Landing a Design Internship at Perplexity

‍

An interview with Emmi Wu, product design intern at Perplexity

‍

We speak to Emmi Wu, a junior product designer studying at the University of Pennsylvania who recently landed a product design internship at Perplexity. What started with posting design experiments on Twitter turned into an offer from one of the most design-forward AI companies around.

‍

From Art Kid to Product Designer

‍

Emmi has always been creative. Growing up, art was a constant, through school, into her junior year of high school where she swapped a science class to take three art courses instead. Her parents weren't thrilled, but she did it anyway.

When it came to university, she arrived thinking architecture was the path. The programme at Penn turned out to be different from what she'd imagined, and she made the switch to design. Around the same time, she took a hard look at the direction most of her peers were heading.

"Everyone is sort of going down the same path of going into consulting or finance. I thought about that path for a little bit and it made me really depressed. So I was like, let me just do what I want to do."

That honesty with herself turned out to be the right call.

‍

The Mentorship That Changed Everything

‍

Emmi's early product design experience was limited. She had a strong graphic design background but knew the product side needed work. In Emmi's words, she "got lucky" with landing her first internship at Vista Media in Philadelphia, partly because the role was posted late and the applicant pool was smaller than usual, and partly because of good timing and a solid connection with her interviewer. Although, it's clear that a large factor was her undeniable talent as a designer.

But what really accelerated her development was an accelerator programme called Silicoln Valley School of Design (SVSD), led by Naheel, a designer with a long career at Google.

"I honestly feel like eight months in that programme was way more helpful than any university could ever be."

The reasons are telling. University design courses often have thirty students and a culture where almost anything passes. SPSD was the opposite, small cohort, rigorous feedback, and a mentor who had been on the other side of the hiring process and understood exactly what companies were looking for.

"As a junior designer, you're just not good yet".

Having someone more senior look at your work and critique it is always helpful. But also, Naheel was super well connected and introduced Emmi to senior designers who offered critique on her work.

Emmi is candid about the difficulty of building those connections otherwise. "Connecting on LinkedIn doesn't really work anymore. It's really hard to get your work in front of senior people. Having a mentor to help guide you through that is super helpful."

‍

‍

How Twitter Got Her the Job

‍

The Perplexity internship didn't come through an application. It came through a message on Twitter.

Emmi had been posting experiments and visual explorations regularly, without any particular agenda beyond sharing what she was working on. Henry, Perplexity's head of design, came across one of her posts and reached out directly asking if she was looking for an internship.

"I was like, wow, this is such an amazing design team. I would be lucky to learn from them. So I was like, yes. All caps."

From there, the process moved quickly. Two interview rounds, a portfolio presentation and a whiteboarding session. The whole thing wrapped up within a week, which Emmi puts down to the pace of a startup. She also notes that Perplexity's design team is largely hand selected by Henry himself, with no open application process.

"He said himself that he's recruited every single person who's joined the design team. So I felt really lucky. Thank you to the Twitter algorithm."

The experience taught her something broader about how senior people at startups operate. "A lot of companies, their senior execs spend a lot of time on Twitter. I've been learning which companies will recruit directly just on Twitter. It's been kind of crazy."

‍

‍

Building a Portfolio That Feels Like You

‍

Emmi's portfolio is striking. When you open it, the interactions have personality. It feels considered and personal rather than assembled from a template. That distinction turned out to matter more than she initially realised.

Earlier in her application cycle, she had applied to Figma and been rejected. A couple of months later, someone from the Figma team reached out again. Their VP of design had seen her updated portfolio on Twitter and wanted to bring her back in. When she asked what had changed, the answer was direct.

"They mentioned that the previous portfolio I applied with was just not up to their standards, whereas this one seemed very personalised and fine-tuned. My older portfolio seemed very template-y."

The version that caught their attention was her eighth iteration. She paid close attention to colour, got typography advice from a friend with a strong eye for fonts and made a deliberate effort to look at senior designers' work rather than comparing herself to peers.

"When I first started in design, I was just looking at other junior designers around me. It's been more helpful to see a higher bar, even if I'm not at that higher bar yet. It's better to work towards something you can aspire to."

She built the final version in Framer, with everything designed in Figma first. It took a long time, and she acknowledges the case studies still aren't fully live. But the effort showed.

‍

‍

The Playground Mentality

‍

One section of Emmi's portfolio that stood out was her playground, a space for experiments and visual explorations outside of formal case studies. Hiring managers increasingly look for this kind of work, and Emmi has a clear view on why she does it.

"As a creative, it's not enough to just have a creative job. I also need to be fulfilled on my own creatively. Doing things just for fun and not for work is something that's good to keep practising. It also keeps me sane."

Her background in illustration, animation and model making all feeds into this. She sees the side quests not as distractions but as the foundation of her creative range.

"Me and my friends have this mindset that the things you explore and do on the side will help you in the end with your larger goals."

She posts much of this work on Twitter rather than waiting to update her portfolio, which has the added benefit of keeping her visible to people she'd never reach through a formal application.

‍

‍

On Interviews and Confidence

‍

Emmi's approach to interviews is refreshingly unpolished, and she knows it.

"I honestly don't prep for behavioural interviews. I try to approach it casually, which I know is maybe not the best advice. But when I do a lot of preparation and overthink it, I come across as really nervous. When I seem casual and I'm talking about my work, I seem more confident."

What she does prepare for is the portfolio presentation and whiteboarding, the parts that require genuine skill rather than rehearsed answers. And she points to coffee chats as the hidden training ground.

"When you introduce yourself and explain why you wanted to chat, you learn how to talk about yourself with more confidence. That really helped. By the time I'm in an interview, it feels kind of similar."

‍

Advice for Entry Level Designers

‍

Emmi's path is a reminder that the traditional application route is not the only one, and for a lot of the best opportunities, it is not even the most effective one.

Find a mentor who has been on the other side. Not just someone who can give feedback on your work, but someone who understands what hiring managers are actually looking for and can help get your work in front of the right people.

Post your work publicly and consistently. Twitter in particular seems to be where senior design leaders spend time. Sharing experiments, not just polished case studies, is what gets noticed.

Make your portfolio feel like you. Templates are a starting point, not a destination. Look at senior designers' work to understand the bar you are aiming for, then build something that only you could have made.

Do creative things for fun. The side projects and explorations are not separate from your career development. They are part of it.

Have real conversations. Coffee chats and casual connections build the confidence and communication skills that formal interview prep often does not.

‍

‍

About Emmi:

‍

Emmi Wu is a product design student at the University of Pennsylvania based in New York. With a background spanning illustration, animation and graphic design, she is currently interning at Perplexity.

Follow her on Twitter & LinkedIn.

Check out here awesome portfolio here.

‍