Wandering toward a successful career

As a young designer, I’ve found myself feeling very confused about how to build a career that is satisfying and impactful. I know I’m lucky to have a job in my field, doing things that I love. Things could definitely be a lot worse. But somehow, there are days when I feel overwhelmed and anxious about what my “next step” will be, and whether that will be one that I will feel empowered and happy taking.

This is what happened to me about four months ago, when I began searching for a new job. I was having trouble deciding what I wanted to be doing in my next role. When I finally figured that part out, I discovered that I wasn’t “qualified” for the type of position and work I wanted to be doing. Having submitted countless resumes to no avail, I realized that I needed to change my strategy to get noticed.

I decided to surround myself with other designers and the mindset of “design” — I needed to build my professional network and immerse myself in the design community. I figured I could learn how to navigate the design world by watching, listening, and learning — seeing what worked for other designers and how I could use these strategies to make things work for myself. Since then, I tried to enroll myself in everything that I could to sponge knowledge off of other designers and inspire myself to achieve greater things.

For a few months, I was inspired. I stopped listening to my usual musical brain fodder at work and started listening to design podcasts to maximize my time. I enjoyed hearing their stories. I turned in my pajamas and granny-like habits after work for happy hours and networking events, where I could meet and talk to others about how they got started in design. Twitter became my go-to tool for communication — I could tweet at well-known designers and even get a response! I felt like I was becoming part of the community.

I tried some of the strategies that these people talked about over the next few months. I must say, I really, really hustled. Everything I did was focused on design and my career. I started some side projects, began freelancing, and really kept engaging with other designers like they were my best friends.

I quickly realized that I was becoming exhausted and upset trying to compare myself to others in the industry and how they had achieved “success”. The imposter syndrome kicked in, and is something I still feel on a day to day basis. It’s hard to get around the fact that today’s world is getting more and more competitive and you’ll inevitably have to fight for your place in the industry. That stress is something that causes me to question my choices and abilities everyday.

As I’ve tried all of these methods for success, all to little or no avail, I’ve realized one thing.

Everyone wanders down their own path to success.

There’s not one prescriptive path to success that everyone in the industry has taken. There’s no particular design style or process that defines a successful designer. Through all of my searching and listening, I’ve discovered that mostly, it takes hard work, and a little bit of luck to break through in the industry.

What has that meant for me? Well, even though I’m still trying to figure out how to cope with the imposter syndrome and insecurity I feel everyday, I’ve realized that at the end of the day, I’m going to do what I think is best for me and my own career growth. I’ve come a long way in realizing that happiness and success for me won’t necessarily be achieving a high paying job, leading a design team at a well-known and forward-thinking technology company. There are other things like flexibility, freedom, and independence that I cherish and value more than money and status. These are the things that characterize a successful career for me — perhaps untraditional and unstable, but for now have provided me with a goal to work toward.

With that, I’m reminding myself everyday to take the success stories I’ve listened to and read with a grain of salt, and focus on my own happiness and growth. In doing that already, I feel much more fulfilled and satisfied, knowing that I’m able to see the bigger picture of what lies ahead.