The Bridgeable Designership is one of Canada’s only service design internships. This paid, full-time internship gives Bridgeable the opportunity to teach and learn from bright minds in design, strategy, and research.

Every year, we host an open house to provide information about the Designership. Speaking to a full house of prospective applicants, Bridgeable CEO Susan Bartlett kicked off the 2020 event by talking about Bridgeable’s work as a human-centred design consultancy. Next, she walked us through a quick history and philosophy of the Designership—what it is and why Bridgeable does it.

Here’s some of what she covered.

The Designership 

As Bridgeable’s flagship social responsibility program, the Designership partners with a different organization each year, tackling challenges with real social impact.

The Designership benefits Bridgeable, its interns, the client partner, and the larger community:

• Client partner: Participating in the Designership is an opportunity for a client to solve a unique organizational challenge that requires different ways of thinking.
• Community: The Designership benefits the larger community by creating better, more human services and experiences as a result of our design solution.
• Bridgeable: The Designership is a chance for Bridgeable to test new capabilities and approaches. It’s also a great opportunity to promote the value of our work to a wider audience.
• Designership interns: Designership interns opportunity to work at Bridgeable on a meaningful end-to-end design project that lets them learn new skills and gain new experience, while being paid.

Next, members of recent Designership teams talked about the Designership boot camp experience and what it’s like to design as a team. They also gave an overview of the 2019 Designership challenge, a design-based approach to ending youth homelessness in Hamilton, Ontario.

Application notes and tips

Our People and Culture Manager, Stephen Nolan, took the stage next to offer tips about how to apply. 

We tend to receive a very large number of applications for the Designership. To ensure your application will be noticed, please keep these notes and tips in mind!

The Designership is a training program for service designers. We value a diversity of experiences and backgrounds, including research, design, behavioural science, illustration, and much more. This means that you don’t already have to be a designer to apply. (If you are, that’s great, too!)

Use the resources available to you to understand Bridgeable.
This includes our website and Twitter feed.

Follow the instructions!
It’s essential to follow the application instructions. Applications that don’t nclude all the required elements will not be considered.

Double-check all the details.
Proofread. Proofread again. Find an editor you trust, or spend some time away from the process and return to review your application with fresh eyes. A well-edited application will speak volumes about the polish and attention to detail you would bring to client work. 

Cover letter
Don’t send us a boilerplate letter! Write it just for us. To get our attention, think about what you can’t convey elsewhere in your application. Use your letter to share insights that may not neatly fit into your resume and portfolio. Show your personality. Tell us why you’re passionate about human-centred design. Let us know why you think you’d be a great fit for Bridgeable and the Designership.

In your cover letter, you should also specify which role you’re applying for.

Mission statement
Demonstrate your confidence. Share your approach in one powerful, concise statement. And remember: short and coherent is better than long and disjointed. 

Resume
Describe your relevant experience and your applicable skills. Giving us insight into who you are as a person helps set you apart from the pack.

Portfolio
Demonstrate your capabilities. Create good narratives, and be sure to include context. Show us your process. A picture is worth ten thousand words!

DO

• Include a slide deck from a school project/client pitch.
• Include a writing sample.
• An overview of qualitative and/or quantitative study you have participated in.
• Think about including a story of a world adventure you’ve had.

DON’T

• Include a lonely photo with no context.
• Include your entire thesis. (The abstract will do.)
• Include a group project without explaining your role on the project.

Final check

Submit all pieces as one PDF. Follow our defined naming convention. Submit before the deadline!

Learn more about the Designership and apply by January 20, 2020.

Designership projects

Interested in learning more about past Designership challenges? Read about our most recent projects:

2019—Making the Shift, co-led by Canadian Observatory on Homelessness and A Way Home Canada: Reducing and preventing youth homelessness 

2018—SE Health: Reimagining the home care experience for older adults—a vital service facing growing demand, funding constraints, and increasingly complex client needs

2017—Shared Mobility: Developing shared mobility service concepts effective in converting single-occupancy drivers to transit customers among suburban commuters in the GTHA

2016—Heart & Stroke Foundation: Designing the successful launch of an innovative national hypertension prevention program

2015—MaRS: Demonstrating to government and potential funders the benefits of giving mothers control over their children’s electronic medical record