Junior Designers be kind to yourself, we’re still in a pandemic.
2020 isn’t what I expected when I decided to change careers. I left a comfortable remote position in the Health and Wellness industry to get into tech as a UX Designer. Little did I know, I’d be graduating in the middle of a pandemic and tackling a new challenge: the shrinking job market.
The state of the economy has companies shortening staff and reducing the average salary by 10–15%. We have to accept that the world is dealing with a virus and an unpredictable future. What this means for us, is that jobs are slim, and times are hard.
I’ve seen many LinkedIn posts talking about rejection after rejection leaving Junior Designers discouraged and defeated. I get that. I feel that. I’ve been there. However, this isn’t the typical job market, and we all need to remain kind to ourselves. So I just wanted to remind you (and future me, possibly stressing out after another rejection) of a few things.
You are still a designer
Nothing can take away the amount of time you’ve taken to learn all there is about UX/UI Design, the interviews, and tests you did, workshops you’ve led, the eye strain gained from moving icons one pixel at a time. You are a designer with the passion and beginner projects to prove it.
You don’t need a company to design
There are a lot of ways to get experience while unemployed, and it’ll look amazing on your resume too!
- Volunteer work
- AIGA
- VolunteerMatch
- Catchafire
- HelpwithCOVID - Hack-a-thons
- Passion Projects
Think of other sources of income
If you’re like me, financial stress is crippling. I’ve had a job since I was able to get my working papers at 15 years old and I just imagine myself not working.
If you have financial stress getting a part-time job or accepting an offer outside of your intended career may be helpful. You’ll have to make time to network and apply for jobs outside of your work schedule so time management is important but having that job security can provide some relief.
Learn something new
Improve in the area you find yourself weakest in, dive into some daily challenges, or learn a new program (even if you’re a simp for Figma, Sketch, or Adobe XD already.) I’ve personally taken up learning some basic HTML, CSS, and Javascript to better understand my Engineering colleagues. It also doesn’t hurt to put it on my resume.
However, maybe you’re into Augmented Reality, or you can’t stop reading about Artificial Intelligence! What else can you learn, or what skills can you develop while engrossing yourselves in a topic you enjoy!
Some platform I’ve been using/have used to learn more are:
There are parts of me that still want to learn how to make sourdough bread or homemade kombucha. So please don’t be surprised if I mention this hobby in a future article.
You’re not alone
I’ve talked to several Bootcamp graduates and career-changers and while I do feel shame when reporting another rejection, I know that it’s not going to judgmental ears. We’re all rooting for each other while working our butts off to receive an offer.
- Reach out
- To other designers, and to friends or family. - Build Relationships
- With professionals in the field and Junior Designers.
- Networking is extremely important and a key factor in landing positions. - Join Design Networks
Two networks I enjoy being apart of are:
- Design Buddies on Discord
- HexagonUX on Slack
I wish everyone the best of luck on their journey. If you need another Design buddy, please reach out anytime.
