Why I Chose Berman Design Over a Finance Internship...
I chose Berman Design over a finance internship and ended up learning more than I expected to.
This summer I interned with Berman Design an architecture firm located in Andersonville, Chicago. Instead of just picking up some architecture skills, I spent the summer coordinating an international team, running the Berman website and SEO, and working on how to effectively use AI on the firm's projects. No two days looked the same.
What I valued most was the independence. Joel would hand me the work and trust me to figure out how to do it, which meant I spent the summer teaching myself tools and keeping the ones that actually helped our clients, and getting to use AI on real work for three months instead of just reading about it is not something most interns get.
I wasn't expecting to meet so many people from different parts of the world and even just different parts of Chicago. I got the chance to interview clients for social media and it introduced me to community members I'd never have met otherwise. Another aspect of this was that the work stretched across time-zones, I would be on calls with Adwait in India one minute and be working with Basam at his desk the next. The commute from Hyde Park is long, but being in the office is exactly what kept my work tied to what my coworkers actually needed, and Basam is half the reason I like being there since we spend most of the day laughing.
Because the team is so small you get close to people quickly, and since nobody's locked into one role I'd be on automation one day and the website the next. Joel sets the tone for all of it, good at telling you what he needs without hovering over you, and I've picked up things from him that will matter well beyond architecture.
If you're thinking about interning here, do it, you'll get real work fast and learn more than you would expect.
-Abigail Melkamu
Congratulations on your internship. Joel continues to show us all how to run an innovative architecture and design company