Holiday Office Hours with Harold
When I originally read Dustin’s post about Holiday Office Hours, I was intrigued and encouraged. So much of my experience as a designer has been shaped by those that volunteered the time to mentor me. Looking back 20 years later, I’m glad to fulfill this same role for others.
I think there’s value in documenting this first season of Holiday Office Hours. Here are a few things that stuck out from my experience this year.
Volunteers: set the table for success.
Part of holding these calls is being prepared; 30 minutes isn’t a long time and there is a lot of ground to cover. Prior to our meeting I shot each newcomer a simple short email.
Subject: Holiday Office Hours
Hey Jane —
Thanks for scheduling a time to talk.
Could you jot down a few things you’d like to talk about? That will ensure that we can make the most of our 30 minute call.
By the way, here’s the Hangouts URL for our meeting:
https://hangouts.google.com/hangouts/…Look forward to talking to you soon.
– Harold
About half replied back with questions and some background on themselves. I found those conversations to be much more fluid and effective. For those that didn’t respond, we spent about half of the time on background information.
Newcomers: let us know if you can’t make it.
I was slightly taken aback that some of the newcomers didn’t show up for the meeting at all. A few of those that responded to the email above didn’t make it to the meeting. I understand that we are all busy and live hectic lives, but if you schedule a call with someone volunteering their time to mentor, let them know if you can’t make it. So far about 50% of those that signed up showed up. Two of them let me know ahead of time that they couldn’t make it. Most of us are happy to reschedule; just give us a heads up.
Volunteers: have empathy and stay optimistic.
This year I turned 40 and one of the things I’ve realized is that it’s hard to remember what life was like when I started in this industry. Prior to your first meeting, take some time to reflect on what you felt when you first started out.
Here were some of my early pitfalls—
1. Lack of confidence (or perhaps overconfidence)
2. Love of tools (sometimes over the craft)
3. Comparing myself to every other designer out there
4. Awkwardness of talking with ‘pros’ in the industry
Reflecting gave me a great deal of empathy for those I was speaking with and allowed me to approach our calls with optimism instead of my old cranky criticism.
Newcomers: don’t be afraid to ask for help or an introduction.
Most of my professional path has been carved out by those that took the time to mentor me. They introduced me to many of the contacts I have today and most of my initial jobs originated with my mentors. All of this to say, as a newcomer needing help, many in the design community are willing and able to offer assistance. This week I made introductions that may lead to internships, freelance opportunities and possibly full-time employment. Take the time to ask for help.
Volunteers: follow up.
In turn, we has volunteers should consider following up. It’s great to offer a 30 minute call, but we can go further. I challenged myself to find at least one thing with each newcomer that I can do to tangibly follow up with. Some of those followups have been links to things I mentioned on the call, or a list of books I recommended. For other calls it’s been introductions to smart people or people in position to hire. With a little more effort, you can made a long-lasting impact in someone’s professional career.
Holiday Office Hours have been fantastic. I’m incredibly grateful to have been a part of it and and for my initial invitation to join. My hope is that the 8 conversations I participated in will lead to 8 confident designers that are ready to take their part in the industry.
I look forward to seeing where each of them land.
If you want to vonlunter for the next round of office hours I encorage you to head over to outofofficehours.com.
Noah Stokes also wrote a smart recap of Holiday Office Hours over here.
