A Creative Consultant’s Tale — Part 1

Transition, Growth and a Bit of Wisdom

As I reflect on my past five years as a user experience (UX) consultant and all the years I’ve worked in the design industry, I realize that I’ve transitioned, grown and gained a bit of wisdom that’s worth consideration. Over the years, I’ve collected a number of notable lessons that have shaped my perspective as a consultant and creative professional. Some were enjoyable, some not so much, but all were constructive. For the most part. Regardless, all these experiences were meaningful in their own way and brought me to where I am today.

So, where am I today? I’d say I’m in a rather ideal situation, professionally. Over the past five years, I’ve had a consistent sense of demand and appreciation for my work. Even better, I’ve had a consistent sense of stimulation for the work I’m doing. This is very important to me and I know it’s hard to come by. How do I know?

Cue the Flashback

There was a time, way back in 2015, when I had to look for work on a regular basis and wasn’t aware of many places I could find it. I was living what I considered the quintessential life of a young creative professional in Atlanta. I was bouncing from project to project in a network of startups, ad agencies and small design companies. I was always optimistic the next job would be right around the corner, even when that corner lasted a month or two. I had a solid network, extensive education, respectable portfolio and was good at tracking job leads. With this, I managed, but I now realize that’s all I was really doing. Managing.

In retrospect, I see that I was stuck in a rut and mindset that many creative professionals get trapped in. I was an idea that I’d only be happy working in the type of environment that’s associated with the ‘hip’ startup or creative agency. You know, the one where everyone’s wearing ironic t-shirts and playing foosball between work hours. That kind of place. I also had this idea that I’d only be happy working on products that would be popular with people like me. You know, the early model millennial wearing the ironic t-shirt. That kind of guy.

My perception of older and more conventional institutions was bleak. Beige cubicles filled with unhappy people dressed corporate casual. I was sure it could not be the type of environment or work I’d find inspiring. I wasn’t sure if these institutions even had much need or appreciation for my skills anyway. I did not want to work for the proverbial ‘man’ and that’s all there was to it. With this, I carried on with the startup circuit and hoped I’d eventually receive a full-time offer. Then a different type of opportunity came knocking.

Time for Transition

In the summer of 2015, I was nearing the end of a project with one of the design companies that kept me afloat. I was getting ready to look for a new gig among the usual suspects when I was approached by an agency tasked with finding contractors for one of the nation’s oldest and largest consulting firms. I didn’t really know much about this company at the time. I vaguely knew they had a lot of government defense contracts and one rather infamous contractor who currently resides in Moscow. I had always been fascinated with defense and security, so I asked them to tell me more.

While I was generally intrigued by the job, I also had concerns that it might be the bland picture of corporate life I depicted earlier. The agency assured me it was not and explained that this firm, along with many older institutions, created environments that would foster creative work and attract a younger generation of professionals. They educated me on the various innovation labs and incubators that were coming to fruition. With this, I began to warm up to the idea of trading in my ironic t-shirt for a collared button-up. Before doing that though, I would have to actually get the job.

Actually Getting the Job

The interview process for this consulting role was mostly what I was used to, aside from the additional hoops one must jump through to get security clearance. The project lead had a great affinity for user experience and a progressive vision on product development. She would lead one of the firms first projects that incorporated UX professionals and an Agile methodology. Because I had spent the few years prior working in an Agile framework, I felt quite comfortable in these interviews.

The clearance process was a bit more involved than a standard background check. I was subject to full background investigation that would vet my entire history with the law. Even my years as a minor. They also needed to ask a series of questions pertaining to family and friends of mine who were not born in the United States. While my past isn’t squeaky clean, there was nothing they felt was prohibitive of me getting clearance. Nor did they think I had any relationships that could be compromising. I was given the green light and got the job.

Let’s Get to Work

After being on-boarded, the team and I got to the task at hand. The project was to create an international travel application for the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The app would facilitate all the general processes involved in making travel arrangements along with the specific needs of CDC personnel. Processes such as getting security clearance, vaccinations, passports, visas and so forth. The desire was for this system to be vastly more efficient and user friendly than the one that currently existed. This wasn’t a very high bar because there currently was no system. At least no digital one. Additionally, the application had to be extremely lightweight so it could perform in areas of the world that have scarce internet connectivity.

Because there was really no predecessor to this application, we had to learn a great deal directly from the employees of this department. There were many documents, archives and processes that only existed in print and analogue form. It would take a considerable investigation to put all these pieces together in a new digital system. Luckily, we setup an arrangement that had our team embedded at the CDC.

It’s a great advantage to have close and consistent access to the end users, especially on projects of this complexity and size. It’s just not feasible to have a meeting for every question that develops during the research process. It’s also not realistic to think that every detail would arise during any arrangement of meetings.

This experience gave me a great appreciation for a shadowing research methodology that I still revere today. I find this approach yields more accurate research findings than conventional methods. It’s hard to get a truly realistic depiction of certain processes during meetings with rehearsed demonstrations. The time is limited, the environment is formal, and the format is not as conversational. Shadowing allows one to witness these processes in their organic environment with a more casual pace and conversation. Doing so often uncovers a greater number of details that might have otherwise gone unnoticed.

The work environment was not as physically relaxed as my former jobs. However, the pace of the work was more relaxed too. I’m not saying the work was less complicated. I’m saying that it was more comfortable. Large timeworn companies tend to move a bit slower than their smaller counterparts. It’s like the difference between riding on a cruise ship versus a speedboat. The cruise ship may not be as fast and nimble, but it is more stable and a far less bumpy ride.

The job carried on for nearly a year and was going quite well. I had conducted extensive research that precipitated effective prototypes for development. As mentioned, I felt very comfortable with the role and pace of the work. However, I eventually learned not to get too comfortable.

Because this was my first contract of this sort, I was under the impression that I’d likely be offered a full-time position if I did a good job. This is what I was generally hearing from the agency, so I thought it was just that simple. I thought of the contract as an audition of sorts. To my dismay, it was not at all that simple.

Reality Check

In retrospect, I was a bit naive and unfamiliar with how many contracts end. The reality is that, regardless of one’s performance, there must be a variety of factors that align for a contractor to be brought on full-time. There must be the budget, workload and indefinite need for a company to really consider converting a contractor to a permanent role.

Because I was not accustomed to this, I was rather upset to be let go. I saw it as failing the audition or being betrayed by those who told me I was doing a good job. The reality is that the contract was simply over and there was no more need for my services. I did a good job and now the job was over. No hard feelings. It was just business.

This experience taught me how to manage expectations in the world of contracting. In the early relationship between the contractor and agency there is often an abundance of confidence that every party involved is going to get the best possible outcome from the arrangement. It’s a natural human reaction from deals being made and moving forward. Everything is new and exciting. Enjoy it and be positive. Then be prepared for whatever’s next.

Unfortunately, I had not prepared for what came next and did not have many prospects lined up. With what I know today, I would have been much more proactive. I would have been speaking with other prospective employers months before the contract ended. I would have also urged the agency to be more proactive and direct with me. Because I didn’t, I was on the consultant bench for about two months before settling into my next role.

Enter Synergis

While on this hiatus, I was approached by a variety of staffing agencies, including Synergis. They seemed to have a good understanding of the roles I was best suited for. Many other agencies would push me on just about anything that vaguely resembles the type of work I do. I’ve been approached by agencies claiming that my UX and front-end experience would be perfect for certain roles. Then I’d wind up in interviews for highly technical engineering positions. That was not the case with Synergis. They were more familiar with the type of hybrid designer I’d consider myself to be. They also had a few opportunities I found particularly interesting.

One of the roles was for a UX lead with a large energy conglomerate based in Atlanta. Here, I would work on many applications involved in the company’s customer-facing and internal operation. The other was a UX position for a credit monitoring and scoring company. In this role, I would be devoted to designing a single application for their cyber security division. Both had their unique and interesting features. Both also had their own rigorous and competitive interviews. Again, I would be subjected to a series of questions, tests and clearance procedures that I would plainly describe as thorough. Fortunately, it would all pay off and lead me to where I am today.

So, where am I today? I thought I might string you along a bit longer before revealing this and which job I ended up getting. There’s a bit more story to tell along with a few twists, turns and lessons you might appreciate. For now, I will tell you that I’m still with Synergis, I’m in one of these roles and I’m very happy. I’ve transitioned from a starving digital artist to a gainfully employed creative. I’m over the startup culture and ironic t-shirts. I’m wearing the collared button-up and think it looks great, thank you very much. From here on out, it’s time for growth and a bit of wisdom. I look forward to sharing this and more in Part 2 of A Creative Consultant’s Tale.