Taking a closer look at interior design employment opportunities.
This is for you if you plan to study interior design and wish to learn about employment opportunities in this exciting industry. And, if you are a beginner designer, fresh out of college and trying to decide which interior design niche you’d love to specialize in, you will find this post beneficial.
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Numerous Career Opportunities
There are numerous career opportunities in the interior design industry, and if anyone claims the industry is saturated, take it with a pinch of salt. Nothing can be further from the truth.
Deciding on a niche is much better than being a jack-of-all-trades interior designer. If you plan to start your own business, don't restrict yourself to what every other interior designer is doing. There are many sides to interior design. Think carefully and observe areas of the market where you feel you can fit in without being in fierce competition with thousands of other designers and decorators.
Employment Opportunities to Consider
Interior design has many branches, sub-branches, and niches within niches. Just think of the hundreds of things that come into play in residential and commercial interior design and décor. The possibilities are vast and many have high earning potential.
1. Real Estate Industry
Job opportunities in the real estate industry can involve working for professional home builders, real estate companies, and property developers. Having an interior designer on board is an added plus for property firms because their professional design skills are essential to the property market.
It helps (in no small measure) to ensure quick sales to prospective buyers. A designer knows precisely what buyers want and how to give it to them.
2. Home Improvement Stores
There are great job openings for interior designers in home improvement stores and home decor departments in large retail stores. Designers can work with manufacturers of home design elements and fixtures like bathroom wares, kitchen cabinetry furniture, lighting elements, and other interior design-related products.
They may also have to interact with customers who will eventually become clients by helping them with space planning projects, makeovers, renovations, using the store's branded products, etc.
3. Building Industry's Associated Firms
There are job opportunities for interior designers in architectural firms, engineering companies, interior design businesses, home builders and contractors. There are also building-related consulting firms that employ interior designers on contract.
Designers can serve as junior partners or heads of design departments in such firms. Because designers are skilled in creating functional and aesthetically pleasing interior environments, their services are in demand for consulting, developing design concepts, and producing the required drawings for the firms' clients.
4. Project Management
Interior designers can work in building project management firms as a medium to large-scale commercial design project managers. These kinds of projects are more medium to large-scale commercial design projects. While employed as an interior design project manager (or assistant), the designer will be responsible for all facets of project planning, budgeting, scheduling, and execution of projects.
5. Freelance Designing
If an interior designer wishes to be self-employed, it's best to work as a freelance interior designer. Freelance designers can work directly with private clients, private firms, consultants, or even the property development industry. Services provided may be anything from designing custom furniture to consultancy or supervisory tasks.
Freelance interior designers also provide consultation/advice to clients regarding space planning, organization, layout, and utilization of furniture and decorative pieces. The attraction of freelance jobs is the independence from the restrictions of permanent employment and the freedom to decide which jobs to take.
6. Lighting Design
An important sub-category of interior design is the enhancement of interior spaces with both functional and aesthetically appealing lighting systems to help create an ambience and mood in any living space.
7. Journalism
A career working as a journalist or writer involves writing articles for design magazines, blogs, journals, student books, and electronic media publications.
8. Hospitality Industry
In the hospitality sector, interior designers design and construct hotel lobby layouts, resort guest rooms, hotel restaurants, and related public spaces while considering guests' overall comfort and user experience.
9. Building Interior Design Models
Building three-dimensional interior design models is a lucrative career that brings many benefits to consultants, clients, and the workforce. It helps speed up the design process and fastens the decision-making procedure while helping to identify and solve potential design problems that may arise before project commencement.
10. Studio Design
For recording studio interiors, every project is unique, but the common factor is that space must be comforting and motivational aside from being functional and aesthetically pleasing. In terms of design, what sells a studio goes beyond a good price and varying technical gear. It’s the vibe and ambience that mostly sells a studio, and this can only be achieved through a well-planned interior design concept.
11. Exhibit Design
Career exhibition designers create fixtures, fittings, and display stands for public (or private) exhibitions, conventions, conferences, trade shows, museums, art galleries, and other spaces that require themed attractions. This niche goes relatively unnoticed, but some interior designers work in it and make good profits for their businesses.
12. CAD (Computer-Aided Design) Software Specialist
Today, every interior designer has no excuse for not being design software savvy. But many, at least, know the basics of designing with simple CAD programs, and that’s good. A career path can be created by technically inclined designers to create 2D and 3D drawings and presentations.
13. Creative Painting
This career path is best for the artistically inclined interior designer who loves sketching, painting, and illustrating. Working as a creative painter for interior walls and ceilings is lucrative because it is like selling art. Creative paint techniques include stencilling, drip painting, faux wood and marbling, distressing, texturing, and stamping.
14. Teaching
Teaching interior design is a route that many interior designers disregard, but it is a niche that is both profitable and fulfilling. Even practising designers who have extra time on their hands can teach in higher institutions. Interior design education can be through online courses, on-campus lecturing, and high schools. It is a great way to invest one’s expertise which others would learn from.
15. Stage Set Design
Set interior designers create scenic settings for the entertainment industry by designing and furnishing the interiors we see in the film, theatre, television, and advertising industries. This is referred to as creating atmospheres of scenes through interior design.
The scope of service varies and may be as easy as designing the set for a stage play or as complex as recreating locations like the interior of a ship or a great hall of a Gothic structure.
16. Kitchen and Wardrobe Design Specialist
These are some of the top profitable niches in the residential design category, and many designers work as kitchen and wardrobe design specialists and fitters. Proficiency in the use of CAD interior design software is required for layout planning, material selections, colour schemes, textures, lighting, storage solutions, and mechanical systems required for kitchen and wardrobe designs.
17. Residential Interior Design
Residential interior designers provide services for clients that require home design tasks like interior space planning, design and furnishing, upgrades, and renovations. They can work freelance with architects and estate developers, be in a partnership, or work on a contract basis with other interior design firms.
18. Commercial Interior Design
This niche involves consulting with prospective clients, designing and producing the design concept drawings, and supervising the implemented tasks. Commercial projects cover restaurants, hotel interiors, bars, clubs, and other recreational facilities.
19. Institutional Interior Design
Institutional interior design involves in-depth programming, planning, design, and management of interior spaces used by public and private organizations. It is based on the concept of “designing for the people first”. An institution in this context can be anything from a hospital and school to a museum, a residential care facility, a religious building, or a courtroom structure.
Conclusion
From all indications, the services provided by professional interior designers go beyond interior decoration and simple home décor tasks. For employment opportunities, it is good to dig deeper because each niche can be further broken down into sub-niches. It is amazing how limitless the options are.
For example, in the hospitality design niche, interior designers can custom-design and supply branded linen or tailor and install window treatments for hotel bedrooms and lobbies. In lighting design, there is the option of selling uncommon floor, wall, and table lamps. As a stage lighting expert, a talented designer can transform a simple event into something spectacular.
These are examples of sub-niches within an interior design niche and are areas any interior designer can fit into when charting a career path.
According to statistics, employment opportunities for interior designers will increase by 19% between now and 2020. Designers will be in higher demand and will be required to respond to consumer expectations of today and that of the future.
Residential and commercial interiors must meet certain conditions, such as being more functional, downsized, environmentally friendly, and efficient. This only implies that the interior design industry will continue to flourish.
Professional Association to Join
The NCIDQ (National Council for Interior Design Qualification) is the highly coveted credential of choice for interior designers, so if you are a beginner designer, a student of interior design, or a practising designer that is yet to sit for this professional exam, you must plan towards taking the NCIDQ Examination.
However, you must complete a formal program of study and go through a period of supervised work experience in the industry before being eligible to take the exam.
The examination comprises three sections: Interior Design Fundamentals Exam (IDFX)
Interior Design Professional Exam (IDPX)
Interior Design Practicum (PRAC)
If you are preparing for your professional registration examination, or plan to set up your interior design firm, you may find this book, Professional Practice for Interior Designers, recommended by the NCIDQ for exam preparations, extremely valuable.
This book has remained the leading choice for educators teaching interior design business practices and for interior designers pursuing advancement in their establishments.
(Article originally published by me at https://hubpages.com/@viryabo)
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