As mentioned in a previous post, I was lucky enough to get a visit arrange at Design Politie, one of my favourite Dutch studios.
http://www.designpolitie.nl
The studio is based sin the centre of Amsterdam, as you can see in the map below:
The studio itself was really small, with work space being on two levels, almost like bunks:
It was really good to visit the studio.
We discussed how internships work in Amsterdam:
- Most interns are current university students, as in Amsterdam students have a few months off for internships.
- Interns are paid a mire 250 Euros a month. Paying any more means the studio have to do lots of paperwork and pay tax.
- Working in Amsterdam is expensive as the city is so confined. Rent is extremely expensive unless you stay far away in the North of Amsterdam.
- There work was even more impressive when Jolien explained more about the projects I had seen online.
I was offered an Internship!
Jolien offered me an internship, but told me to really consider living in Amsterdam. It could be very difficult if I do not know anyone. For this reason, I feel that I will not take the internship on, as its something I could not afford.
I still intend on keeping in contact, and hopefully could be somewhere I could work as a junior designer in the future. I want to keep my options open and take on a few internships first before settling down at a studio. This is to ensure I am working somewhere I enjoy. Taking on a junior designer job in a foreign country could be very risky if I do not enjoy it.
