The Student Mentoring Program offers IIDA Student members a chance to gain and share insight into a career in the interior design community by shadowing a professional for a day. For design professionals, take advantage of this chance to give back to the design community. The IIDA Student Mentoring Program is an opportunity to inspire young upcoming designers and possibly make a connection for potential employment opportunities in the future. Register here!

Registration is now open until February, 19, 2021. Participants will be matched based on their shared areas of interest and expertise. Mentees and mentors will also have the opportunity to give IIDA additional information to help with the pairing experience.

Applicants will be notified of their student/mentor pairings on Monday, March 8, 2021.

The 2021 IIDA Student Mentoring Program will be entirely virtual. Students and professionals can sign up for the program until February 19, 2021. IIDA will encourage all participants to meet virtually three times between March 15 and April 30, 2021.

The Student Mentoring Program is free for all IIDA Student members and mentors. If you are not a student member but are interested in participating, you can learn more and join here.

This year, the 2021 IIDA Student Mentoring Program will be entirely virtual. We are asking that each student and professional who signs up make themselves available for three one-hour long virtual sessions taking place in our mentoring window, which will be between March 15 and April 30, 2021. Additional information on how to create these sessions will be available in a program guide, to be published on March 8, 2021.

All pairings will be based on a first-come, first-serve process that will incorporate the student and mentor’s areas of interest and expertise. We do our best to incorporate all of your submitted information when pairing you with your student or mentor.

Each student will be assigned one mentor. Design professionals can select the option to mentor multiple students if they are able.

Applicants will be notified of their student/mentor pairings on Monday, March 8, 2021.

Please contact students@iida.org if you need to cancel your virtual mentoring experience.

A program guide with additional recommendations on structuring three virtual sessions will be available for all mentors and mentees on March 8, 2021.

The Wilsonart Student Education Fund, part of the IIDA Foundation, is proud to offer a $1,000 prize to the winner of the Wilsonart Essay Competition. Only students participating in the Student Mentoring Program are eligible to enter by submitting an original essay reflecting on their mentoring experience. Read more here.

You can download a copy of the 2021 Student Mentoring Program guidelines here.

You can watch the IIDA 2021 Student Mentoring Kick-Off Webinar here:

Join IIDA and mentors from the 2021 mentoring program as we discuss what to do after your mentoring sessions are complete – from keeping in touch and maintaining relationships to the 10 things you should do while looking for internships and jobs this summer.