UX Design Mentorship: The Power of Giving Back and Growing Together
A reflection on the shared benefits of mentoring
How I Started
I started my mentorship journey in February 2021. I was scrolling LinkedIn at home one day, bored because I was at home alone isolating during covid-19, when I stumbled across a post about a design mentorship community called ADPList.
I was curious and applied to become a mentor. I was promptly approved and then Felix, the Co-founder reached out personally to welcome me to the club!
Armed with my new title “UX Designer (& Mentor)” I set up my calendar availability, shared the exciting news on LinkedIn, and I was ready to meet my future mentees!
Giving Back: The Mentees
Fast-forward 3 years and I have met many mentees in personalized one-on-one sessions, who were looking for advice, guidance, reassurance or just someone to listen to them.
Together we have covered a wide and varied range of topics:
- Career Path: Switching roles and career growth.
- Job Hunting: Interview practice, design challenges, negotiating offers, resume & portfolio review.
- UX methods: Best practices, UX toolkit, design principles.
- Personal: Imposter syndrome, career direction & navigating office politics, micro-managers or head-strong colleagues.
By contributing to the UX design community, I’ve connected with over 100+ aspiring and accomplished UX designers and helped them develop their careers and skills.
Mentorship Changes You: The Mentor
I have learned a great deal from my mentees and gained valuable professional skills in the process. As a result of meeting with so many folks in UX, I’m better informed about current industry trends and also familiar with companies that are hiring. Additionally, I have the opportunity to practice my own interview techniques.
Drive & Enthusiasm
I have connected with some of the most enthusiastic, eager to learn and engaged people through mentorship. This kind of energy I don’t often come across in my day-to-day work environment. It is so invigorating and inspiring. It has resulted in a significant boost in my own daily energy and motivation in the workplace, and people are starting to notice!
Storytelling
Sharing my experiences with mentees requires me to recall fine details from my past experiences, and surfacing these memories makes them more easily accessible to tap into during my work day.
Knowledge & Clarity
The new perspectives I gain from meeting folks from different ages, countries, disciplines and industries is super insightful. These insights help me to be more inclusive on a whole.
Communication
My ability to listen attentively and express ideas and thoughts clearly when asked challenging questions has improved. During some of my sessions I have been challenged with tough questions where I needed to think on my feet.
Interview Practice
I was once asked to give an example of how I would conduct an app critique during a mock-interview with a mentee. This led me to delve deep into the subject, where I discussed aspects such as interaction design, visual design principles, and accessibility concerns within the app we had chosen. It was a great simulation of an interview, and great practice for both of us!
Creative Problem-Solving
My skills to identify and find effective solutions to complex problems and make reasoned judgments quickly have improved. I’m generating ideas and inspiring others on how best to approach challenges with fresh perspectives.
Emotional Intelligence
I’ve also honed my listening skills and navigated delicate conversations, improving my ability to empathize and understand the emotions of others.
Some folks have really opened up to me during sessions about how they’re struggling with their job search or a current role. I find that often people just need to feel heard, validate their feelings are justified and that they’re not alone in their experiences.
Leadership
I strive to inspire, motivate, and guide others towards achieving their career goals. Most people I’ve spoken with have a goal in mind, or an idea at least. But they’re not always confident on whether they should pursue it. By asking some questions and allowing them space to explore the options, they often come to their own conclusions.
The Many Rewards of Mentorship
I find mentorship incredibly rewarding. I’ve connected with so many amazing individuals through ADPList. I’d venture to guess that the other 19,000 mentors agree with me, considering the platform recently reached a significant milestone of 100 million minutes of mentorship.
Recognition
It’s common practice for mentees to write you a review or give you a shout-out on LinkedIn. I’ve found myself smiling for days after receiving a glowing review. It’s a big boost of dopamine!
Goodbye Impostor Syndrome!
There’s no better way to validate your skills than when others seek out your help and expertise. I’ve often found that when a mentee reaches out with a challenge, it is something that I’ve previously experienced and I could offer insights into how I approached the problem and also what I would do now, with the benefit of hindsight and additional years of experience.
My years of expertise were helping people get interviews, get hired, negotiate successfully, and grow in their careers.
Hello Career Growth!
Mentorship is a key requirement for all senior levels of UX Designers, both internally within your team and externally as you act as an advocate for your workplace. Exhibiting an interest in mentorship shows your manager that you are leadership material. I was promoted recently and I credit that partially to my involvement with mentorship.
Public Acknowledgments
Many mentorship programs celebrate their members’ contributions throughout the year. In my case, just six weeks after joining ADPlist, I was honored to be recognized as a ‘Wonder Women Mentor.’ This boosted my confidence and assured me that my efforts were indeed making a difference in this community. Last month, and again this month, I was recognized as a ‘Super Mentor,’ ranking in the top 1% for expertise in Design.
UX Community
All mentors receive an invitation to join the exclusive ‘Mentor Only’ Slack group. This, for me, was a game-changer! No longer did I feel like a UX team of one; instead, I found myself with an entire community of experts at my fingertips.
Mentorship is super valuable to all involved, and I recommend it to everyone.
If you’re looking for a UX design mentor? You will find me here!
A quick note: This post is made in a personal capacity and the opinions expressed are my own.
