Interior Designer Career Guide – – My Job Search

Simply put, an interior designer designs interiors! This involves planning and executing all aspects of the interior environment, including furnishing and decorating the space in commercial, institutional, and domestic settings.

There is nothing new about interior design. We have been organising our living space for functional, social, and aesthetic reasons for tens of thousands of years. By the 18th century, Europe was home to many well-established interior designers and by the 1950s, Britain was sufficiently concerned with contemporary architecture and interiors to have created The Design Council.

These early designers were mainly concerned with domestic interiors, and residential projects are still the mainstay of most small design agencies and freelance designers. However, interior design goes far beyond the residential. After all, yachts, hospitals, factories, and aeroplanes need interiors too.

In 2008, an industry survey conducted by British Design Innovation estimated that there were around 4000 UK businesses offering design consultancy services, employing some 65000 people. 23% of these firms (just under 1000) were involved in interior design. Most of them are small businesses, employing 5 people or less. Britain's desire for design has seen industry turnover rise substantially in recent decades, to reach 4.4bn by 2008.

Broadly speaking, an interior designer will work in one of the following environments:

Many interior designers are self-employed, charging between 30 and 50 per hour for their services. This figure can rise to more than 100 per hour for in-demand designers. Newly qualified designers will find it hard to make a living in this way, as reputation and experience take time to build up.

Junior designers employed by an agency can expect a starting salary of 15,000 to 20,000 a year. The national average salary for a designer with three years of experience was just under 23,000 in 2008. With five to ten years of experience, a designer's salary will probably be in the region of 25,000 to 30,000. Designers with over ten years of experience earned 32,000 on average in 2008 but these individuals could earn up to and over 50,000. These figures are based on the calculations of the Hays Consultant 2008 Salary & Benefits Guide.

In interior design, tasks and responsibilities vary according to the sector and the size of the design agency or company for which an individual works. However, the following would normally fall within the remit of an interior designer:

A professional qualification is virtually essential in order to pursue a career in interior design. There is a wide range of courses and training options available and the most suitable route will also depend upon which sector of interior design you are interested in.

The British Interior Design Association provides a list of higher education establishments offering interior design courses. There are around 60 providers offering in excess of 50 different courses. There's a huge variety from a 10 Week Interior Decoration Certificate to a 4 year full time BA Honours degree. So how should you go about choosing the right interior design course?

See the rest here:
Interior Designer Career Guide - - My Job Search