Furniture designer

In your day-to-day duties you could:

• carry out research to develop ideas
•  work to a plan or 'brief' agreed with the client
•  produce new designs or improve existing ones
•  work out costs, practicality and availability of materials
•  prepare sketches for ideas, by hand or using computer software
•  test ideas using models, prototypes and computer aided design (CAD)
•  work with manufacturers on the production process

• design skills and knowledge
• thinking and reasoning skills
• the ability to come up with new ways of doing things
• to be thorough and pay attention to detail
• the ability to work well with your hands
• analytical thinking skills
• knowledge of engineering science and technology
• persistence and determination
• to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently

You can get into this job through:

• a university course
• a college course
• an apprenticeship

With experience, you could progress to a more senior design position, or into a specialised area, like ergonomics.

You could also set up your own design consultancy.