I Landed a Product Design internship in one shot, without applying — My story
Context
I was ready to jump into the stress of job hunting… But I was approached by an amazing company before ever sending out a single application.
Success was served to me on a silver platter… Or was it?
Read on and see for yourself!
How it all started — When I first crossed paths with UX Design
I really loved tech — I was into making posters and editing videos back in school, and I had a keen eye for coding and problem solving since class 11th. Being a curious chap, I also explored stuff like robotics, IoT, a little bit of writing, video editing and even design once I entered college for Engineering.
Fortunately, in my first year, I was asked by one of my father’s friends if I knew any design software. He wanted me to design rough wireframes for a project they were working on, and I took that opportunity. I was still in college and I was getting paid for the same so…… why not?
Let’s just say, out of all the fields I had explored, I really liked how things worked in UI Design.
Why? Because UI was a culmination of all the skills I already had and it was closely related to tech, and I cannot imagine my life without tech.
So, I kept working on graphic design projects, promo videos, event trailers, etc. in college, and then…
The rona happened (covid guys, covid)
I am a very avid gamer. For me, there is no life without gaming. However, when lockdown happened, even gaming became too much, and I decided to start freelancing just to kill time.
I started doing well (more about freelancing in some other posts) and getting good UI projects — and with the scope of these projects getting bigger, I decided to upskill.
I joined UX.Anudeep’s UX program to get better at UI…
However...
I started volunteering to improve the course. It was a really, really good experience. I made very close friends in the process — but I ended up not completing the projects I was supposed to work on — BIG mistake.
Still…
What I gained from my time volunteering was maturity with respect to UI. I particularly bettered my understanding of how to create more functional designs. I increased my rates tenfold and started earning more from freelancing.
And then I had a breakup... with code
I had a genuine passion and knack for coding — from winning Cyber Olympiads in school to collecting various coding achievements, including a Hackathon, in college, I was nailing it
However, I got bored because I had no competition in my department. My batchmates in college were still learning what I had learnt in school. To me, coding was not fun if I wasn’t doing it with someone, cracking difficult problems… Many such factors piled up and I gave up coding around my 3rd year.
Most of all, I was earning better while freelancing than I would in an entry level coding jo b, so I continued working on UX.
To the moooooon — yeah, both crypto and my Fiverr profile
Freelancing was going well — My profile started showing up in the top 5 results if someone in India searched for UI/UX on Fiverr and I was regularly being offered well-paying projects.
I was paying my own bills, my own college fees, upgrading my workspace with a 4K monitor and 5GBPS SSDs and what not. Life was good, but I knew I hadn’t reached my full potential.
I realized I had to upskill further because my research/analysis game was still weak!
But I had burnt myself out…
And I took a break — at the worst freaking time possible
Why worst time possible you ask?
My engineering batchmates started getting amazing jobs, and so did the people who had joined the UX Anudeep’s mentorship program with me — some even after me.
People would ask me…
But Aditya, you earn a lot anyway! What problems can you possibly have?
- I had many. I wasn’t earning anymore as I was dedicating time on upskilling further. I was out of money and my morals did not allow me to borrow from my parents just to have fun.
- Instead of living independently, I became dependent on my parents again. I couldn’t stand it and I started spiraling downward mentally — and things stayed like that for months.
- I had convinced my parents to give me some time before making a final decision about my career. My college had ended in May 2022 and, months later, I still didn’t have a job… but I wasn’t applying either. My parents couldn’t put up with this and kept bugging me while I wasn’t in a good mental state.
I continued improving my UI skills despite all the stress I was under. After all, people who are doing better than me probably went through a lot more.
I knew I couldn’t keep going like this, and only I could help myself. I’ve always been a lone wolf, so naturally, I wouldn’t allow myself to be helped. I pushed myself and started working on my projects again. I talked to my mentors and laid down a gameplan — FINISH THE PROJECTS.
I ended up finishing old case studies which had been pending for over a year — and I did things differently (like making a prototyped presentation) because I wanted to stand out!
Why did I take so long? Procrastination + perfectionism pro max, that’s why.
After posting one of my case studies, I got an offer. Easy Peasy… or was it?
I completed a hackathon, made an amazing presentation video (not my words, see for yourself here) and got a few inbound leads.
Attended ADPList’s BeMore 2022 festival and boosted my motivation.
And, in the end, I finally wrote a case study for one of my best freelance projects yet, and both my peers as well as many recruiters (yeah, the one that had been pending for a year)! Find it here.
Basically, I got shit done. I got noticed. And I got the results. Ez-Pz.
Here are a few things you can tell you from my experience.
- Find a mentor to correct and improve you.
- Don’t be a lone wolf. UX is a team sport. Play it the way it is meant to be played.
- Keep in close touch with people who understand you.
- Finish those case studies lol don’t slack haha.
- Trust yourself. You are on a break. It’s hard to make a career transition. So, if you’re in a similar situation — you took a decision, be patient and keep up the grind. You’ll do amazing one day. You are amazing.
If you read this far, thank you.
Thank you to my mentors Arpita🦜 and Anudeep, my friends and my Engineering faculty who always supported interest in UX design. These people are amazing. They made me who I am :D
TIME TO FLOAT 😀
