From Graphic Designer to UX: A Mighty Quest, ch. 5
I had a great conversation with someone in a ladies’ Slack group (more on those in a later entry) who sent me the link to her portfolio. It was on Squarespace, which I’d heard of but never tinkered with much. As I was looking at it, I realized that while I had my work housed in a few places, it looked terribly unprofessional. I needed a new portfolio website, no question.
I spent the weekend gathering my materials, playing around the Squarespace site, and eventually picked a template. Clean, simple, basic. I was encouraged to leave off a cover or welcome page and just get to the nitty gritty, so I did. Published on Monday night, I posted it to a Dice, Indeed, and LinkedIn, and emailed it along with my resume and letter to two companies where I had a friend who could get my info to the HR people before bed.
Wait, didn’t you say in the last entry that you were halting the search for a while? Yes, yes I did. But as I got my site together and took a good look at it, I realized that it’s not as amateur as I thought and my accomplishments at work are worth noting. I reworked my letter and resume to reflect this confidence and decided to stay on the search (and a bad day at the office the preceding Friday didn’t hurt). There is no harm in looking, and if anything it may actually lead to something. I do believe interviewing is a good skill to keep polished and with each new one, a question or consideration comes up to take to the next.
Because my office doesn’t give out the WiFi password to anyone who doesn’t work on a laptop (which is about 90% of the company), having my phone on all day can kill my data. I set my phone to airplane mode while I’m there, turning it on a few times to check for any messages that may have come through. Around 11 am the day after I published my portfolio, I turned my phone on to find three voicemails from recruiters who found my resume and wanted to talk. My office is not the sort of place anyone can have a private conversation, even outside because of so many smokers scattered throughout, so at lunchtime I hopped in my car, turned on the a/c and got on the phone.
They were recruiters so while the information was plenty, it’s never really much more than a handshake. The first call however, was intriguing. UI/UX for a major bank based in Chicago, working with a team of four. Contract for at least nine months and then likelybrought on full time, at a ridiculous pay increase. I will admit I saw stars for a bit when he said the number. We hung up, I got on another call that didn’t flow quite as well, but one never knows. She was going to show my resume to her contacts and be in touch, same with the bank recruiter.
When they were done, I went inside to forward an updated copy of my resume to the bank recruiter and asked a few questions: Was I responsible for my own laptop and software (something I saw in a job listing that never occurred to me), and is there a remote option? His answers: They would supply the hardware and software and no remote, on-site only. My heart dropped.
It wasn’t until that moment that I realized my desire to work from home occasionally can’t be quantified. They were willing to pay me lots of money, but if I can’t occasionally work from home to break up time it’s a slow road to misery. Also, worth considering, as a contractor there are no paid holidays, sick days, or personal days. For the pay rate, missing a day or two isn’t the worst ever, but it’s not the best. There are benefits through the recruiting agency, but he warned me that they aren’t great if I have to also support a spouse. There are cons. There are also pros: the cache of working for a big name company, a personal connection thanks to a good friend who works for them, experience, and a great paycheck. But exactly how much is remote work worth to me? A lot more than I realized. Even if I could negotiate working from home once a month, I would be ok with that. My month would revolve around that one day though, I can tell you.
To be in the position to turn something down in my chosen field is a very strange feeling. I’ve not found a job simply because I wanted to, not because I had to, in years. There’s comfort in it, but there’s also a lot of thinking to do because while my boat isn’t on fire nor is it listing, I feel increasingly like I am edging closer to the plank all by myself.
I know what I want. I’m pretty sure I saw it at that first Meetup. Modernity, casual dress, open environments that encourage a bit of creative freedom and personal expression. I don’t think banks have that going for them. I have to keep looking.
