Last Saturday 19th November, Insight School of Interior Design hosted a career forum for anyone interested in pursuing a career in interior design. Industry experts Leslie Lui from Aedas Interiors, Hernan Zanghellini from Zanghellini & Holt, Alicia Chan & Naqeeb Popal from Bespoke Careers and Eve Mercier from Insight School inspired, educated and entertained us over a few hours and a few bottles of wine!
The afternoon began with 1:1 career ‘speed-dating’ sessions where our guests had the opportunity to show their portfolio to our panel of experts. This was an opportunity for people to get informed about their career prospects, understand the job market in HK for designers and learn more about study options available at the school for those wanting to switch careers. These sessions were extremely popular and could have gone on for hours.
Our first presenters were Alicia Chan, Design Consultant and Naqeeb Popal, Architecture & Design Consultant from Bespoke Careers. Alicia and Naqeeb showed us how to write the perfect job application and how to send it out to prospective employees. They took us through a few examples of mistakes to avoid when putting together a CV and portfolio, and gave out tips on how to present yourself in job interviews.
Leslie Lui, Senior Associate at Aedas Interiors gave a very inspiring presentation on how interior designers can and do add value in the design development process. Leslie went through many case studies where interior designers and architects have successfully collaborated on a project, dispelling the myth that the 2 disciplines can’t work together.
Hernan Zanghellini, partner at Zanghellini and Holt, followed next with a candid and informative presentation on the “business of interior design”. Focusing on food and beverage projects, Hernan gave us a real insight into the many hats an interior designer needs to wear when working on design projects; from business advisor to financial consultant, from life coach to mentor. Hernan talked about how crucial it is for interior designers to understand the client brief from a business point of view before starting the project ie. how the F&B establishment runs, how they currently generate revenue and what is the client expectation – these are critical factors which can often be overlooked by inexperienced interior designers who may just want to ‘decorate’ an interior.
Eve Mercier, founder of Insight School was the final presenter for the afternoon and gave us the pros and cons of working in your own business as an interior designer versus working for a large firm. Eve also presented a list of her top 5 interior designers and qualities and traits which have made them outstanding in their fields.
Having listened to three interior designers give three very different accounts of their career, one couldn’t help but feel inspired and excited by this profession. It definitely inspired many interesting questions to our presenters and discussion topics during our networking drinks!