Life Lessons, The Things They Never Taught You In Design School…
Today, on the Design Guild Facebook page, someone posted the following question and it got me thinking…
I’ve always felt that design schools and college in general, did a horrible job of prepping you for life after academia. Aside from a résumé and a portfolio, you’re left to your own devices. This question cut deeper than I expected and prompted these answers. I’ve expanded on my original response just for medium. And yes, I know I didn’t follow the parameters of “What is the ONE thing you would do differently/learned?”
This is half advice and half career/life story (thus far).
Start ASAP. It takes a while to find your ideal first job. Some of us, no matter how smart or talented, never get our dream job straight out of college. Maybe we had to look after a sick parent or take care of our siblings or were not dealt a great hand.
My first job out of school was an extension of an internship. It paid peanuts. Literally, I would qualify for welfare after taxes.
OK maybe I made too much to qualify for welfare, but I did make so little that I had to take out a loan to pay for car insurance. On top of that, I had school loans that would haunt me until I turned 30. You’ll never know how good it felt to pay off those loans, until you do it yourself.
That job introduced me to a situation that made me think, “Never Again.” That job also introduced me to people who introduced me to other people and I slowly built my network. And that’s how you network, in person, by offering help, and by being genuine. Focus only on what you can get from the other person and your network shrinks.
When these people recognized my talent and especially my work ethic, they pushed me out of my comfort zone. Three jobs and four years later I was freelancing at OgilvyPR Worldwide in Washington, DC. “The” job I dreamed of having upon graduation. The Creative Director didn’t have time to look at my portfolio because he was constantly traveling that summer. My art director kept me on as a freelancer because they needed the help.
I’d do whatever was asked, ads, illustrations, brochures, flyers, slideshows, pitch decks, spec work for RFPs, packaging, logo design, brand standards manuals, troubleshooting the Macs, rewiring the network, etc. When they totaled my invoices at the end of the summer, I had billed the equivalent of a Senior Designer’s salary. Again, I may be exaggerating here, but the amount of money did prompt them to bring me on board full time because it was cheaper.
I was off with a running start. I pushed for more responsibility, but I made sure I covered my ass. It’s not good to “fake it until you make it” if you can’t back-up the talk.
I went from Senior Designer to Art Director to Senior Art Director to Design Director and finally Design Director/VP in five years.
Titles are worthless unless they help you move to the next plateau. The people you get to work with and the things you produce are more important. Money is important too if you want to pay your bills.
During my tour of duty in “traditional” design, I worked in boutique design studios, scrappy mid-sized collectives, and global conglomerates such as WPP and Omnicom agencies. I helped pioneer the digital group within one WPP agency and I spearheaded the digital group within the other Omnicom agency.
During the 2008 financial crisis, I took possession of my condo keys the same day I was laid off. My boss said the equivalent of, “Technically you were employed while you took possession. So technically it’s legit.” If only my mortgage lender knew.
During the nine months of unemployment in my chosen field, I did what I could to make ends meet. Eventually, I pivoted towards UX-UI work around the same time the iPhone 2 was released. As I was dragged kicking and screaming into the mobile age by friends who were on their first start-up — I leveraged my previous years of web design experience against the Apple Human Interface Guidelines. I worked for free until we got work that would pay. I didn’t even own an iPhone until after I had launched my second mobile app.
Save. Save. Save. It’ll help you in your down time between jobs. Don’t buy “stuff”. It weighs you down and keeps you from accepting jobs in other cities because you loathe moving your stuff or loathe selling it. It literally is just “stuff.” Spend money on travel and food. Let the click-bait generating news sites blame your generation for the death of everything because of your spending habits, it’s a rite of passage.
If your employer offers a 401K plan with matching contributions, no matter how young or healthy you are, sign up for it. That’s free money. The deduction is taken out of your paycheck pretax and it builds up faster than you think.
My start-up work got me noticed by larger tech companies and with the help of friends and in-house talent recruiters, I got an interview.
Never let work, the pursuit of work or the lack of work get in the way of the important things in life.
Then life said, “No.” My Dad was gravely ill and I was afraid he’d pass before I got a job. You don’t wait in these situations. You fly overseas even if it depletes your savings. It was the best decision I ever made. We spent weeks saying all the things that previously went unsaid. It was only the second time I had seen my father cry. Dad passed three days after I returned to the US.
- Yes, I was rejected for the first job I applied for at the larger tech company.
- Yes, I ran into the recruiter who got me the interview in the company lobby. I was set-up for another interview at a sister company that same week. (I didn’t get that job either.)
- Yes, my cat died the same day I had my second interview.
- Yes, the third time is a charm. The head of the newly minted Mobile Group interviewed me as he was driving to Palo Alto. After the interview, I wasn’t offered the job I applied for, but one that they created for me. It paid the same so I said, Yes. (BTW there were other interviews, background checks and a C-Level staff sign-off before I actually received a formal offer.)
Perseverance gets you hired.
I had imposter syndrome for the first two years. At the end of the first year, the sister company that didn’t hire me started asking for copies of my documentation, my UX flows, and my UI templates to use with their designers. I’m still on good terms with that director even though we never worked together.
A multitude of websites and 30+ apps later I still have imposter syndrome, but now it’s because of the effort required to keep up with newer tools, technologies, processes and the evolution of design thinking. Imposter syndrome is good. It keeps you hungry. Leveraging past experience I went from Visual Designer to Senior Visual/UX-UI Designer/SME to Director of Design/UX-UI in a span of six years. I’ve been and continue to learn even after ten years.
Always work outside your comfort zone. Your best work this year should be your worst work next year. Learn something new every day. Master something new every six months. Look for another job after you stop learning anything new in your current one — or get a side gig.
The best jobs are usually referrals from other people you’ve worked with when they move to other companies or start their own company.
Maintain your digital footprint. Your dream job often comes when you least expect it and doesn’t leave any time for updating your portfolio. Keep it current and update it once a year. Be ruthless in your editing. In choosing work to showcase always choose quality over quantity.
Fight for your designs. Do it especially if it’s good, do it especially if it’s right — just don’t be a d*ck about it. You’re not Steve Jobs. (Italicized because I stole it from a meme. )
Don’t assume that because you’re part of a successful start-up — that you’ll get PAID once the startup goes public. Educate yourself about stock options before the subject comes up. If you don’t understand, ask questions.
Learn how to negotiate your own salary. You don’t ask, you don’t get and all they can say is, “No.” Learn that “No” to salary doesn’t rule out negotiating signing bonuses, vacation time, special affordances, equipment and a multitude of other things on top of the usual benefits of healthcare, a 401K plan, and time off.
Never threaten to quit a job — unless you’re prepared to actually quit.
There are no stupid questions, just stupid people who don’t ask questions fearing that they’ll look stupid.
My apologies to the Esquire Answer Fella.
Keep in touch with friends, family, and acquaintances. Acquaintances can sometimes become good friends or allies.
Don’t just broadcast on social networks, communicate — that’s how you keep your network alive.
You only need a few things starting out. A laptop, a phone, a good tablet and a capsule wardrobe. Maybe a big TV and some nice headphones. For the TV, skip the ridiculously priced curved screens or the high end 4K models. You’re going to sell it if your next big opportunity is in San Francisco, New York or Paris or Beijing.
Never turn down a job opportunity just because you don’t speak the language. Especially if the employer offers to supply you with a translator or pay for classes.
If you’re buying a car, buy it used.
Live in a big city at least once in your life. A city with a ton of people, a great park, an amazing library, multiple music venues, landmark theaters, great restaurants, great bars, historic museums, a [insert major league sport] team and public transportation.
Only invest in things when you’ve met someone and settled down.
When you’ve settled down, there is no shame in the fact that your first [insert furniture piece] is a hand me down, used, or from a thrift shop. Otherwise, all that “stuff“ is expendable.
Cats and Dogs are exempt from this advice — adopt don’t buy.
Travel when you’re young, it gets harder and when you’re older. It also gets more expensive.
Take your vacation days. All of them. Don’t work during the vacation — you need to recharge your batteries. Unless of course, you’re a saint and volunteer during your vacation.
Read Books. Listen to Music. Watch Movies. Feed the imagination that powers your inspiration.
Say you’re sorry when you’re in the wrong.
Say thank-you when you’ve been helped.
Speak the truth, even if it gets you fired.
Be memorable, not just in the work you do, but in the way you treat others. Do this and when someone says, “Do you know a good [insert type] Designer?” your name will be top of mind. People like to recommend people they can depend on and they can trust. Keep your word. Work hard. Realize, it’s never about the money but, always know your worth.
POSTSCRIPT: WHAT to DO IF YOU EVER GET LAID OFF/FIRED:
Don’t worry if you get fired or laid off, it will happen at least once in your lifetime. Keep in mind, unless they’re heartless, it’ll be as hard on the person laying you off as it will be on you.
When you get laid off/fired know that there’s a difference between pride and dignity. Pride makes you bad mouth your former employer and do stupid things on social media. Dignity gets you an extra four weeks of severance and a recommendation for your next gig.
Now go to a bar with friends. Drink or don’t drink. It doesn’t matter, the important thing is that you’re all there and you can commiserate. Apply for unemployment. Do it the same day you got fired. OK, maybe apply for unemployment the next day. Begin the job search, again. Do better and make them regret firing you.
