Swipe right for your dream job — from heartbreak to a perfect match ✨

Have you ever wondered why we spend so much time dreaming of the perfect love, while the majority of our waking time is spent in a job that we don’t even like? Looking for a job should be just as selective as finding love, since we’ll spend so much time there we should feel that it is our dream job.

When I started my product design career, I wanted to mainly work for small startup companies. I was confident that working for one would boost my career and my knowledge. And so it happened — I was hired by a small startup and was the only product designer there.

As with first love, I was eager to get started — I had butterflies in my stomach when I realized how much responsibility it came with. I imagined how my whole life would change — how as a single product designer I would be expanding my skill set, influencing the organization, applying UX methodologies and setting the tone of the product.

After the butterflies passed and the workload increased, I encountered the stress and lack of many skill sets that came with being a junior designer.
The work was agile and everything was happening so fast. There wasn’t enough time for UX research and resources, and I needed someone to consult or work with. The dream faded, and it made me pause and think about where I saw myself in the near future and how I could find my dream job.

Sometimes first love brings you insights, and then it allows you to pinpoint your next choice.

My checklist criteria

Just as you do before starting to date, I made a list of things that I wished to have in my dream job. After the start of the pandemic, there were a lot of open positions in the market, so I had to get focused on what I wanted.

I narrowed my list down to three things that were must-haves:

Mentorship
Because I lacked a product design team, I was looking for a company that had a design director level and a product design team. I craved collaboration with other designers, as well as a manager who was going to mentor and guide me through my role.

UX research
As someone junior, it was crucial for me to work for an organization with resources for various UX research methods, such as user interviews, data usage, usability testing, and A/B testing, in order to enhance my skills.

Progressive product
Since I’d already worked on a product from scratch, I wanted to work on a product that was more developed, had paying users, kept growing, and had extensive areas to deal with.

My first date with Yotpo

Although we have a lot of mutual friends, we first saw each other on a modern dating app — Linkedin. It was pretty clear to me that I wanted to apply for a job at Yotpo, and I felt their open role was the answer to my dreams.

I prepared for the interview and learned about all the products Yotpo has to offer, just like social media research before an exciting first date. I wrote down notes and questions that interested me, as it was important for me to understand the company’s approach to its products.

During the interview I asked many questions — I had to know that we were looking for the same type of relationship. It was a match — Yotpo hired me!

But with the idea of getting into a serious relationship, I still had quite a few concerns before I agreed to join the company. What if teamwork wouldn’t suit me after working as a single designer? Would I be able to achieve my career goals? And what if I didn’t have enough experience?

I got the job! Now what challenges would I need to face and how did I deal with them?

Just like when you’re starting to date someone and getting to know them, the company has a past and things that happened before I arrived. Little by little I started piecing things together and getting to know them better.

As at the beginning of any relationship, there were difficulties and challenges I had to deal with:

My manager, who mentored me, left the role
As a new designer on the team this was a real challenge — especially when mentorship was one of my goals. I had to learn about the different areas in the product, push myself in projects, participate in meetings more and set myself initial goals, all while being new to the team.

Sometimes I felt the Product Managers called me to join the process too late
Feeling like I was missing out on being a significant part of UX problem-solving forced me to step out of my comfort zone and improve my communication skills. So I communicated it to the Product Managers I work with and we started building a mutual language and processes that worked better for all of us. It was important to me to show them that they could trust me with more responsibility.

A mature startup has more people to persuade
Unlike in a small startup where there are fewer opinions, here I sometimes get objections to solutions I propose for projects. In order to improve my work and justify my position, I focus on strengthening my capabilities. I learn more about UX methodologies, I share more with my team to get feedback, I back up my solutions by using data, and more.

Although Yotpo has a design system, it is still in the early stages
It was initially challenging to work with and communicate the benefits of a design system to the dev team.

The first reason was that there was no awareness among the developers that there is such a library that they can use. The second reason was the library wasn’t fully developed, and sometimes it added a lot of work instead of making it easier.

To conquer this challenge, I started by explaining what the design system is to the development teams I work with. I focused on how to use it efficiently and effectively, and explained how important it is for a product company to maintain consistency with a mutual language among their various products. I also learned how to plan my work better. What’s coming up for development? When and how, do I incorporate/promote the components I require for the projects I am working on?

Since Yotpo is a relatively large company with several products, while working on different projects to get to know the product better, I am still looking for my area of ​​expertise and what my passion is.

Is Yotpo the one? Did Yotpo match my expectations?

When I look back at the beginning of my journey, I can see how much I’ve been through.

I realize that the perfect job doesn’t exist and that what makes it a dream job is dealing with every obstacle in the way and maintaining this relationship. I’m happy to announce that we are a couple now!

Today I am more independent in my role, I have confidence and I learn a lot from my teammates, which was also one of my goals. I have more clarity about what I am dealing with. I feel my opinion is heard, by better navigating gaps in communication. I know everything is a part of my learning curve, and I try to get better and learn something new every day.

I am glad to be in a place that looks broadly at the products and is not afraid to change focus when needed. I also get to see how Yotpo empowers and invests in its people with different kinds of workshops and various career development programs.

Both of us invest in each other, are aware of each other’s needs, and keep working on improving our communication. Now I can tell that all of these are the keys to a good relationship.