It may take people twice as hard to learn, but it’s still possible, is this right? I guess if there is a will, there is a way. Also, what is industry standard in ID? How do you define it? That always mystified me. I’m in Ireland, and the industry standard for ID is different. For example, good product design is judged based on innovation by the Irish Design Institute (IDI). Also, based on my reading of core77 blog, I found that one company’s design culture may be completely different to another one. So transferring from one company to another can be just as steep a learning curve as being the only industrial designer in a start-up. Am I right in saying this?
I actually got a job in a start-up after my graduation, and I’m working as a part-time consultant. It’s not ID, I was hired to find a really smart way to integrate hardware with software. So it’s basically design innovation/R&D-type placement. I really like this job and the company. It is actually similar to the one which OP was talking about. I’m also the only person with my job title in the company, and it’s up to me to find a solution. The work is quite objective, but it involves an extreme amount of creativity. In your professional experience, do you think that I need a mentor for this kind of work? Or do grads need mentors for more subjective type of work, such as Industrial Design?