My Journey into UX
April 2023
April 2023
“How did you get started in UX?” - I get asked this question a lot. From hiring managers, to aspiring UXers, to old friends who knew me when I was an engineer, I get asked this question A LOT!
The TLDR is that I…
Got a UX Certification
Hired a career coach
Made a UX resume
Found a mentor
Created a UX portfolio
The long story is that UX constantly found me while I was an engineer. I was drawn to improving the user experience in anything I created. From instructions to test plans to extensive excel macros, I wanted to improve the execution of the process. I honestly wanted to make my life easier the next time I had to complete one of those tasks, and apparently, so did my coworkers. Once I realized that the value I was creating was also an actual career, I was determined to make the career switch.
I didn’t know much about UX, but I knew a certification would help me learn about user experience, and it would show that I was serious about getting into this field. I couldn’t do a boot camp, but I could take a self-paced course, and at this point, in March of 2020, the start of the pandemic, being inside by myself sounded like a GREAT idea! So I started the LinkedIn Learning career track titled, “Become a UX Designer” and MAN was I overwhelmed!! It was a bit intimidating, doing all of this by myself. I wasn't get through the material as quickly as I thought I would, and I started to feel like I was taking on too big of a journey. I started to think I needed help. Not a tutor… but someone who would be encouraging and hold me accountable. I needed a career coach.
I found my career coach on Twitter. You can find anything with a hashtag these days, why not a career coach? My coach, Jermaine, was a tech recruiter, starting his own side hustle, charismatically known as The Job Father, with a goal of getting black people a start in Tech. That was all I needed to know! I booked a virtual meeting with him, and he was exactly what I was looking for. He said I needed to change my resume to highlight my transferable skills. I thought I already did that when I revamped my resume myself (LOL, sad face) but my resume revamp wasn’t what a recruiter would be looking for - and Jermaine WAS a recruiter, he would know! So Jermaine upgraded my resume.
Here’s the thing about searching for a job - people who are hiring for a job are looking for people who already do that job… not someone who is “aspiring to” or “wanting to” do that job in the near future. They want someone who can do that job now, even if it’s entry level! (Side eye!) Here’s where Jermaine taught me how to make my transferable skills shine.
Step 1 was to change my job titles on my resume. This sounded sketchy to me, but Jermaine did this in an honest and transparent way. I had two work experiences where I was hired as an engineer, but I was doing user experience alongside engineering. My title went from “Supplier Quality Engineer” to “UX Designer / Supplier Quality Engineer” and the other role went from “Senior Quality Engineer” to “UX Researcher / Senior Quality Engineer.”
Step 2 was to modify each job summary. Since I had no plans on being an engineer going forward, I had to get rid of the engineering lingo, and focus on my user experience accomplishments in those roles. I had to highlight my transferable skills so I could be a good candidate for the jobs I wanted to apply to. I had to be a user experience professional. I had to be confident in what I was talking about. The certification was helping, but I still didn’t know any UX professionals. I still had knowledge gaps from being self taught. I still had unanswered questions. I needed help from Cleo.
Cleo, unbeknownst to him, became my mentor (thanks Cleo!) I met Cleo at a Product South virtual career fair. The career fair had several sessions hosted by different professionals like Product Managers, Software Engineers, AI Specialists, and UXers. After Cleo presented, I found him on LinkedIn, introduced myself, and kept it short. I think because I didn’t want anything from him (a job referral or a letter of recommendation for example) there was no pressure on his side. We didn’t talk much… until it was time to make my portfolio (DUN DUN DUN!)
Ah yes, the dreaded portfolio. The proof that you can do all the things. The labor of love. The pain in my ass. Every UX job description I saw mentioned a portfolio. What was this thing supposed to look like anyways? After consulting YouTube, I had more questions than answers, but I took a stab at it and recreated the projects that were mentioned in my resume. It took me about a week to create my first project. Jermaine, my career coach, said it looked great, but I wanted to hear from an expert. I wanted to hear from Cleo.
Since connecting with Cleo on LinkedIn, he virtually introduced me to other UXers, one of whom later facilitated my second UX certification. I sent them the link to my portfolio, and alas!! Guidance!! I got concrete answers on what to include, what to remove, and what to expand on, so I made those revisions, and eagerly got started on project number two. With lots of guidance from Cleo, I was finally feeling great about this journey.
The two projects on my portfolio were getting me noticed! I actually started getting requests for interviews! It had been about 6 months at this point since I started this journey into UX. Yes, you read that correctly, 6 months of applying before I got my first interview. Eventually, around month 9, I got a job offer. It was a UX Analyst role in an industry that I was already familiar with. I was on a diverse team and had an amazing manager. I hit the jackpot! It didn’t even really sink in that I successfully switched careers in the middle of a pandemic until I turned down a request to interview because I FINALLY GOT A JOB IN UX!!!!!