Blog

Summer Internship at Faber-Castell

08/15/16  |  Posted by  |  Posted in Career Center

Name: Liz Beatty

Major: Illustration

Internship location: Internship location: Faber-Castell, Cleveland, OH

How you found out about the internship?

I found out about the internship through College Central, specifically in the section of postings exclusive to CIA. I took a chance on it because, although the expiration date of the posting looked to be in line with a summer internship, there was a note in the posting that it was for the fall semester. When I initially sent an email to the contact person to get clarification, she told me to apply. So I’m very glad I didn’t eliminate the posting, assuming it was for the fall.

What have you been doing?

I am a creative product development and design intern in the Creativity 4 Kids division of Faber-Castell. This division designs, produces, and markets craft activity products for children that develop their creative skills. Some things I do are completing final details in packaging designs for various arts and craft kits and making completed samples of the products. These samples are then taken to toy fairs so that store buyers can see the finished products, and they are also photographed for use on the packaging. I also am designing stickers, stencils, and badges and just learned that three of my designs were selected to be included in a new product.

What are you learning?

I’m learning a lot about working in a professional environment, particularly what it’s like working in a team. There are a lot of people involved in every project, and there is a lot of back and forth dialogue and collaboration that goes on. It is also interesting to see the amount of development that a product may go through before it is put on a store shelf – the original product idea goes through a lot of change.

What has surprised you so far?

Something that has surprised me is the diverse backgrounds the employees come from. Some of the people I’ve met have studied illustration, graphic design, fashion, fibers, marketing, and business, just to name a few. I was also surprised to see how many companies are involved in the production process. There is always constant communication with various suppliers in China to make sure we are using the best materials we can while keeping within a certain price point.

How has CIA prepared you to get the most out of your internship?

Amy Goldman, the Career Center director, was so much help in reviewing my resume and portfolio to help me throughout the application process. Professionally, the demanding workload at CIA has helped me be able to perform under a tight deadline. It is not uncommon for things to come up at the last minute in the business world, and it’s important to be able to adapt and produce high quality work quickly. Learning the Adobe suite programs has also been very valuable as I use those a lot during my internship. When applying to design-related jobs, my knowledge of Adobe programs is always one of the first things I get asked about. Being confident in those skills and having a portfolio that demonstrates that proficiency helps the employer know they won’t need to spend time teaching me the programs, and that I can hit the ground running and be productive from day one.

• Comments
  0
• 
• Tweet

Leave a comment

Name

Comment

  Submit

Back to blog listing