How a Concordia student earned a UX role L’Oréal created just for him

It takes a lot for a global brand to create an internship for one person. But that’s exactly what L’Oréal did for 24-year-old Jeboy Compuesto. 

“They never had a UX/UI position for an intern,” Compuesto says, beaming. “They said they created it just for me.”

The internship came after years of searching for an educational path that fit the way he wanted to learn and grow as a designer.

Compuesto arrived in Montreal from the Philippines at age eight with an early interest in digital media. This curiosity guided his CEGEP studies in literature and communications, where he gained the confidence to pursue a creative career. That quest led him to enrol in a university in New York. But he quickly realized he wasn’t getting the practical experience he needed.

“I needed a school that would actually teach me something practical,” Compuesto notes. “I was just expecting more.”

He returned to Montreal determined to find a way forward. When he joined Concordia Continuing Education’s UX program, things finally started to click.

Finding a program that put learning into practice

From his first day in class at CCE, Compuesto could tell his learning experience would be different. Classwork was concrete, involving discussions, group exercises, and hands-on design projects that showed him how ideas move from research to finished products.

“We learned by doing,” he says. “Everything felt real. We were learning technical skills but also building confidence through discussion, teamwork, and presenting ideas.”

Through the use of leading industry tools like Figma, Compuesto got to see how research, visual design, and user behaviour intersect.

“The program gave me the full picture of how design solves real problems and not just how to make something look good,” he explains. “It was the first time I really saw how everything connects.”

A breakthrough in confidence

One of the biggest shifts Compuesto experienced in the 100-hour program wasn’t technical. Public speaking had always made him nervous. Growing up in Quebec, he constantly alternated between three languages — none of which he felt totally confident in — making class presentations intimidating.

“I’ve always had that doubt in myself,” Compuesto admits. “Through the program, I learned that communication is one of the biggest factors in becoming a successful UX designer."

To support employability, the program gave Compuesto and his classmates the chance to do the work of real UX professionals: conduct user interviews, pitch ideas to clients, and speak directly with companies about their digital products.

“Those exercises really felt hands-on and real,” he notes.

Applying new skills in real settings

In 2024, a month before he completed the UX program, Compuesto landed his first design internship with Evenko, where he worked on some of the city’s largest live events. One of his first assignments put him on the festival grounds at Osheaga to work on its app.

“I would geolocate where the bathrooms were, where the stages would be, and map the site,” Compuesto explains. “It was my first time building something that people were actually using in real time.”

Evenko then tasked him with managing event listings for concerts and hockey games, creating ticket pages, and improving navigation for fans. The variety of tasks helped him understand how design choices affect user behaviour and how quickly his portfolio could evolve when he applied what he had learned in class.

A global brand takes notice

Ten months into his role with Evenko, L’Oréal offered him a first-ever UX/UI internship, where he helped the company rethink its digital presence. He contributed to user testing for brands like La Roche-Posay and L’Oréal Paris, providing recommendations that influenced design decisions.

Compuesto says his experience in the UX program prepared him for these exciting roles.

“Both internships were wonderful, and they opened my mind.”

Designing the future he once imagined

Compuesto is now studying Computation Arts and Computer Science at Concordia, a program that challenges him in new ways and gives him another layer of technical understanding.

While pursuing his studies, he is growing his production company, Core Vizuals, a collective he formed with other students. Evenko and L’Oréal are now his clients.

“Everything really ties back to what I learned at CCE,” he says. “It helped me bridge my creative background with technology. It gave me a portfolio. It got me internships. It showed me that I could really do this as a career.”