Figma's campus leader program (+application tips from campus leaders)

Applications opened today (7/23) and close 8/10

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Figma campus leader program

Applications opened today (7/23), close 8/10, and applicants will be notified on 8/20. However, due to high application volume, applications may close early.

Program information

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Tips for the application

From Xenia Capcan (@xeniacapcan), Figma Campus Leader for University of Washington:

1. Let your personality shine. Being a campus leader (CL) really means having fun with our events, partners and students so when applying, you wanna show what your interests are no matter how silly or niche! They definitely wanna see your unique personality and you wanna be memorable not only in the whole CL pod but also to students. (I think one of campus leads filmed their application while riding on a bike?) Being authentic shows the Figma team that you can be trusted and committed to “being Figma’s #1 fan,” which is my favorite tagline that I could officially put on my resume since becoming a campus lead.

2. You don’t have to be a Figma pro, but be excited to learn new stuff! In fact, it can sometimes be even better if you know what students want to learn as we often put workshops for beginners. We don’t only delve into design, but we collaborate with developers, marketers, and more students from different backgrounds so you wanna highlight in your application practical ideas on how to spread Figma spirit to different parts of your campus.

3. Your leadership and organizational experiences are most valuable to being a campus leader. Knowing how to recruit speakers, organize logistics such as booking rooms and vendors, collaborating with local businesses, creating timelines for events and workshop series, these skills are what really come in handy. If you have these skills on your resume, make sure to highlight them loud and proud as it is one of the most essential parts of this role. If you don’t necessarily have bullet points to show this, some helpful things you can highlight can be: any clubs/extracurriculars you’re already involved in that can collab with Figma, knowing the best rooms around campus for good vibes (surprisingly really important), any event or social media promo ideas that you already have or have done in the past. Again, this role doesn’t come with any prerequisites so your willingness to be committed and have fun with it is what matters the most!

Learn more about Xenia’s experience here.

Additional tips

• Check out events that Figma campus leaders have hosted! Examples:

  • Waterloo

  • Parsons

  • University of Washington

  • Brown + RISD

  • Berkeley

  • and many more!

Why this program helps you stand out on your resume and in interviews

I’ve interviewed tons of students before, and this experience really stands out on resumes and interviews because you demonstrate skills that are useful for ANY job:

• Real-world impact - You directly influenced a major company's product roadmap

• Brand partnership credibility - A major product company like Figma selected and trusted you to build community engagement, drive brand awareness, and represent their brand on campus. This shows you have the judgment, communication skills, and professionalism that a respected company would stake their reputation on

• Cross-functional collaboration - You worked directly with professional teams at Figma while managing campus relationships

And your impact is easy quantifiable in terms of:

• Event attendance

• Figma adoption

• Figma usage

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Benefits of the program

Figma mixer: Celebrating Craft in the Age of AI with panelists from OpenAI, Figma, YouTube, and Microsoft

Benefits of the Figma campus leader program:

• Exclusive events and workshops

• Complimentary ticket to Config, Figma’s annual conference

• Opportunity to work directly with the Figma for Education team to host events, lead workshops, and grow the design community on your campus

• Opportunity to directly influence Figma’s product roadmap by providing feedback to the Figma team

• Opportunity to meet other ambitious, well-connected, driven students who are also building impressive careers and networks. These relationships often become invaluable professional connections, collaborators on future projects, or even co-founders. You're joining a curated community of high-achievers who are all motivated enough to take on additional leadership responsibilities.