My path from Journalism to Content Design (aka. UX Writing)
Have you ever manipulated a career test? I have. That’s how I ended up graduating in journalism just because “I wanted to write”, although being sure it had been a wrong choice since my second semester at university.
For years and years I’ve thought about parallel universes in wich I dind’t fake that test. Would I still have been dragged to a life of unrecognized careers and wages far below the acceptable? Maybe. We never know. And maybe my problem was a lack of therapy sessions (which are now perfectly up to date).
But the point is: If I faked that test it was because I already known my passion was writing. I just didn’t know the right profession — wich is perfectly ok since it didn’t exist yet.
It was 2006. I was 16 and I remember faking a surprise face when receiving the results: that I should work with anything envolving words and creativity. Then the teacher told me about graduations in journalism, theater and law — this last one with a huge smile since that school was very money oriented (a common characteristic for schools, let’s agree).
And then 14 years later, after 10 years working with digital content and social media, I decided to take a detour. Thanks to very nice people in my life, I discovered the things I did here and there on my regular job (and also the freelance ones) had other name than “content writing”. I was content designing!
Suddenly, all my cravings for researching and understanding readers (now I call them users!) behaviour made sense. I wasn’t “a megalomaniac person who wants too much”, I just didn’t fit that place.
After realizing that, were whole 2 years of reading lots of articles, taking bootcamps and making study cases. I needed to structure my knowledge, learn different ways of communicating myself (using “bootcamp” instead of “course” was a new world to me) and construct a real portfolio that could draw recruitters’ attention.
It wasn’t easy. When you are 30+ you can’t simply quit your job to try another one, but have certainly acquaired some juggling and contortion habilities. So I managed my spare time before and after my regular job to study, volunteer as ux/ui designer and to do a LinkedIn extreme makeover.
It was hard and I constantly doubted it could work, specially when I boycotted myself during interviews. But then I got it! Now I can say I not only am a content designer, but I also work and am recognized as one!
Today I can say a lot changed since I had my first “I want to write” thought back on 2006. Beyond things that are the core of content designing — such as the importance to understand users to address what they need — now I know perfectly the differences (and similarities) between kinds of writing. So yes, I still want to write and I write a lot (at the job, in my spare time, on my personal projects). But now I do it strategically, each one on its right place.
If you’re looking for a career change, leave a comment bellow. I’ll be pleased to help! :)
