The Career Advice that Changed My Life
I was on the fence about the title of the post. While it does sound like click-bait, I assure you it isn’t and I promise to share the advice, what I did with it and how things have been going since then.
As I mention in this post, I have explored a lot of different avenues of design all the while hoping to find a methodology that felt like settling into. The phase of career I had been exploring at the time I heard this advice was my UX Design phase.
Sidenote- if you are ever considering becoming a UX Designer, please study graphic design first. It will make your life a whole lot easier. Strangely, UX Design bootcamps never say this (which I feel is unfair and perhaps sets new UX designers up for failure if they want to stand out in the digital world).
Back to the story- I had completed a course in UX Design and had been actively job hunting. I honestly did not know where to start so naturally, I focused on improving my portfolio and participated in a few UX Design challenges to improve my skills while I sourced work. One morning, I had the luxury of having a coffee with the incredibly talented, incredibly impactful pitch coach, Beth Susanne.
I had met her as a participant in a workshop I had led for women entrepreneurs in the Sitges, Barcelona area on ‘Sharing Your Story Through Social Media’. She was a powerful source of career inspiration for me and someone I looked up to as a beacon of communication expertise.
While I had not intended to dive into my own career frustrations during our coffee date, it naturally came up. She must have sensed it, she is a very open and thoughtful listener. Surely my body language gave her clues that I needed to get something off my chest.
I began to share with her where I was in my career and how I didn’t really know what steps to take. I showed her my portfolio I had been working on and she gently asked, “Diane, do you know how much money you want to make per year?”. I responded, “Yes.” (I had identified that for myself a long time ago).
She politely responded, “Then find the industry that pays in that salary range. That’s where you need to be pitching your skills.”
It was such clear advice that forced me to rethink my (then) current plan of action, which at that time was simply to get hired as a UX designer. I had been so focused on a matching job title that I had not even considered a matching job industry.
When I got home I knew exactly what to do, I restructured my portfolio and CV accordingly and rerouted my job-hunting plan. It was not too long before I landed a UX design opportunity for a startup out of Los Angeles, California. To be honest, it did not pay my target rate, and I knew it never would. However, I needed them on my portfolio to help me get to the opportunity that would eventually help me reach my salary goal.
Over time, the plan did work and over the years, my career grew in ways far beyond what I thought I wanted and I even exceeded my desired rate of pay. I am no longer doing UX Design, in fact, after that opportunity with the LA startup, I set my sights on software development leadership, found my sweet spot Dare I admit I have settled in (for now)..
Every now and then, as I look back on how far I’ve come, I think back to that fateful coffee date. It was that one suggestion from an incredibly caring colleague that catapulted me and my career in the direction I had been trying so desperately to get to.
Even now I still reflect on Beth’s advice when I come across a career crux usually initiated by yet another desire to grow. And although the “choose the right industry” advice doesn’t always apply, the part about being clear of a few things does help me get to the next step in the right direction.
Thank you for reading. (and thank you Beth.)