Taking the leap: Changing Careers into Design and Lessons Learned Along the Way
Marcsene Torchon, Design Researcher, tells his story on how he transitioned from a social worker to an entry-level role as a designer.
Hi, I’m Alisha Moore, UX Design Lead in Red Hat Marketplace and a squad leader for the IBM Racial Equity in Design initiative. Our program is taking steps to create long-term transformation around closing the racial equity gap in the design profession while improving the career experiences for Black designers inside IBM and beyond.
I get multiple messages each week asking for advice on how to get started in design. It can be scary when changing careers, and let’s face it, the pandemic has a good amount of folks thinking about what they want to do long-term with their professional lives. UX Design bootcamps and courses are more popular than ever, and students are changing their majors to be more geared to technology and design.
To learn more about what it was like to go through the life experience of switching from one career to another, I synced with Marcsene Torchon, a new Design Researcher in Watson Health at IBM. We discussed his path to design, challenges he overcame along the way, and he offered first-hand advice on how to land your first position in design.
Alisha Moore: Alright, Marcsene. Let’s hop right in. So tell me, what was your first introduction to design and what was your role before you leaped into a new career as a designer?
Marcsene: I learned about UX design through a friend who was also a designer. He enrolled in a boot camp called General Assembly, which offers a certificate in design. After he completed the program, he shared his experience with me. At that time, I had never heard of UX Design. The timing was right because I was in the process of looking for something different. I basically took a free introduction to the workshop and built a high-fidelity prototype. From there, I was so intrigued, I decided to enroll in the program and complete the training. That’s how I launched my career in UX.
Before my career as a UX Designer, I was a social worker primarily. I say that because I tried many different roles in various industries. Still, my primary background was in social work, where I worked with at-risk youth in the Boston [Dorchester] community, where I was born and raised. I worked with young adults in several different capacities from courthouses, detention centers, the Boston public school system, and community programs that serve young adults.
Alisha: I can see a lot of overlap between social work and UX. What sort of changes were you looking for in your career, and what were you hoping to do?
Marcsene: Yeah, it’s a good question. I looked through the Occupational Outlook Handbook several times to figure out what would be a great career track for me. Obviously, at that time, design was not in the handbook. So, who would have known that this is something that I would be doing now?
I was a social worker for about eight years. I started volunteering as a mentor for a couple of years, and at that time, I wanted to become a teacher, so I taught after-school courses to 4th graders. Once I built experience and made connections, I started working in the field as an employee.
I think my previous experience is what prepared me for this role as a designer. I believe social work played an integral role in that transition, mainly because I used to tell people that social workers utilize a lot of design thinking principles. There are many similarities between people who work in human services and product designers when you look at it:
- Empathy
- Understanding end-users’ needs and immersing yourself in their world
- Understanding their pain points, their journeys from as-is and to-be
- Implementing lesson plans
- Measuring and testing those results with progress notes.
Once I saw the connection between my previous role and design, it made me want to pursue UX even more since it’s all of my favorite subjects in one: psychology, technology, and design.
Alisha: What advice would you give a designer just starting?
Marcsene: Learn to cultivate a curious mind. Asking the right questions has a lot to do with UX. Knowing what questions to ask and knowing who to talk with to get results or insights comes from a certain mindset — a curious mindset. I think there are so many ways we can improve in those areas.
For anyone transitioning to design, it’s important to find ways to develop a design thinking mindset, which could be utilized through practice, experience, and working on projects.
Once you’ve gained that experience from working on projects, the next step would be to learn how to communicate your design process, whether through a presentation or a portfolio.
Alisha: Yes, you’re talking about soft/professional skills. It takes a balance of technical and soft skills to become a well-rounded designer. Showing that you have the right set of skills is often key to getting hired. What are some technical skills that are necessary for the role?
Marcsene: I think every designer has a toolkit, just like a construction worker. We have different tools and applications within our toolkit that we use to perform some of our tasks. For example, during my time at General Assembly, I was fortunate to learn how to use Sketch, wire framing software. I also learned how to use applications that help you manage projects, products, and tasks that you’re working on. It’s also critical to understand and use platforms [Github, Trello, etc.] that allow you to communicate, collaborate, and co-create with people directly involved in the projects you’re working on. Being well-rounded in all of these tools and applications will let you do your job more effectively and get to better outcomes.
Alisha: Being able to communicate about their design process is often a challenge for many people. I’m curious about the conversations you had with hiring managers when you started applying for jobs. How did you re-frame your previous working experience as a social worker to UX design?
Marcsene: When I graduated from General Assembly, it was at the height of the pandemic, February 2020. It was an interesting time to be transitioning into a new career and looking for a job.
So, I spent a lot of time speaking with hiring managers to understand what employers look for in an entry-level designer who also transitioned from another field. Based on my findings, it seems like, as I mentioned before, having a design process and communicating design was necessary.
I went ahead and started to find some ways to gain some experience. I started side projects while looking for a job, where I applied everything I learned in boot camp. Once I started interviewing with IBM, some of the questions they would ask would be, “do you have any experience interviewing users virtually?” And although we didn’t do virtual interviews in boot camp, I was fortunate to experience that from these side projects that I worked on while looking for a job. So getting that extra experience, in addition to the experience I had from boot camp, complemented each other in ways that helped me prepare for the interviewing process.
Alisha: People tend to have a lot of misconceptions about what it takes to be a designer. I’ve heard things such as being too old to switch careers, lacking formal design education, and/or lacking relevant experience or background. What challenges did you face while preparing for your career in design?
Marcsene: I definitely went through imposter syndrome, and I had to get over that. The transition was a very overwhelming experience for me because everything was new to me. It was my first tech role, and I came from a completely different environment. I also had to refine my design process. It’s one thing to have a big picture understanding of design, but it’s completely different when you have to articulate the process and design implementation within a specific project or circumstances. Making that transition as entry-level was a challenge for me; however, I realized that it is very normal at the beginning of the process. There are resources and ways to help you overcome that. A couple of resources off the bat:
- Utilizing education platforms to refine your skills and build confidence in your abilities (example: UX course from Udemy and other online platforms)
- Leveraging social media (professionally) to network and learn from seniors in your field.
Alisha: There are so many design disciplines. You chose UX design research. What was so compelling about design research?
Marcsene: When I started at General Assembly, I thought digital design would be my calling. However, I was assigned to a research project with the city of Boston. We had a real stakeholder in our final project. It was primarily a research project, and I had a lot of fun doing that project. I had to ask myself, “why did I have so much fun?” I have no other way to say it than other than I think it’s just who I am. I think that’s the way my brain works. I would love to question things; I’m very curious, I love information. I like to learn. I love to see how things work, especially if I’m very interested in it or passionate about it. I’m just a seeker of knowledge and learn and find ways to solve problems. I would love to learn how to be more strategic in product design, and I think that data and information kind of resonates with me more than a paintbrush. Not to take away from that, I believe they are all valuable work, but I think that my brain likes data more.
Alisha Moore: I think at some point, we’ve all suffered from imposter syndrome. Yes, even senior designers. How did you overcome your imposter syndrome?
Marcsene: I overcame my imposter syndrome by having conversations with my instructor at General Assembly. I think he gave me some really good insight. Also, just me fortifying the belief in myself and having a positive attitude that things happen when they’re supposed to happen — that there are bigger things to come. You know, whenever there’s uncertainty and doubt, I think that this is something that is supposed to happen. I think everything I’ve learned and experienced so far up until this point. Starting this journey has kind of been confirming and reaffirming that I was born to do this. This is what I’m supposed to be doing.
Alisha Moore: I’ve had many conversations with people scared to apply for a potential design role or position. What advice would you give aspiring designers looking for their first role?
Marcsene: I would tell them what I would tell myself. Fear and doubt are in your mind. Embrace the idea of falling forward. I think what many people are afraid of is the unknown, the uncertainty of the outcome. I believe that pursuing things that make you a bit uncertain, and nervous, or afraid, is what you probably should be doing.
Even if you don’t get the outcome you’re looking for, you still fell forward because there’s still something you can gain or learn from the experience.
Whether that person pointed you in another direction or gave you feedback, or you learn something from that experience that will make you better the next time. So just embrace the unknown. The challenge of some of those difficult things is the things that we should be doing. So that should be a clue.
Also, make connections as early as possible. Become a thought leader, and make sure everyone knows who you are. There’s so much benefit and value that comes with building those long-lasting connections.
Alisha: What are some of your career aspirations as a new designer at IBM?
Marcsene: This is an answer that’s probably going to constantly evolve from time to time, but I would say I’d like to I would like to become an expert in my field. I want to be a pioneer in the project I’m assigned to and just become the best at what I do. I’m very happy and fortunate that I am with IBM to help me achieve those goals. I think IBM has a lot to offer individuals eager to learn and who like to grow in knowledge and experience. So I feel like I’m at the right place. I think this is a great place to become an expert in something. For me, it will be research. I want to pursue other disciplines that can complement my research, such as data science, data analysis, machine learning, predictive models, and artificial intelligence. Finding a way to incorporate them would allow me to become a better researcher and all-around product designer.
I would hope that my growth and progress as a designer would hopefully inspire other designers as well. But, most importantly, to show young people in my community who look like me that tech is the future. It is the way. It changed my life and can certainly change yours since we all have something in common coming from the same community.
References and resources:
- IBM Racial Equity in Design — Portfolio and interview guidance
- Building your skills — How to grow your “T” and gain skills
- Coursera — Take online courses to grow your skills
- General Assembly — Course catalog
The above article is personal and does not necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies, or opinions.
