How am i supposed to get the experience you want?

Don't let your experience with this one company demotivate you. You had what they wanted (they sought you out, not the other way around), and were willing to work with them on contractual terms. From the sound of it, you did things correctly.<p>My main guess is they had a bad (very, very bad) experience with either a student [intern] or recent grad, and don't want to take the chance again. Second guess, they want to hire someone full-time, so there's no "work-for-hire" questions later on and no non-company distractions for deadlines.<p>Now, what you've discovered out of this is your designs aren't just marketable--they sell themselves. 90% of the battle is getting your foot in the door. In this case, the potential customer walked in. That means others will too. This might be the time to start marketing yourself and your work a bit more.

At what point did you offer to work for free?<p>If they liked your designs, you shouldn't be offering to work for free, even for the experience. Show them your value.<p>Like the other say, don't let this one experience affect you, it is likely a one off.<p>I'm working with a bunch of start-ups in an incubator at the moment. Send me your portfolio and I'll pass it around and see if we can get you some experience. pete kitchon

Ongoing support may have been a concern. Transitions in support are expensive and fraught with their own risks.<p>I'm not saying you couldn't provide satisfactory service and support. But if you are looking for possible perspectives they might have.<p>(Support is not just sufficient skills and/or prior experience. It's "will this person be moving away to or after college?". "Do they have emotional maturity/stability?" Etc., etc.)<p>As for a practical approach on your part, I agree with the others here: Move on. You're doing the right thing in looking for what you might address with respect to this experience, in future endeavors. But there are many other opportunities out there, and they won't all have the same hang-ups.<p>For example, you might encounter someone who was given a break when they started in their career, and so who is willing -- even eager, perhaps -- to do the same for someone else, if and when it seems like a good fit.<p>Last year, I put significant effort into helping out a family member whose business had gotten their web property "behind the eight ball". When it came time to decide and coordinate, however, their partners dismissed my suggestions without ever really looking at the work or the documentation. Best guess: They had hang-ups about bring a partner's family into the work and/or relying on same.<p>Sometimes, it's not you, and there's not much you can do about it.