Never thought one day it would happen to me that I decided to write an article titled as above. There must be a million Medium articles out there titled exactly the same, then why? Recently I’ve had people come to me asking for resume/portfolio reviews as well as advice for getting into this industry. Because I host a small local UX designer community, people think that I might have some level of experience in the career path. Who am I to say what is the right decision to make when it comes to your career? It worries me that I might mislead people at some point, however, it also feels right to share my experience simply because I could use some when I was where they are right now.
I’m going to base the article on my personal experience and opinion, so feel free to provide feedback and comment. There are a million ways to become a junior UX designer, and this is my way.
Degree or No Degree?
Short answer is “yes” for me. I began researching for this career as a UX designer around 2014. Based on my limited research results by then, I did not have to obtain a design degree to become a UX designer. With that mindset, I turned to bootcamp schools. After searching and comparing for a couple in Chicago area, I chose Designation. I spoke to their instructor, their founder and got all my questions answered – I was pretty assured that this will satisfy my need. Unfortunately I was told the program was shut down before the designated starting date.
Super disappointed and felt ridiculed, I went to the second choice I had – General Assembly. I was quite happy with the outcome of their 12 week program. I liked their curriculum, structure of the course, and made some really good friends in my cohort. However, upon graduation I felt really unconfident. I felt like a complete fake. Despite that my instructor telling me I should be super confident and ask for $90 hourly rate, I was not completely sure that my one course project and a couple of “redesign” projects would get me there. The bootcamp gave me a peak at the tip of the iceberg, and I knew that there were way more than what I had learnt. The only change that had happened to me was, now that I know what I don’t know. Therefore I decided to return to school and get a 2 year master’s degree on design.
Needless to say, it was not an easy decision to make. Luckily I knew what exactly I wanted out of this program and I was fighting really hard to get support from my family. Mentally I was also preparing myself for two years of unemployment and school life – as an adult you need this kind of mental preparation after working for some years.
I am very happy about my personal decision because I am the type of person who likes to understand the why behind things. Obtaining a systematic knowledge base of human computer interaction provided me support and source of confidence for my future work. Also I cannot stress how important networking is during school years. Since my program consists 50% of full-time professionals, I tapped into the rich network in local UX community and benefited a lot form it.
But when it finally comes to ROI, you harvest what you put into it.
Local Networking
Conferences, Meetups, EventBrite, networking events…you name it. I was not a big fan of meeting strangers, but I forced myself to go to these design related networking events at least monthly. Chicago is a really small community- design wise. After frequenting a handful of good events, I think I know the familiar faces in the local community. Try to make myself meet at least one stranger at each event as well. These small things will add up, eventually, you will build yourself a network.
Reading List
There are so many good reading list out there – I will not bore you of another one. However, I will list some of my favorites:
“The Design of Everyday Things”
“Well Designed: How to Use Empathy to Create Products People Love”
“Rocket Science Made Easy”
“Practical Ethnography: A Guide to Doing Ethnography in the Private Sector”
Portfolio
Portfolio is quite important in getting your first job as a junior UX designer. You don’t need to have too many projects, a handful that illustrates different skillsets and the progress of your personal growth. Here is an article from NNGroup: