Research of the recruiting qualifications of the ID profession and their implication in ID education

In order to make the college education of industrial design meet the need of society development in China, this article presents a survey study that searches for the various job titles currently adopted in industrial design profession in China and their corresponding demanded competencies. Job opportunities available in the industrial design profession announced in four major job searching Web sites collected during January 2008 to Aug 2008. Content analysis was conducted to analyze the recruiting qualifications required by jobs. Overall, 200 jobs tiles are categorized into 4 groups : industrial design, mechanism design, interface design, and others. The recruiting qualifications are classified into basic requirements and required competency. The survy results indicate that the competence of creative thinking and the ability of computer-aided design are highly demanded. Information about industrial design recruiting not only enables students to better understand the job market, but also helps design educators to consider how to develop the design education programs to enhance students¿ competencies to adopting this competitive society.