Careers
A handful of the ways an ID degree can advance your career.
1. Effective design methods that work in any field
The ability to reliably invent new offerings and have them succeed is a rare skill—but one that can be taught. Fifty years of practice has made the Institute of Design the acknowledged leader in this new discipline. Our curriculum exposes students to over 100 design methods and tools, and trains students to apply them in fields like interactive media, health care, technology and business consulting.
2. Increased career value
ID-trained professionals are recognized in industry as effective leaders of design, strategy and innovation. Companies across sectors actively recruit at the Institute of Design, attracted by our graduates' demonstrated track record of leading teams and creating value, and typically place them at a level in the organization that allows them to have immediate impact. Our semi-annual recruiting event attracts dozens of companies and leads to hundreds of on-site interviews. And, as of 2006, the average alumni salary is over 30% above the design industry average.
For the latest salary and jobs data from our annual survey, download our 2008 alumni survey [pdf, 200kb].
3. A global professional network
We strive for student diversity -- both geographic and professional -- so students learn as much from classmates as from the curriculum. Fully half of ID students are from fields outside design like management, engineering, sociology and law. About 40% are from outside the U.S. and 90% are from outside Chicago, making ID one of the most global institutions of its kind. The unusual intensity and focus of our program creates bonds among students that last a lifetime. Alumni return to hire team members, teach courses and connect students to a global design community. The resulting professional network is unique resource at the disposal of every graduate and an invaluable resource for locating employees, project partners and research subjects.
4. Immersion in cutting-edge thinking
Our research agenda and projects are directly tied to the challenges of real-world organizations. In return, executives and managers advise and review our graduates' work. This allows students to routinely take part in future-oriented conversations with the leaders of today's business strategy and to contribute to a growing body of knowledge on a variety of emerging topics. Such topics include the future of healthcare and education, tailoring global offerings to local markets, and designing for "base of the pyramid" consumers in the developing world
5. The chance to make a difference
Design thinking -- whether applied to medical devices, interactive systems or environmental sustainability -- has the power to transform lives. The Institute of Design strives to increase the value of design to society and the value of designers to their organizations and clients. Our methods put people at the center of the design process: ID students learn state-of-the-art user research methods, adapted from anthropology and sociology, to help them more fully grasp the complex, dynamic circumstances of the people they're designing for. We encourage our students to look to emerging capabilities -- new technologies, new distribution systems, advances in material sciences -- as potential means to transform people's lives and serve them better. Lastly, we train our students to make the compelling case to business leaders for doing well by doing good.
Video
Here's a four minute YouTube video with interviews from students and recruiters at the 2007 recruitID event.
