Entry-level Positions for Aspiring Associate Behavioral Designers
For undergraduate students interested in behavioral design, Marisa recommends seeking "summer internships," such as those offered by Ideas42, or working as "a research assistant in a psychology lab" to build relevant skills. Post-graduation, entry-level roles may include "Associate Behavioral Designer," "early career UX designer," or similar titles, emphasizing the need to carefully review job descriptions as titles can vary widely across companies.
Entry-Level Jobs, Internships, Research Assistant, Behavioral Science, UX Design
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Marisa Nowicki
Senior Behavioral Designer
Behavioral Design Firm
University of North Texas
Carnegie Mellon University: Masters in Public Policy and Management (MSPPM), 2019
Medical, Sciences & Related, Psychology
Climate, Environment, Sustainability & Waste Management, Nonprofit, Foundations & Grantmaking
Consulting
Honors Student, Scholarship Recipient, Took Out Loans, Greek Life Member, First Generation College Student
Video Highlights
1. Summer internships are a great way to get started in behavioral design, with opportunities like those offered by Ideas42.
2. Consider working as a research assistant in a psychology lab to build research skills and gain relevant experience.
3. Entry-level positions may be titled Associate Behavioral Designer, Early Career UX Designer/Researcher, or something else entirely; carefully read job descriptions to identify relevant roles in various companies focusing on this field.
Transcript
What entry-level positions are there in this field that an undergraduate college student might consider?
If you are still in college, I highly recommend looking at summer internships in this field. Ideas 42 offers summer internships, for example. They are paid and are a genuine route to hire, which I think is amazing.
Looking for summer internships with behavioral science teams could be very helpful. You could also try becoming a research assistant in a psychology lab. I think that's great.
This gives you an understanding of research skills and connects you deeply with psychology. Any organization working in psychology, if you can get in, that's amazing.
Once you've graduated, there are a few options. At my company, we hire at the Associate Behavioral Designer level. Coming in at that associate level, or I've seen them called early career UX designer or early career UX researcher, could be great as well.
Be aware that they might call it something completely different. I've seen roles called service design, which could be UX-related. I've also seen positions that just say associate, perhaps without "behavioral" in the title.
Try looking at different companies interested in this space and read the job descriptions very carefully.