In 2021, I launched the first Fractal Ink Apprenticeship Program for the recruitment, training and eventual hiring of junior designers at Fractal Ink.
This was a 3 month long program that involved a combination of classroom training and hands on project experience that established a baseline level of competency in UX, UI, Strategy and consultant skillsets.
Here’s an overview of how I structured the program:
1. Inviting applications: The apprenticeship program invited applicants from designers with at least 1 year of experience or recent graduates of design programs in India. I got in touch with the placement cells of the most prominent educational institutions teaching design, and hosted webinars to have direct conversations with students about Fractal Ink, what we do, and career opportunities as a design consultant. We received over 100 applications from all over the country, out of which 20 were shortlisted.
2. Setting the curriculum:
The curriculum featured a three pronged approach that covered Design, Strategy, and Consultancy basics. I created the curriculum to specifically teach the Fractal Ink way of being a design consultant, and conducted training sessions with the help of the senior designers at Fractal Ink. Here’s a look at the sessions from the first week:
3. Training sessions:
The training sessions were conducted over a span of 1 month as 2~3 hour long sessions, by the senior designers and I, with a special focus on sharing “stories from the trenches”, and providing context about how the principles being taught are applied in real life projects. The cadence of the sessions was set up to demonstrate the evolution of a product through it’s lifecycle on a typical project.
4. Project staffing:
After the conclusion of the training sessions, each apprentice was assigned to one of our projects where they worked on team and were guided by our senior designers. The apprentices got a chance to implement their learnings from the training sessions directly in projects which deepened their understanding of how each tool and technique works in the context of a client facing project.
5. Assessments and Graduation:
The apprenticeship program concluded with performance evaluations. I developed an evaluation framework specifically for this, based on benchmarks from academia and industry, as well from specific needs of Fractal Ink and the way we work. It combined peer reviews and mentor evaluations with a skill growth path which simultaneously connects the assessment to the employees most desirable growth path in the company.
We made offers to the 15 most promising apprentices who are now working on various projects for our clients in India and abroad.
Key Learnings:
👍 There’s much to be learnt in the teaching of the craft
👍 It always takes longer than expected to organize a curriculum
👍 Communication pathways are vital for encouraging smooth operations and nurturing the relationships between teammates
👍 A good working culture is demonstrated, not taught