After surveying 100 designers from around the world, these are the mostimportant skills and traits considered by the senior designers when hiring young industrial designers (0-2 years of experience). Join the discussion and see the in-depth report by visiting http://michaelroller.com/

The Ideal (Junior) Industrial Designer

4 3 2 169%

52%

Quality of Ideas

Aesthetic Sensitivity

89%

38%

Ideation Sketching

CAD Modeling

38%Attention to Detail

61%

52%

Positive Attitude

Passion for Career

51%Cultural Fit30%Verbal Presentation

55%

32%

Ergonomics & Human Factors

Ethnography

32%Opportunity Mapping

Problem IdentificationConceptually, problem identification and framing were considered to be of high importance, but respondents found it difficult to identify the specific skills that were key to it’s importance. It would seem risky for young designers to ignore the development of these skills altogether, especially given the recent popularity of design thinking and design research.

Presentation & ExecutionOverall, executional skills ranked as the least important of the four categories but that ideation sketching was considered the most important of any individual skill on the survey. 89% of respondents felt sketching was very important, outscoring everything else. The second most important executional skill was CAD modeling (38%).

PersonalityHaving the right personality traits is even more important than having good technical skills. Hiring managers most often disqualify junior ID candidates for having a negative attitude, followed shortly by being unprofessional, showing a lack passion, or being a poor fit for the company culture.

Design SolutionsBeautiful and intelligent design solutions ranked as the most important overall. More than half of respondents considered the quality of ideas and aesthetic sensitivity to be very important.