Entry-level designers and researchers: Version 2.0?

How might we recreate the experiential learning of entry-level roles inside tech companies?

In a previous article, I outlined the dynamics at play that might be causing the disappearance of entry-level roles for designers and researchers. Now, I want to provoke both managers and entry-level candidates to change the system.

There is hope! If we’re willing to change…

Advice for hiring managers

We need to remember what it was like when we were entry-level: the imposter syndrome, the interviewing anxiety, the passion for making/learning cool things. Entry-level talent isn’t an administrative burden, it’s a way to bring fresh talent — and perspective — in. They aren’t here to take away jobs, they’re here to grow and mature.

We need to rethink staffing and develop a wider menu of options.

⚠️ CAVEAT: This should not be an exercise in extracting as much value out of workers as possible. Everyone deserves to be compensated fairly— so do the right thing and pay people what they deserve. Don’t be that employer.

An off-the-cuff brainstorm of unvetted ideas 😉

Use platforms that connect your company with freelancers/contractors and include their use in roadmaps/hiring plans. If I’m seeing “fractional CTOs and CPOs” job titles on LinkedIn, it’s not that crazy of an idea to have “fractional designers or researchers”. Really reflect on what expertise (if any) is really needed, as well as availability. Platforms can help managers find staff with less effort.

• Here’s a few I’ve discovered, please message/comment if you know of others: Develop For Good, Tech Jobs for Good, Tech Fleet, Catchafire, UX Rescue.
• We’re all members of domain and industry slack groups, leverage your peers there and job channels.

Carve out deep, but low risk tasks that could be handled by an outsider. It can speed up timelines by outsourcing tedious, but necessary efforts that can be hard to prioritize when you already have a full roadmap.

• Think design systems debt, research recruiting lists, Android implementation with iOS forerunners, managing/updating templates, accessibility audits and improvements, etc.).
• Tap into cultures/experiences unique to your workforce. For example, you’re localizing your product and need bilingual designers. You’re initializing research in LGBTQIA areas, involve those communities for nuanced perspective.

Provide entry-level interns for your most senior staff, to whom they can assign tasks. Those interns shadow their work and provide support, creating space for the senior staff to think and tackle the toughest efforts. It can also help those senior staff practice their mentoring and expose them to management.

• They can be short term experiments with limited scope, or general support for a quarter. From a budget standpoint, it’s much easier to make the case for an intern over a full-time role.

If funds are non-existent, offer product incentives for entry-level folks who beat back design debt or tackle research ops. The entry-level person remediates existing issues and is compensated with portfolio work showing scale/impact and product credits or a free subscription. The product gets better and the entry-level person gets the chance to ship small but tangible impact.

• It’s really important that compensation matches the task. Don’t ask bootcamp graduates to redesign your entire website for a $100 gift card. That’s ridiculous. Take the mindset of participant compensation; you pay for their time, but when you ask for more, you pay more.

Create/improve mechanisms for sharing project/product outcomes. No matter who does the work, design and research leaders need to capture measurable results for what that extra support accomplished; it also helps those entry-level folks show the impact of their work. These metrics should sit at the project level — not just the big quarter-wide roadmap updates.

We should think broadly about this:

• Did we just simplify code and design styles leading to less QA issues and faster implementation?
• Did we organize our research templates in a way that documentation is more consistent and produced faster?
• Did that intern help your direct report show their leadership skills, pushing them towards promotion?
• Did you prevent wasted time on research that you already had?
• Did you reduce design debt tickets post launch, meaning the teams can move on rather than spend significant time patching holes?

Advice for entry-level job seekers

You may still be looking for a full-time job with a company that has faith in you — that’s great! Or maybe you want to become a full-time contractor, you still need to get seen and trusted by the teams that might hire you.

Ideas I’ve shared in mentoring sessions or heard elsewhere 😉

Sign up for an organization that connects you with companies needing work. The best way to get real world experience is to… get real world experience. You can target industries/passions that interest you or help you expand your skills. It will also expose you to companies not in your immediate area, which could appeal if you’re looking to work remotely.

• Here’s a few I’ve discovered, please message/comment if you know of others (I’d love to compile a master list): Develop For Good, Tech Jobs for Good, Tech Fleet, Catchafire, UX Rescue.
• I haven’t included fivrr because it’s driven by packages provided by freelancers and I’ve know it mostly as the place to get really cheap work (think $10 logos). I can be convinced otherwise, but be careful of platforms that force you to compete solely on price/convenience. Upwork is increasingly getting this reputation, so I can no longer recommend it.

Don’t redesign Instagram or Facebook or Spotify or any other brand all your friends use or have heard of. Bluntly put, it’s arrogant to think that you, by yourself without all the rich internal research and analytics, can out-think the decisions of these established teams.

• Real world experience isn’t about doing showy work, but about surviving the process of design reviews, technical reviews and implementation to ship something you feel represents your best efforts (hopefully you’re proud of it, but sometimes it’s a relief to see anything see the light of day).

Connect with local small businesses, nonprofits and startup communities/meetups to find folks who could benefit from your skills. These organizations may not have many resources, but you have the skills to creatively support them. Improving a website, helping a founder create wireframes for an idea, or making improvements that lead to more donations/connections/requests could have a meaningful impact on their success.

• I love a win-win. You get the experience of working with the client and learning how to make the right tradeoffs (stories you can share in your portfolio and interviews), while these organizations get the chance to realize value with design and research.

Consider short-term roles/contracts. If you would prefer a full-time role, it might not be ideal to know you have to job search again in 6 months. But, contracting can help you expand your network and expose you to roles that are hyper-competitive otherwise. Some agencies that fill these roles even offer benefits or can help point you to support.

• Remember that your career is not a ladder, but a jungle gym (I think Sheryl Sandberg said it, or maybe she was quoting someone else, I dunno, but I love the metaphor). Layoffs happen, you may discover an amazing job that you didn’t know existed before, or you might find out an industry isn’t what you thought it was, and that’s okay.
• In the tech hiring market of March 2024, hiring budgets continue to count contracting separate from full-time hires. So companies with frozen hiring plans may be able to offer contract roles.

It’s all weird

I write this in a time when the tech hiring market is… well… weird. And I don’t know how long it’s going to last

Are entry-level roles gone for good? Forever?

I hope not. But, we can’t put our heads in the sand and think things will change on their own. I’d love to hear what you think of these ideas.

• Managers: Is this list even feasible? What else can we do as resource managers and budget holders?
• Entry-level folks: Have you gained experience in other ways? Do you have other platforms that make it easy? Are these realistic?