“Mismanaged experiences can be overwhelming – or underwhelming.” How High Tide approach internships

Following Singapore’s Fable and Brighton’s UnitedUs, we complete our internship-focused trio of articles with a trip to New York to speak to Brooklyn-based studio High Tide to find out how they do it. “Historically we’ve always had a three-month long summer internship programme,” they tell us. The only exception for this was in 2020 when the team worked remotely and felt that the WFH set-up didn’t provide a suitable learning environment. When the equally exciting and scary period of graduation season rolls around, aspiring creatives will be finding their footing in this fast-paced design industry. Internships, to an extent, aim to bridge the gap. This is one reason why High Tide treat the selection process with the same care and seriousness as hiring any other full-time role. “It’s always the ambition to offer the summer intern a full-time position at the end of the programme if it’s good for everyone involved,” Allan and Miller explain. “We’re very scrutinous of the applicant’s portfolio and how they present themselves in their cover letter, drawing up a shortlist of five candidates to interview.” Along with Miller, who leads the interview process, the shortlisted candidates meet with the mid-level designers that will be their day-to-day support. “The successful candidate is then onboarded like any other member of the team and introduced to everyone for an opportunity to learn more about each of our teams outside of design, walked through recent (and greatest) case studies so they get to see how we do what we do.”