Careers in Advanced Professional Design Practice

According to BusinessWeek magazine (October 9, 2006) graduates from design schools are being sought more than ever by employers. In the feature article titled “The Talent Hunt,” BusinessWeek describes how, “desperate to innovate, companies are turning to design schools for nimble, creative thinkers… The power of this new approach, called design thinking, to promote innovation and open up business opportunities is attracting the attention of corporations around the globe. Design has evolved from a narrow discipline dealing with the form and function of products into a major new approach to developing business models.”

International executive design recruiter RitaSue Siegel describes that there is an unmet demand to hire designers with leadership skills. In her article “An aristocracy of our own,” Siegel states, “Design leaders and up-and-comers are in short supply. For every one we recommend to our clients, we have talked to over 100 potential candidates.”

Furthermore, in her article “Forget managers, Corporations need Leaders: Design Leaders,” Siegel states, “The motivation to hire design leaders is the same for consulting firms as it is for corporations (including nonprofits or public institutions).” Companies are seeking designers for executive roles because “[i]ntegrating the design thinking process into an organization will improve its competitive position.” Siegel continues, “And what is design thinking? It happens in an organization that considers itself an unfinished prototype. ‘Design thinking is one of enlightened trial and error wherein one observes the world, identities the patterns of behavior, generates ideas, gets feedback, repeats the process and keeps on refining.’ To develop a leadership organization and culture, one must hire talented people who work and play well together, and collaborate on a constant stream of always-improving products, communications, services, systems and experiences that customers didn’t know they needed or wanted, but do and will spend a premium for when they see them.”

Careers in Higher education

According to the National Association of Schools of Art and Design and the College Art Association (the two primary national bodies in the field), the MFA degree is defined as the terminal degree for the study of the practice of the arts in this country. By earning this degree, students will be qualified academically to become faculty members at institutions of higher education.

The demand for new faculty is increasing as the pool of current faculty will thin dramatically as the first baby boom generation starts to retire in large numbers over the next decade (those born in 1945 turned 60 in 2005). Additionally, the demand for higher education continues to grow in the United States as the population of college-age students and returning students grows. A recent book-length study of career paths in the United States, “Best Jobs of the 21st Century,” (Jest Works) forecasts strong growth in the demand for teachers in higher education.