Everyone wants an experience hire

Pärtel Vurma, CEO of Velvet speaks his mind on the state of the industry. (Oct 2026)

“I don’t know what to do anymore. Even my parents say I’ve chosen the wrong major.” I’m standing in the hallway of the Vilnius Academy of Arts, and across from me is Anna, a young designer with a bewildered—if not desperate—look on her face.

I’ve just finished giving a lecture to students on trends in the field and noted that it’s becoming increasingly difficult for young people to get a job at an agency—a topic that has struck a nerve with Anna.

A year ago, she earned her bachelor’s degree in digital and product design, was nominated for a young designer award, and has tried her hand at graphic and service design as a freelancer. In short, she is a talented, capable, driven, and very socially active young woman. Yet, despite repeatedly applying for jobs, she has not found work as a designer over the past year.

Anna is one example of thousands of designers searching for their place in a changing world. Here, we must acknowledge that we face a serious problem regarding the future of the field (and I am part of the problem).

The numbers point to a future that we may not like

Recent reports show* that in both Europe and the U.S., there are fewer and fewer entry-level positions available for new professionals. Until quite recently, a career in marketing began with an internship. The sector relied on young designers to handle large workloads.

Learning took place alongside working and allowed them to experience real-world client situations and share both successes and failures with senior colleagues. Now, such structured processes are disappearing. The reason for this is not only the development of artificial intelligence, but also budget cuts and fundamental shifts in which speed has become more important than quality.

All of this, however, casts a major question mark over the sustainability of the entire field. If we don’t hire young people, we’re also giving up on training experienced specialists. Moreover, young people bring something to the field that the “old guard” can no longer offer—fresh thinking, new ideas, and a perspective that hasn’t yet been diluted by old practices and dogmas.

How do agencies think, and why do they act this way?

As the head of an agency, I look in the mirror and realize that I, too, haven’t hired a single young person in several years. While we at Velvet have offered several students the opportunity to participate in an internship program every year, I understand that this isn’t enough. As an entrepreneur, I can’t ignore economic reality—so we’re faced with the question of how to develop professionals in a situation where their current approach to learning no longer fits into the agency’s business model.

The main reason for preferring an experienced specialist over an emerging talent just starting out is purely economic. It takes quite some time for young professionals to reach a level where they can generate profitable results within the agency model, and for the rest of the organization to get them there, it also takes time and money to mentor and train them.

A New Reality Opens Up New Opportunities

It’s clear that there’s no single universal magic bullet to solve this situation, but I have a few ideas that we could consciously address—or at least discuss.

Together, it’s easier and cheaper (and more fun)

What if we joined forces and created a workplace-based accelerator program for young talent? Let’s say five agencies each take on one startup. Together, we’d organize feedback sessions, share client work experiences, and teach and test new approaches. Each young person would still have their own employer and mentor.

Let’s bring clients into the equation

Today, as agencies, we compete with one another for clients’ money. In doing so, we voluntarily pass on to the client the savings generated by AI-driven efficiency, but we bear the future losses resulting from failing to develop talent. This is not sustainable. Our clients are smart and responsible businesspeople who understand when we sensibly share the costs of training and developing this future talent among ourselves.

Here’s a message to companies that commission marketing services: please be reasonable… and even insist that the agency include some young talent in your project team.

At the same time, accept that your contribution toward mentoring them is included in the budget. The agency, however, remains responsible for the quality of the work. By the way, the vast majority of briefs sent by clients to agencies include the goal of increasing appeal among young people. I’m sure you already see where I’m going with this. If you want to reach a younger demographic, bring in younger talent.

A new world is indeed a new world

The role of a junior, as such, needs a fresh perspective and a rethinking. Young people are, by nature, sharp critics, keen observers of culture, and more proficient users of artificial intelligence and other technologies. All of this is worth something—and not a little. Let’s give them more responsibility right away and iron out any inaccuracies caused by inexperience before finalizing the solution as the work progresses. After all, artificial intelligence allows us to implement ultra-fast prototyping and testing more than ever before.

It is clear that no other learning method can replace the experience of going through the practical, hands-on project process from start to finish. At the same time, there has never been as much freely available learning material as there is today. What becomes important here is making a conscious choice about what to focus on and which future-proof skills to develop.

Hey, young person 👋 Here are a few thoughts for you

To make this choice easier, I have a few practical recommendations for young people. Develop the following skills, and they’ll give you a fast track to moving beyond the junior level in less time.

Learn to Formulate a Problem

Artificial intelligence can answer your question quickly, but it doesn’t check whether the question itself is correct. That’s why it’s important to learn how to frame and describe a problem. For example, in your portfolio, in addition to the final result or the original assignment, it’s worth showing how you validated the validity of the problem using research or the information you gathered.
Learn to Engage Others

One of the most important skills for a designer is the ability to involve others. When working at an agency, projects rarely emerge in isolation. Throughout a project, there are hundreds of touchpoints where you must convince others of your ideas and be able to communicate with people in various roles: users, programmers, marketing managers, lawyers, or business leaders. This also includes the ability to understand their professional jargon and context.
Don’t just Wait for an Invitation to the Dance

Work on your own projects, collaborate with other young people on joint projects, and look beyond agencies: in-house teams at companies, startups, and the public sector. The experience you gain anywhere is valuable and shows that you’re a doer.

At Velvet, we continue to support young designers throughout their studies and early career experiences. I’m publicly setting a goal to hire one emerging designer to join our team within the next 12 months. I invite other agency leaders to consider taking the same step and to work together to find ways to share mentorship.

P.S. I just spoke with Anna. Last week, she started a full-time job as a graphic designer at a Lithuanian furniture manufacturing company. There’s hope!

* The number of employees aged 25 and under at IPA member agencies in the UK decreased by 19.2% over the course of a year. Source: IPA Agency Census 2025 survey

* According to Statistics Estonia, the unemployment rate for 15–24-year-olds was 20.7% in 2025, 1.6 percentage points higher than the previous year.

Everyone wants an experienced hire. Who gives them their first job?