect or design firms in smaller cities, work independently (free lance or contract) from their home, or work in the furniture and finishes industry. I know people who work for Ethan Allen and Home Depot Expo as interior designers for clients who come in and want to redo their home. Several of our fabric and furniture representatives have a background in Interior Design. If you want to do non-residential design, it seems it is best to be close to a city. Residential design is a little more mobile.
Once in the profession, what are the opportunities for advancement? Theres the opportunity for promotion obviously, from what our firm calls Forum Member to Associate to Vice President, etc. There are also opportunities for responsibilities and job description, moving from junior designer to Project Designer, Project Manager, or Project Architect. You can also advance yourself professionally by accreditation through NCIDQ (the test interior designers take to get their license).
Are there specific training opportunities that you would recommend? Dependent upon your personality and interest, AutoCad or any CAD training is almost a must. Anything relating to textiles or color is good to know if you plan to deal with the furniture/fabric endknowing what fabric to use where and which color not to use because of peoples reaction to it. Visiting construction sites to see how walls are put together and foundations are reinforced helped me see how things come together makes a lot more sense in application and its the exciting part of the job!
