How To Become An Interior Design Internship: What It Is and Career Path

What is an interior design internship and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted experts

Bill Darcy,

Jessa Wilcoxen

Interior designers help clients remodel and transform their spaces, making them more attractive and functional. Interns are a significant part of this process, and they assist with everything from design concepts to execution. Interior design interns have a focus on making sure that the final space is both aesthetic and usable.

A day in the life of an interior design intern includes accompanying the designer to meetings, understanding the client's needs, and making a note of any special requests. Next, the intern examines the space to know how it's currently used.

Interns may also create preliminary plans for the room's redesign, assist in developing budgets, and prepare an invoice. Other responsibilities include communicating with contractors, looking for the best deals on supplies, and performing administrative duties.

To become an interior design intern, you need a degree in interior design or architecture. You also need to pass the three-part National Council for Interior Design Qualification exam.

What general advice would you give to an interior design internship?

Bill Darcy

CEO, National Kitchen & Bath Association

This year has thrown curveballs at us like never before, and the job market is just one of the areas that has been upended," said Bill Darcy, NKBA CEO. "One thing the pandemic has proven is that our homes are multitasking more than ever - like home office, home school, gym, spa - and our kitchens are getting quite a workout, as the family's central hub and gathering space. People are anxious to remodel, so they may customize their spaces to accommodate these new needs. This is one sector where business is robust, and many of our NKBA designer and remodeler members can't keep up with the volume of work. So, entering the workforce in a design or remodeling capacity holds a great deal of promise. Work and jobs are plentiful - and our research shows that design, construction and remodeling activity is likely to continue well into next year and beyond. Of course, no one can predict the course the pandemic might take or other factors might affect the economy, but I would suggest that this is an excellent time to explore internships and apprenticeships in the skilled trades, because these professional pathways, as well as kitchen, bath and interior design, are likely to yield solid opportunities for the foreseeable future.

ScoreInterior Design InternshipUS Average

Salary

3.6

Avg. Salary $45,975

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.7

Growth rate 1%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.14%

Asian 4.57%

Black or African American 1.48%

Hispanic or Latino 7.59%

Unknown 4.08%

White 82.14%

Gender

female 88.13%

male 11.87%

Age - 40

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 40

Stress level

6.7

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.7

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.4

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an interior design internship

Explore interior design internship education requirements

Most common interior design internship degrees

Bachelor's

73.6 %

Associate

15.1 %

Master's

4.7 %

Start to develop specific interior design internship skills

Skills	Percentages
Revit	19.99%
Sketch	7.72%
Auto CAD	6.28%
SketchUp	6.24%
Design Solutions	4.65%

Complete relevant interior design internship training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New interior design interns learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an interior design internship based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real interior design internship resumes.

Research interior design internship duties and responsibilities

Manage the website and twitter page, write the blog posts and attend numerous fashion shows and sample sale rooms.
Work primarily with AutoCAD, SketchUp, and materials selection.
Conduct concept sketch, research materials and select furniture for these projects.
Create an initial design concept on sketch plans and as an online model.

Prepare your interior design internship resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your interior design internship resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an interior design internship resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable interior design internship resume templates

Build a professional interior design internship resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your interior design internship resume.