My Career is also My Passion

I read this interesting article in Interior Design magazine last night and it gave me hope about this once lost field of interior design. Sometimes it's hard to really sell people on why you should hire a designer. The majority of the public has no clue what we do. Most people think they can do it themselves or just hire a decorator. This is where I have to correct people. I'm not a decorator! Decorators do not have a degree, have not been certified by the National Council of Interior Design, or do not have a working knowledge on the health, safety, and welfare of the public. I am a designer.

The article in ID, was taken from a survey from the year 2012:

• 83% of the designers in the world are female
• 97% of female designers have a college degree
• 48% have the NCIDQ certification (National Council for Interior Design Qualification)
• 37% have the LEED certification (Leadership in Energy and Envrionmental Design)
• 50% are members of IIDA (International Interior Design Assoc.)
• 24% work in the Southeast (the largest percentage in the nation)
• 84% say they are happy in their chosen profession
• 11% of salaries jumped in the past year
• 50% of the factors that impacted job satisfaction were the balance of work and life
• 11% of companies are now offering retirement plans
• 75% of companies have hired NEW designers
• 74% of companies offer health insurance
• 46% of employees received a raise
• 78% of those raises were rewarded for job performance

And that's just the half of it. The entire article really pumps me up about graduation and getting out there to find a job. I feel a little more at ease that jobs are becoming more and more available each year and that the designers that are already in the field feel secure and pleased with their job. Hopefully more clients out there are finding that designers do have the touch that makes a project go from ordinary to EXTRAordinary. The skills that we learn in school are skills your average Suzy Homemaker isn't capable of giving you. We have insight information about human behavior, ergonomics, accessibility, functionality, and circulation. We care more about the function of a space and how you'll live in it every day more than just the pillows and the paint on the wall.

Do me a favor and quit watching HGTV. Okay, I still watch it too but take everything they say with a grain of salt. They are trying to make design into entertainment and all that does it show the world how worthless designers are. It doesn't give us the credibility we deserve and have worked hard for.

Now that I'm off my soapbox. The article was awesome and I encourage you, if you're a design student or if you're just interested, to go online and read through it. There's a place in this world for designers. We make the world a better place for YOU to live in and then we make it pretty.

A quote from the article that I love: "Designers are blessed - our career is also our passion. I can't get enough of it, so it doesn't feel like work." - Hannah Harbert, FirstEnergy Corp