From Hospice Nurse to UI/UX Designer: 4 Things I Did to Change My Career
I always had a love for creative pursuits. My art teacher at school was disappointed in me for not pursuing a degree in an art and design field, but he was the only one.
Design was seen as a hobby where I was from, not something that should be pursued as a career. I remember the school career counselor giving me information about apprenticeships (internships) at the local naval dockyard in our area, rather than trying to get to know me or help me figure out which careers would suit me.
Fast forward a few years and I had become a Hospice Nurse. The work was rewarding, and I was really helping people. I got to use my problem-solving skills to deal with a variety of issues in the ward. I honed my empathic abilities and fine-tuned my communication skills. I worked hard, learned fast, and became very efficient and organized. I excelled in my career as a nurse and continued to feed my creative talents on the side with hobbies such as illustration.
As much as I paint a wonderful picture about life as a nurse, it did have its downsides. I had to work holidays, and I remember spending Christmas in the hospital and not with my own family. The work was often heartbreaking, and I’d cry on my way home from work wishing I could have done more to help others. The way my schedule worked, I could be on for 10 days in a row without a day off. That’s intense when you’re dealing with such physically, mentally, and emotionally draining work. I was wrung out.
I ended up leaving Scotland and moving to America. I learned that in order to continue nursing, I’d need to go back to school in America. However, this made me worried.
Since I was starting a new life, did I really want to go back to working crazy shifts and crying for my patients on my way home from work? No. I saw this as my big chance to make a change!
See more about my career change here:
I honestly believe that anyone can switch careers. It may feel like a massive step, and completely out of your reach, but with some research, a solid plan and perseverance, you can 100% change your career too!
Below are four things you can do to make the switch to becoming a full-time designer.
Step One: Research The Field
When I first transitioned into the field of design, I didn’t know much about anything — the job titles, the skills I’d need, or what employers and companies were looking for.
To overcome information overload, I started by writing down a list of my existing skills and talents, and then a list of interests and hobbies. This included both my hard skills and soft skills.
Although there weren’t many hard skills from my job as a nurse that overlapped with the skills needed to design apps or websites, I found that there was a lot of overlap when it came to the soft skills I already had.
For me, my empathy for others, communication skills, and ability to problem-solve, was a perfect combination with my love of design and illustration. I liked the idea of a role where I could still be helping people, and be able to use both the creative and analytical sides of my brain.
Step Two: Make A Plan
Once you’ve discovered a suitable career, you need to make that dream an actionable goal. Set yourself small and digestible steps to achieve it.
One thing you can do is to make a personal accountability plan. Just like personal trainers and nutritionists help their clients with a specialized training plan, you have to carefully map out the road to making a career switch and what you envision your end goal to be.
For me, that first step was to start researching online Bootcamps, and I ultimately decided to go with CareerFoundry. With them, I could set my own pace around my schedule, and they guaranteed to refund my course fees if I hadn’t secured work 6 months after completing the course.
Outside of my Bootcamp, I made incremental steps to build out my projects for my portfolio, learn additional skills outside of what the instructors taught in the classroom, and also wrote articles on the side to document my journey in design.
Step Three: Make The Time
Making a career switch is hard. If you’re working full-time, you need to make whatever time you can spare really count. The same still holds true if you’re working part-time or are making the jump into full-time studying.
I started getting up at 5am to study, and then booked off time later in the day to apply for jobs. To change careers, you need to be organized and efficient, especially if you're still working in your old job during the process.
Personal accountability is important and crucial when it comes to making a career switch, because no one is responsible for your success except for yourself.
Step Four: Keep Going
I’ve always been a high achiever, and I thought I’d have no trouble at all landing a great job. In the past, I’d always got the jobs I’d really wanted, so this wouldn’t be any different, right?
Wrong! Landing a job in your new career may not be easy, especially if you’re a newcomer to the field of design, but it will be worth it. It can be demotivating when employers ghost you, but if you keep taking little steps towards your dream job, you will land it eventually!
The best part? You’re not alone in this — check out this video from The Handoff that shows 7 popular fields to transition from and how others position themselves to stand out in the job search process!
If you’re thinking about changing careers to become a UI/UX Designer, check out The Handoff for some excellent tips and resources for job hunting! Sign up for the newsletter to receive weekly tips and tricks to get you closer to that first UI/UX job.
