Flexible program, great way to get experience in the Dutch innovation space

I joined the DSS program to develop my professional portfolio after pivoting into UX research and design. It was a great way to get experience working for a client as part of a product development team. Likewise it gave me the space to work on a professional portfolio and get lots of useful feedback about how to talk about past projects.

A tip to those who are considering DSS: you get what you put into this program. While each project team has a coach with some expertise in the field, the bulk of project work is done alongside your peers: other newcomers to the innovation space. From my experience, the ones who gained most at DSS were self-starters, those who went out of their way to learn from their peers' relative expertise and to teach themself new skills throughout the program. At DSS training wheels are off; so before you apply consider that you'll need to do the leg-work for your own personal and professional development here.