Interior Designer job description: duties, skills and qualifications.

Core duties

15

O*NET task statements

Preparation

Job Zone 4 of 5

considerable preparation

Typical entry education

Bachelor's degree

BLS 2025–35

Median pay

$67,190

BLS May 2025

1. Design plans to be safe and to be compliant with the American Disabilities Act (ADA). importance 4.8 of 5
2. Use computer-aided drafting (CAD) and related software to produce construction documents. importance 4.7 of 5
3. Research health and safety code requirements to inform design. importance 4.7 of 5
4. Confer with client to determine factors affecting planning of interior environments, such as budget, architectural preferences, purpose, and function. importance 4.6 of 5
5. Advise client on interior design factors, such as space planning, layout and use of furnishings or equipment, and color coordination. importance 4.5 of 5
6. Coordinate with other professionals, such as contractors, architects, engineers, and plumbers, to ensure job success. importance 4.5 of 5
7. Review and detail shop drawings for construction plans. importance 4.4 of 5
8. Inspect construction work on site to ensure its adherence to the design plans. importance 4.4 of 5
9. Render design ideas in form of paste-ups or drawings. importance 4.3 of 5
10. Subcontract fabrication, installation, and arrangement of carpeting, fixtures, accessories, draperies, paint and wall coverings, art work, furniture, and related items. importance 4.0 of 5
11. Select or design, and purchase furnishings, art work, and accessories. importance 4.0 of 5
12. Estimate material requirements and costs, and present design to client for approval. importance 3.9 of 5
13. Research and explore the use of new materials, technologies, and products to incorporate into designs. importance 3.8 of 5
14. Design spaces to be environmentally friendly, using sustainable, recycled materials when feasible. importance 3.7 of 5
15. Formulate environmental plan to be practical, esthetic, and conducive to intended purposes, such as raising productivity or selling merchandise. importance 3.7 of 5

Work activities O*NET rates most important here: Thinking Creatively, Making Decisions and Solving Problems, Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships, Getting Information and Working with Computers.

Also part of the job

Supplemental tasks O*NET lists for this occupation: less central than the core duties above, and not done in every job.

• Plan and design interior environments for boats, planes, buses, trains, and other enclosed spaces.

Knowledge areas: Design, Customer and Personal Service, Building and Construction, English Language and Sales and Marketing.

Software O*NET lists for this occupation: Adobe Creative Cloud software, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, Autodesk AutoCAD, Autodesk Revit. These are examples O*NET records for the job, not a list of tools every employer uses or a checklist of what you must know.

• Education: BLS lists a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education.
• Experience: BLS lists no work experience in a related occupation as typical to enter.
• Training on the job: BLS lists no typical on-the-job training once hired.
• Preparation: O*NET places the job in Job Zone 4 of 5 (considerable preparation). A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations.
• Licenses and certifications: not listed here. A license is a legal requirement set by a state; a certification is a credential from a private or professional body. Rules vary by state and employer, and a missing entry on this page does not mean none is required: check with your state's licensing board and see how to become an interior designer.

Most O*NET's occupation experts for this occupation (84%) name a bachelor's degree as the education the job requires.

Job title: Interior Designer
[Company] · [City, State] · [Full-time or part-time] · [Pay range, where your state requires one]

About the role
[Company] is hiring an Interior Designer to plan, design, and furnish the internal space of rooms or buildings.
[One sentence on your team and why this role matters.]

What you will do
- Design plans to be safe and to be compliant with the American Disabilities Act (ADA).
- Use computer-aided drafting (CAD) and related software to produce construction documents.
- Research health and safety code requirements to inform design.
- Confer with client to determine factors affecting planning of interior environments, such as budget, architectural preferences, purpose, and function.
- Advise client on interior design factors, such as space planning, layout and use of furnishings or equipment, and color coordination.
- Coordinate with other professionals, such as contractors, architects, engineers, and plumbers, to ensure job success.
- Review and detail shop drawings for construction plans.
- Inspect construction work on site to ensure its adherence to the design plans.

What we are looking for
- [Education: BLS lists a bachelor's degree as typical for this occupation; set the level this role truly needs]
- [Experience: BLS lists no related work experience as typical to enter; set what this role needs]
- Strength in reading comprehension, active listening and speaking
- Working knowledge of Design and Customer and Personal Service
- [Software your team uses, e.g. Adobe Creative Cloud software or Adobe Illustrator]
- [Any license or certification your state or company requires]

[Schedule, benefits and how to apply]

Illustrative: every name, employer, school, date and number in these samples is fictional or a bracketed placeholder. Replace each bracket with your own true details; never copy a result you did not achieve.

Not a real job posting. This template is TryHired's illustration built from government occupational data. It is not an opening at any employer, and no employer wrote it.

The median annual wage was $67,190 in May 2025. The median hourly wage was $32.31. BLS estimates about 71,500 jobs in this occupation in the U.S.

BLS projects employment of interior designers to grow 2.7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 7,700 openings a year over that period, including openings to replace workers who leave.

See the full interior designer salary breakdown by percentile, state and metro.

• Read a real interior designer posting next to the core duties above. Duties it repeats, such as “Design plans to be safe and to be compliant with the American…”, tell you what that employer weighs most; anything it adds is specific to that team.
• Tailor your resume to the posting, not to this page: describe only interior designer work you have actually done, with your own results.
• Prepare a story for each of the top-rated skills (reading comprehension and active listening); interior designer interview questions turns them into practice questions.