UX Academy: Internship Information

12-week full-time immersive program for young adults (18-24 years old) who live in St. Paul or Minneapolis

SUMMER 2023 INTERNSHIPS

UX Academy will run March 20-June 9, 2023. Students will be available for internships starting June 12, 2023. Please see the full details below.

UX Academy is offered in partnership with MSP Tech Hire, Right Track, Step Up and Prime Digital Academy, and is intended for career-launchers who are early on in their UX career journey.

During the 12-week immersion training program, students learn UX practice through practice, engaging three (3) client-sourced projects, conducting evaluations, and building prototypes, all while establishing meaningful relationships with industry mentors.

Graduates of UX Academy will be matched with summer internships to help them continue their professional development working with one of our many awesome local employers. Internships will be offered through the Step Up and Right Track programs. Right Track and Step Up aim to build Minneapolis & Saint Paul’s workforce by providing career-readiness opportunities and Internship experience for under-resourced youth and young adults.

Interns expect to…

Gain insights as to ways in which UX team members work and collaborate in order to expand their understanding of the practice
Further advance their UX skills by collaborating with the team on project work, such as helping to plan, facilitate, or report on research efforts or translate research into design concepts, sketches, or wireframes.
Receive feedback and guidance from a UX team mentor/leader on ways in which they can continue to level-up their budding UX practice

Minimum requirements:

6 weeks long (10-12 weeks is ideal)
$15.00/hr ($20-25/hr is recommended; last year's average was $21/hr)
20 hours/week (can be up to 40 hrs/week)
Allow interns to synchronously attend weekly 2-hr Professional Development sessions delivered by Prime staff

INTERESTED?

Pledge an intern today!

Hosting a UX Academy intern is an immediately achievable way to demonstrate your commitment to diversifying and creating a more inclusive UX industry.

If you have the funds, willing mentors, and project work to be tackled, these folks have budding talent and inordinate amounts of gumption to work towards that shared goal! Plus, as an employer partner, you will be instrumental in helping to inform the manner in which we recruit, train, and provide career opportunities to under-resourced, under-represented, and predominantly BIPOC talent.

Pledge to host an intern

Define the scope

Consider the internship a "short-term UX project" that can help your team make progress on items that may otherwise get deprioritized! Leverage the uniqueness of your organization and team and use the guide linked below to get started.

Download our Short-term UX Project Guide (PDF) >

Submit the job description

Describe the details of how your intern will work, for how long, and in what capacity. We recommend looking at the form in advance so you know what items need to be considered!

Submit the job description >

Submit Employer Agreement

Employers*, interns, and program partners are each responsible for making these internships successful. Please review and submit your employer agreement before Employer Orientation in May 2023.

View & submit your Employer Agreement >

Process/Requirements questions

Nardos Tesfalidet
Right Track Program Manager (St Paul)
Nardos.Tesfalidet@ci.stpaul.mn.us

Tammy Dickinson
Step Up Director (Minneapolis)
Tammy.Dickinson@minneapolismn.gov

UX-Related Questions

Ange Wang
Prime Digital Academy
Sr. Director of UX Instruction & Strategy
ange@primeacademy.io

Schedule a call >

View our presentation from
MN Tech Connect (May 2022)
Powering the Possible through Partnerships

Download our sharable
Short-term UX Intern Planning Guide (PDF)