How I Became A UX Designer In 4 Months (why I succeeded)

hey guys welcome back to my channel my  name is charlie and i am a ux designer   i wanted to share with you guys my four  month journey from a software developer   to a ux designer we are going to talk about  that today and i've broken up the video   into three parts so part one i want to set the  stage and talk about where i was as a person   where i was in my career before i actually got  my first interview part two i want to talk about   the four interviews that i actually had to do and  then part three i want to just sit down and talk   with you guys really just straight forward about  what i feel like helped me get into my ux role   it's 2018 and it's been about i would say like a  year and a half between the time that i graduated   from university with a computer science degree and  i'm already working as a software developer i've   been doing it for like a pretty decent amount  of time like definitely enough to be used to it   and i would be what you consider a intermediate  developer at my company and at that time my   schedule looked a little bit like this i  would work monday to friday in the office   then on saturday i was a taekwondo instructor  and wednesday and sunday i had some kind of   volunteering meeting like something online or an  event that i had to go to and on thursday would   be some kind of networking event that i go to i  used to do a networking event every single week   so yeah i was pretty busy i was running around a  lot of different places honestly i wish i vlogged   back then because i was just much more fun and  exciting i know with all the things i said that i   had in my schedule nothing really screams designer  or ux designer so i'm going to like i'm going to   like break it down a little bit when i was in my  software job i had an amazing project manager and   he knew since the very beginning that i was just  really into design and design was something that   i really wanted to do and since we didn't have any  designers at my software company every time we had   to do like a logo or an icon or like a website  design or something he'd let me do that and it   was really cool to get that kind of experience  and actually have some apps that i've designed a   logo for like actually out in the real world like  people can download it right now i'm not a graphic   designer like at all so like maybe i wasn't the  most qualified to do that but like i just really   really appreciate him giving me that chance to  test out design and really just like encourage   me to design as i want to do i have assistant  instructed and like instructed martial arts   since i was about 13. a story for another day i  thought my dream was actually to become a martial   arts instructor and to open my own studio i think  it's like that educating and like facilitating a   group setting that has really helped me and like  honestly has been one of the most helpful things   and the best experiences that i've had for my  career and when it comes to volunteering i was a   content writer and i did infographics and banners  and social media posts and website management   anyways back to volunteering i had a manager  and she was like graphic design person at   the company but she was actually going for an  online certificate and user experience i think   like talking to her one time the conversation that  i had with her was i guess like the catalyst for   me to start moving into finding this ux job that  i really wanted and she was also the one that   told me you only need one case study in order to  apply you would think that after i heard something   like that that i would like go and make a case  study like i don't know an average intelligence   person but for some reason i didn't i did create a  website though so a website to show off all of my   projects that i had as a developer just thinking  back on it i know like past me i know i must have   been like well i'm just gonna make this website  and then like slowly like prepare and plan to   create a case study like i don't know why i  decide to do everything in hard mode i could have   definitely gone into ux faster if i just stopped  thinking i needed to plan everything i think   it's actually called active procrastination where  you convince yourself that you're actually doing   something productive but honestly you're just  procrastinating around that time i was starting to   feel very comfortable at my job you kind of know  how like everyone works and how projects work in   the company but it was around that time where my  team lead said that you know he wanted to move on   and do some other things and that you know charlie  if you wanted to become a team lead for this team   then yeah i would totally put your name out there  i did put your name out there like you would think   that's a great thing but like when i heard it i  was just so shocked i could see my entire life   like just flashing that's so dramatic i can see my  entire career flashing before my eyes and i didn't   like it i saw that you know if i get this job as  a team lead and a software development team i am   never going to try being a designer i know that's  the case because the pay gap would be way too much   like of a difference one of my biggest motivations  for my life is to take care of my parents that has   always been the goal that has always been the end  goal to have my parents retire as soon as possible   so they can just take things easy and like let  me let me just like throw out some random numbers   here for example if i was a team lead and i made  like a hundred thousand dollars but then a junior   designer works and gets like a salary of 50 000  like that's 50k a year and that that can do a lot   for your life for the life of my parents um the  life of my pets i just couldn't imagine a scenario   not wanting to absolutely fall into a hole if i  had to say to my parents i realized that i wanted   to be a designer now so i know i was a team lead  and you guys are retired but you're gonna have to   go and get a job again because i can't support  you i would feel like an absolute failure and i   knew if i couldn't go for this design role now  then i am never going to and i'm never gonna   have a chance to do so i just had my website but  i still decided to start applying but it was so   wishy-washy like i have to i have to be like  straight with you guys i was so scared the entire   time that nothing is ever going to come up so i  still applied for like other roles as a software   developer for like other companies because again  like i was really comfortable in my company and i   kind of wanted to change things up whether it  would be a software position or it would be a   design position which leads us to part two of my  interview process see like normally when a company   is interested in you and they feel like you have  a lot of potential as a candidate they would email   you and be like hey we saw your resume we feel  like you'd be a great fit let's set up a phone   screening and then you would like coordinate times  then you'll finally sit down and talk with them   but i didn't get that at all but yeah i feel like  it was the test like did i know my stuff enough to   just talk about it on the fly but it was totally  the wrong time for me i had just finished a client   meeting with like another client and they were  off-site so i was not anywhere close to my office   it was lunch time i was just trying to  walk back to the office so i can eat at my   desk they started to call me and then i had to  find like a really quiet space in order to like   do an actual interview as nerve-wracking  as it is to do an interview it's so weird   to do an interview with like other people around  but i told her exactly about what i told you guys   like i did taekwondo i taught here i volunteered  here and she just kind of said you know you should   really talk to our practice lead hey so pausing  here to clarify that this interview was originally   for a software developer position i had actually  gotten no callbacks for a ux design position which   makes sense because i didn't have a portfolio  okay this is something my parents have always   taught me you never have to get ready if you're  always ready i was not ready but like i'm never   gonna turn down this opportunity right like if  an opportunity comes you need to grab it so i   just said yes anything yes i will take the time  to figure it out i don't care what it is so she   was like okay that's great um he is a little busy  so he'll reach out when he has some time and i was   like great if he's busy that's fine because then i  have more time that i can actually practice what i   want to do and practice like my interview skills  make a case study all that good stuff and so with   a fire under my butt like right up against my  butt i had to make a case study switching gears a   little bit it was around that time when my amazing  project manager asked all the female developers   at the company to go to his daughter's junior high  school and help them with her hackathon apparently   like the girls at the school had a hackathon  where they had to like code something really   quickly in python and the guys would do something  like stereotypically more feminine like sewing or   or something like that so the two of us went and  taught at that school and it was actually really   really fun so that whole day happened and then my  fiance picked me up because the school was like on   the opposite side of the city from where i live  and he drove me home but as we're driving home   it's like bumper to bumper traffic and someone  just rear-ended us it wasn't that big of a deal   but the next day i was in bed and then like when  i tried to get up i literally fell over i was like   texting my parents on the ground like pretty much  almost going to be in tears it was so painful and   like something just really bad hurt my back from  that rare ending incident it didn't mean that i   had like two weeks where i was pretty much at  home resting and i use that time to really work   on my case study for this eventual interview that  i would be having so the case study that i decided   to make i chose this bakery that my family my  boyfriend like our friends really really love   they didn't have a website so i just decided to  create a website for them and i had never really   created a case study before so what i did was  go online and i that's like not really rocket   science what i did i didn't do anything like crazy  or special i just went to google and i looked up   ux case studies and then i read through them and  then i just made like a bunch of notes about oh i   like how they did this i liked how they did that  maybe i should try out this research method and   stuff like that and i eventually like frankenstein  together a pretty decent case study then after i   had finished the case study and my website was  already a month had passed and i had not heard   at all from the company that i was interviewing  with and at that point i was already doing like   technical interviews with like other software  companies and every single time i had a technical   interview i was like oh my gosh i don't want to  do this anymore but they didn't call me back so   in like the most professional way that i  possibly could i was like hello like where where   are you hello i still want to do this interview  i want this job you can't just like bait me into   this and i said that in an email in like the most  professional way definitely not how i just said   it um so i did that and then he got back to me and  then the next week we had an interview i was super   nervous it was supposed to be like a half hour  interview but the interview ended up going to like   two hours long i'm pretty sure i talked about  my case study but i don't remember anything   about that like at all i remember us talking  about martial arts i remember us talking about   movies and i think like that's it like personally  i am very introverted the most comfortable i am   is when i am at home with a person one-on-one like  on super peer or when i'm just talking to you guys   through a camera like for me at least networking  doesn't work for me i see it like this like   networking is when you cast out a net into the  ocean and you know you just pick up what you end   up getting back it could be like fish whatever it  could be absolute like garbage you never know for   me what works is trying to use like a spear and  really just focusing all of my energy and tension   into this one thing i don't care if i don't go to  networking events and build up relationships from   there i just need to connect with the person that  i'm interviewing with all right after that things   started to pick up a little bit and i got another  interview the following week this time with the   ux practice lead and the cto a chief technical  officer i don't even remember presenting my case   study it was basically a soft skill interview he  asked me things like how do you handle difficult   situations how do you respond to feedback what  if people don't take you seriously things that   you would actually need to consider and like  navigate around when you were a consultant it   was more of a consultancy interview not a design  interview and it was because of all of the martial   arts and teaching experiences like having to deal  with children and their parents that i had and was   able to pull from that i really like solidified  my success for this interview and i got a call   back i did one more culture interview with them  but like that was totally easy because everyone   at my old company is just great and yeah it was  awesome i resigned and on march 4th 2019 i started   as a ux designer all together it took four months  for me to switch create a case study and all that   oh and the thing that i created a case study for  the bakery i actually emailed them my case study   afterwards and yeah i just wanted to like share it  with you and they actually got back to me and they   were like we actually need a website would you  like to build it for us as a freelancer and that's   also the story of how i got my first freelancing  job yeah it was just a great time it was super   successful i got really i don't want to say lucky  because like i did work but i didn't work for this   but everything just fell into place and i think  that's when you know something is right when it's   not like a difficult road everything just works  as it should because it's meant to be so let's   go in to part three finally on why i feel like i  got this job i've had about two and a half years   since then and i think i like have a pretty good  idea about what really made me successful to kick   off part three and i think this one is an obvious  one but i had a great project manager i worked at   a great company who had given me a great work-life  balance i was able to do things that i wanted to   do i wasn't too tired or too stressed and i'm so  grateful for everything that they have taught me   the second thing i want to bring up is that i had  friends with goals like i don't know how else to   say it but like that is so awesome in my company  there was another girl on the business side and   every two weeks we would meet together for coffee  and then talk about some of the goals that we   wanted to accomplish for our career and every time  those two weeks we would like have action items on   things that we want to do before the next time  that we met and it kept me very accountable it   motivated me like she gave me a lot of pep talks  and a lot of advice and you know just someone to   listen and like i don't know how i can quantify  just how helpful it was for me to have someone   that supported me and then also after i left like  a month later she also resigned and now she's   working in a company in a role that she really  wanted to being supported and then also like   supporting someone else is amazing so i'm very  grateful to her as well next is my background in   computer science my background is very beneficial  to be a ux designer that's how i'm gonna say it i   have a very strong technical background and that  makes me very interesting in this design field and   because of that and because i am trying to work in  a tech company they like that recruiters like that   companies like that because they feel like i would  be able to communicate really well with developers   on the team having a computer science background  has never been like a disadvantage for me i feel   like it's even sped up my career at points i have  to clarify i went into computer science thinking   that i was going to be a software developer i did  not choose computer science because i wanted to be   a ux designer but i was too scared and i decided  to go into computer science because i thought it   was safer i had no idea what ux was until after  i graduated so i get a lot of questions on this   and i honestly feel like i want to make another  video on this one day but if you already know that   you want to be a ux designer but you feel like you  need to be safe and then try to go into a computer   science degree like why why are you so young and  so full of potential going into your undergrad and   already choosing your backup plan like if you  know you want to do design just try design give   yourself an honest shot at doing what you want to  do because computer science is like another degree   it's not going to guarantee you anything there's  nothing too secure about it if you suck you suck   like i don't have any nicer way to say this i know  people in compsai who were amazingly talented and   they had jobs lined up before they graduated i  also know people who didn't do so good in computer   science and who didn't really try and it took them  like a year plus before they actually got a job so   like just think about it no degree is completely  secure no career path is secure like if you know   you want to be a ux designer and you aren't  interested in computer science and programming   don't force yourself into at least four years of  struggling through a degree you don't even really   want and putting yourself into like thousands and  thousands of dollars in debt because you feel like   it's more secure like it doesn't make sense so  finally the one that i feel like was the most   important thing that got me into a ux design job  in four months i had a good family and i had a   great boyfriend well i still have my boyfriend um  and my family it's honestly my relationships that   i have that support me and are honestly just the  best parts of my life i didn't have a lot to worry   about to be honest back when i was a software  developer i was living at home all of my bills   were paid because i had parents internet utilities  they cook me food they help me with laundry   my dad would drive me places my fiance would  drive me places i was very well taken care of   so because my environment had so many things that  i didn't have to worry about i can like seriously   just focus all of my intention into going to ux  i'm very thankful for the whole like environment   they gave me in because it really helped me get  this job in like a really short amount of time and   that's kind of what i want to leave you guys off  on but if you want to transition into ux design if   you don't have a technical background or like an  art background if you have to work in a job or if   you have to study and you're still in school or if  you have to care for someone else in your family   if you have to think about rent and utilities and  groceries and you don't have a car so many things   so many things can add up to stress in your life  and trying to accomplish this huge career shift   into ux design from like whatever you are in  right now in four months by comparing yourself   to me and like how my life was two years ago when  i started that's not fair like that's that's not   fair to yourself you're setting yourself up to  be discouraged and disappointed when you really   shouldn't be because and like i just spent  like probably 20 minutes talking about it but   i had a lot of advantages going into this job  that's why i was able to do it in four months   but giving yourself unrealistic expectations about  what you should accomplish on a timeline based on   how you're comparing yourself with everyone else  like why would you try to hurt yourself like that   that brings us to the very end of my video i'm  sure i have like a lot of other stories i want   to share with you guys someday in the future in  this channel but i really wanted to just get this   one out there because i feel like i have kind of  glossed over a lot of this stuff in my previous   videos yeah that brings us to the very end of the  video i promise i'll say that for last time thank   you guys so much for watching be sure to like  comment down below whatever you want to subscribe   to my channel hit the bell follow me on instagram  but yeah thank you guys so much for watching this   video hope you guys have a great rest of  your day and i will see you in the next one bye you

Channel: Charli Cheung

Views: 32,049

Keywords: ux studio vlog, freelancer, day in the life of a freelancer, user interface, user experience, ui design, ux design, ui designer, ux designer, uxdesigner, uidesigner, day in the life of a ux designer, ux designer day in the life, ux designer day, ux designer daily life, day in my life as a ux designer, ux designer career, what does a ux designer do, user experience designer day in the life, how i became a ux designer, product designer

Id: RhX0u3hMMBU

Length: 19min 16sec (1156 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 22 2021