ATLANTA—For many GSU students, summer break is an opportunity to focus on internships and enhance their real-world career experience, including critical thinking, practical skills, teamwork, and more. This was true for Art & Design student Michelle Altine, a 4th-year graphic design major who earned a spot in Home Depot’s award-winning summer internship program. This year, over 20,000 students applied for the internship, of which about 250 students (over 1%) were selected to participate in the program representing more than 100 universities and colleges nationwide.
Alltine shares insights about her interest in graphic design, landing the coveted internship, working with the web development team, and, importantly, honing her UX (user experience) design skills with the retail giant’s internal digital interface.
(Interview by Tony Mangle)
Can you please share a little bit about your background?
I was born in Queens, New York, but I’ve been in Snellville, GA, since I was 4 years old, so I’m practically raised here. As cliche as it sounds, since I was young, I’ve always been drawn to creative activities such as painting, drawing, animation, or anything that gives me artistic freedom.
Yet when I started college, I was a chemistry major aiming to be a radiologist. I chose that path because my parents convinced me that a creative career wasn’t a secure career path, so I chose something that was. Although after that first year of chemistry, I realized I could not do this forever. So, I took a look back at my creative ambitions and into creative careers before going into graphic design. I am the first to major in Graphic Design and a Bachelor of Arts entirely within my family, and I’ve definitely made the right choice this time.
How did you become interested in graphic design, and is there a specific area of interest?
I became interested in UX/UI Design first. During my research on creative careers, I came across the UX/UI Title and became intrigued because it concentrates on digital interfaces. I even furthered my interest by taking Google’s UX Certificate class, then after that, I became sold that I want to further this as a career.
Once I understood my specified area of design, I worked backwards to find a field I could study under to develop my knowledge. That’s when I understood that graphic design was the best fit, because it teaches you about the basic principles and fundamentals of all design. Although I came into this major interested in digital interfaces, I do really enjoy practicing all types of design (packaging, branding, motion, etc.)
Please tell us about the Home Depot Internship?
I’ve been working for Home Depot for three years as a store associate! So, I've heard about the internship from my manager for a while. However, it wasn’t until last year that I became interested in applying because I saw they had a UX internship. So, I applied, interviewed, and successfully got the role as an intern in User Experience (UX).
The actual internship was incredible. It’s an 11-week program, and you’re given a manager, a mentor, and a project to work on the whole summer. Throughout it all, you coordinate with your manager, mentor and anyone else to make it possible. Based on your position, you may work remotely, hybrid, or in-office in your own personal cubicle (yes, you can decorate it too).
Michelle Altine with fellow Home Depot UX interns
Specifically, in my Internship, I was tasked with: Improving a Web Interface for HD's associates to manage their workflow. I also worked on a full-stack balance team with a Product Manager and two Software Engineers. As the UXer, I was in charge of conducting associate research (surveys and interviews) and designing fresh interfaces based on associate feedback. Since I worked on a balance team, I was able to work on a project with real stakeholders' desires, collaborate with product manager guidelines, and understand engineering possibilities and setbacks, while designing for my users. After I finalized my designs, I handed them off to the software engineers to code! Once the final product was coded, that concluded my team's summer project.
What's also nice about the internship is that it isn’t always project-focused. The internship program has fireside chats with inspirational people in the company, including the CEO. There are also development sessions to explore careers outside of your internship, and sessions to tune your elevator speech, resume and networking skills.
Was there a particular project at Home Depot that you’re most proud of and why?
For the project that I worked on, I am proud to be a voice for the associates. During my research, I was able to conduct in-person interviews and surveys to hear about the associate experience and what improvements they’d like. As an associate myself, sometimes I feel unheard; so being able to hear associates be honest about what’s frustrating and what they want to see, was refreshing. I was able to hear them. I was also able to implement what they wanted and advocate for them to my team and stakeholders. So, I’m forever proud that I got to be the voice for associates who are like me.
What advice or lessons learned would you give a student seeking an internship at Home Depot?
I do think my existing position at Home Depot helped secure my place in the internship. So, if you’re looking for a part-time job and a possible future career, start working at Home Depot! They love hiring internally because you’ll know their lingo and systems quite well.
Tip: Make sure you get hired by the end of April if you can! An application requirement for store associates is that you must be working at HD for a year prior to the start of the internship (It starts in May). Good luck!
With summer at the tail end, what’s one thing you hope to accomplish before returning to school?
As fun as my internship was, I missed participating in my hobbies! Until school comes back, I’m going to finish reading my Percy Jackson series, fill up my sketchbook with doodles, and learn a few more staple recipes.