What Does It Mean to Be a DMI Graduate Entering the Job Market?

Design Management, International BA program equips graduates with practical and theoretical knowledge, making them competent and demanded professionals. But when they enter the job market, turns out that people misunderstand what design managers do. Future employers demand clear explanations of who a design manager is, however, the graduates struggle to articulate competencies and practices in a concrete and measurable way, as design managers speak in an abstract language not considered common in the world of work. A communication gap between job-seekers and employers emerges, which is difficult to bridge with existing job-seeking and hiring practices and mindsets.

What Was Done

The research included literature ranging from management, design, and organizational theory, to poetry about work and personal identity, empathetic conversations with DMI students and graduates, imagining ideal futures of work, and prototyping and what could be done to change the current situation.

A Proposal to Help DMI Students & Graduates

Reflective Atlas is a source of tools for personal and collective reflection on work & jobs that engages graduates in reflective practices by offering interactive frameworks, methods, and maps designed to support the beginning of job-searching experiences. The form is a hybrid: an online ready-to-use platform + easy access PDF files of tools. Addressing the need to structure reflection processes, Reflective Atlas invites people to explore jobs and hiring beyond conventional methods by giving them tools to imagine new job-seeking practices.