Interaction - Preeti Sheokand, Co-Founder and CEO, DesignShift

Preeti Sheokand, Co-Founder & CEO, DesignShift, talks to us about the challenges of her work.

How did you begin this venture?

Preeti - We were struggling to hire designers with the right skillset in our own companies and then when we talked to people in our circle and figured that everyone was going through the same problem, we decided to solve this problem and give back to society by mentoring designers over the weekend. So, we started DesignShift as a weekend-only (blended model - Live Online + Offline) training initiative to bring driven mentors from the industry to teach the right design practices to aspiring designers from our home.

What are the challenges you face in this venture?

Preeti - When we started we had no idea of running a business. So, you can imagine the challenges we faced. We learned everything by doing and kept on going with our day jobs over the weekday and DesignShift over the weekends.

Some of the biggest challenges we faced and are still solving are –

• Bringing highly motivated and skilled mentors, it's not only hard to get such mentors but they are also expensive.
• Also, there is a perception among students that design is easy, so setting the expectations right and keeping them motivated through the whole learning journey is also is an interesting challenge we still face.

What has been the success graph of this platform so far in terms of enrolment?

Preeti - We have had an amazing response to the programme. We take small batches of 6-8 students only through an interview process to focus on 1 on 1 learning and provide rigorous practice to build great skills and portfolios for the students.

We have completed 19 batches and trained 100+ students from Turkey, Australia and all over India with approximately 90% placement record.

Do you track the post-learning graph of the design learners to see where they have reached? What is their success rate?

Preeti - Yes! We are very much in touch with our Alumni and they are also in touch with us. The whole DesignShift family regularly interacts with each other. Our students have grown tremendously well in their careers and have shown great growth in their careers with students starting their career as interns to moving to SAP, Mindtree, PwC, Byjus, YUJ Designs & Deloitte to name a few.

The feedback from the employers is also very positive on their skills as well as mindset both.