The Second 40 Hr. Job

Wassup Saints! Here’s a transparent blog (sn: they all are honestly lol. If they weren’t I wouldn’t waste my time writing to you all.) I’m coming at you live with an update as I sit here and contemplate where I want to go in my career trajectory. I’m just shy of two years in the game (time has literally flown) and sitting back to take account of what it all means. Two pertinent conversations come to mind. The first conversation was one I had with my favorite boss (hey OG!!) and I remember it like it was yesterday. I was struggling through an architectural design decision and he was asking me a ton of questions I didn’t know the answer to. He then asked me if I thought my learning stopped at 40 hours? He went on to tell me that when he first started out in his career he would end up spending a decent amount of time after hours perfecting his craft. He put the time in until he got to a knowledgeable place and continued to put in the time after that. That conversation replays in my head on the regular. 

The next conversation took place with one of my architecture professors during my third year of college. I’m not sure what prompted us but we asked for advice on how to best prepare for our future careers. She mentioned, “No matter what, don’t let your skillset get old.” So as I sit here coming up on two years in this new career I’m having a sort of come to Jesus moment. Like girl, where your head at? Where do you want to go in this career now? How we doing fareal? And I can say there are places where I want to expand my knowledge for sure. User experience is such a broad category with many avenues to specialize in, but I’m at a place where I’ve zoned in on where and what I want to explore first and how.

So here’s the truth of it…I’m taking a page out of my favorite boss’s book and hijacking my second 40 hour work week. That’s the one that starts after you clock out of work just in case you were lost lol. Here’s my why though. Thus far in my career I feel I’ve had a good baby introduction into a few different avenues within user experience. I’ve gotten a chance to get some good research under my belt and a dollop of design time. Now that I’ve seen a few things it turns out I’m still the same girl at heart–and that is a designer through and through. I. Have. Loved. Design. My. Whole. Life. I recall getting introduced to the world of Adobe where Photoshop, Illustrator, and Indesign ran my life in college. In college we had to pick up new programs and skills all the time and we just did it. The parts I loved most were being able to come up with something out of literally nothing and having this place where “No” didn’t exist. If I could think of it, I could design it and I want to live in that space again.

So my plan is to make more opportunities to enhance my visual design skills on and off the clock. (Sidenote: I know there are some folks that won’t subscribe to this plan because you put in your 40 hours and leave. I get it and that’s great. Do you! However, the level that I want to be at calls for a bit more of my time so I’m moving accordingly😀.) I plan on achieving that by doing the following:

• Consuming content daily that will strengthen my visual design skills - currently I’m exploring Dan’s Figma’s Advanced Skills to keep my hands in Figma 

• Opening Figma each day and complete one #DailyUI challenge 

• Watching an endless amount of time lapse videos just to get an idea of other people’s work flows which should sharpen or shorten my own

• Looking into volunteer opportunities with a visual design focus so that I can bolster those skills while increasing my network

• Buying books centered around UX design so I can keep getting an idea for the theory behind good design and visual styles

• Talking to y’all about it all because well….accountability

Alright, that’s the plan and I’m thinking the more I get into these habits I’ll come back with updates. I’m also thinking this would be a great start for anyone else trying to break into experience design as well. I remember it like it was yesterday, the constant barrage of “no’s” I received when job hunting and how much emphasis was placed on the experience needed just to get the experience I was looking for from a first job. So we’re still in this together. I’d love to hear what your plans are for making yourself a better designer, developer, etc. Feel free to let me know in the comments but as always wishing you all the best! 

My best,
Kiera

The Invincible Tech Industry

Wassup people,

I’m coming live at you from being a year plus in and navigating what I’m sure you all have heard about - the tech layoffs. I remember a couple years ago hearing about the tech industry and this sort of untouchable nature around it. To the non-tech world, this field sounded like the nirvana. You would constantly hear about the benefits, the pay increase, and plenty of other perks. Then there was this idea that all you had to do was make it in the door and you would be on your way. I remember accepting those ideas as plain truth and it was never something I questioned. I just knew I needed to make the jump. 

So fast forward to my finally being in the industry last year, it came as a surprise that the untouchable industry I had heard so much about was being played with. My first sighting of the layoffs came during Afrotech in 2022. One day we were all in Austin, TX shaking hands and smiling and the next day we started to hear about the layoffs. For example, recruiters that were working the events got emails that their employment was being terminated. The news from some of my friends followed up shortly after and suddenly Afrotech went from being like a reunion of black faces to a somber, determined career expo. The saddest of desperate LinkedIn posts followed for months after that. Finally while I had watched everything from a distance, March would bring about fear-inducing emails from my company right to my doorstep.

I’ll pause here to say architecture did a good job with educating me on how to spot a layoff season from a mile away. I was laid off from one of my first jobs right out of school and that was my introduction to the concept of being let go. The jobs that followed highlighted other indicators to pay attention to as well. So when things got a bit interesting at my current place of work I was not surprised because the uncertainty was there. My current company is also very transparent with the state of the company and that has been amazing, eye opening, and grounding. Back to the story.

So after the first set of layoffs everything has been redefined. I sort of woke up and saw I was vulnerable and what do you do with that right? It’s scary. What I’ve deduced is that you find yourself upskilling. You look for ways to grow. You take on tasks that stretch you and keep your current set of skills sharp. You update your resume and portfolio. You look for a side hustle to better insulate your income just in case. You savor coworker meetings because you just never know. The whole nine you just do. And that’s where I am.

I am extremely grateful because God has helped me hurdle each wave. I’ve also accepted that no matter what happens it will work out in the end because it just has to. So I want to end by encouraging myself and others to hang in there. Times are weird so wherever you find yourself press forward. To my folks attempting to break into the industry I’m also sending you lots of love too. Hang in there. I’ve had a pretty cool year and making it to the other side of that journey has been worth it but continue to diversify your skills. 

I’m excited for better news but this is real life and where we are. I’d love to know where you all are in the process and how you’ve adjusted. In the meantime I'm still hopeful for us alll.

Happier dreams Saints

Kiera