Looking to pursue a career in interior design?
A career in interior design can be really exciting and dynamic. As part of a bespoke, creative industry, interior design roles can be well paid – whether you work for yourself as a freelancer or as part of an interior design studio.
Wherever your interests lie – whether it be in homes, offices, hotels, restaurants, public buildings, or elsewhere – you’ll be able to look for a role where you work towards creating beautiful, stylish, and functional spaces in either the commercial or residential world. You may even find yourself going beyond traditional interiors, specialising in events and exhibitions or even entering the world of production design for theatre, film, and television.
Whichever option is right for you, the British Institute of Interior Design has a professional pathway to support your development as a designer. As a student on an Interior Design degree you can also gain free student membership.
The National Careers Service have example job profiles for working as an interior designer, which can help get an understanding of the sector, and recruitment practices.
Specialist recruitment sites for interior design include:
If you’re interested in becoming an interior designer, it can also be helpful to think about the interior design qualifications that will enable you to take your first steps along the career path.
What qualifications do you need to become an interior designer?
While there isn’t a specific qualification you need to complete to be an interior designer, there are a wide variety of interior design qualifications that could help develop your knowledge, skills and techniques, and allow you to build a portfolio – these will all be valuable when applying for a job in interior design.
If you find yourself wondering what qualifications you need to be an interior designer, a foundation course or bachelor’s degree is a great place to start. At OCA, both our interior design qualifications – Foundation Interior Design and BA Interior Design – are open access, meaning you don’t have to have any other previous qualifications to participate.
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