INDUSTRIAL DESIGN STUDENTS: if you need reminding to work, you're not ready

College isn't high school with dorms. Nobody's checking if you showed up. The structure is gone and that's the point.

If someone has to tell you to spend forty hours a week on your craft, you're already behind. When you graduate, that's the minimum. You'll compete against people who spent sixty or more.

Students who get hired treated school like the job they want. They built portfolios outside class requirements. They learned software the curriculum didn't cover. They reached out to professionals and asked questions.

Your classwork is the baseline. What you do beyond that determines if you get hired.

If you need someone defining structure to function, industry will destroy you. Deadlines don't come with reminders. Clients don't care about your other commitments.

There are more designers than roles. The ones who stand out are the ones who found the initiative on their own.

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