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Accelerating growth and impact as a designer
Discover how working in fast-paced, resource-constrained environments can shape you into a versatile, business-savvy designer
In the Spring of 2022, I took an upper-division design course as part of my undergraduate degree. During that time, there was hype surrounding the UX and Design field, which we now know as the UX Gold Rush.
Like many aspiring designers at the time, I once dreamed of landing a role at one of the big tech companies, earning “Big adult money”. But as I embarked on my internship search, I quickly realized that the competition was fierce and I was easily out-competed by more experienced students. My lack of experience and mediocre portfolio with surface-level case studies left me feeling like an underdog. In a surprising turn of events, that realization led me down a different path, one that would ultimately shape me into a better designer and entrepreneur.
A chance encounter with the startup scene opened my eyes to a whole new world of possibilities, where I had complete creative freedom and every decision had an immediate impact.
The leap into startup land
The UX space in Canada, when I was seeking internships, was a little bit rough. I remember my university’s job portal only had a handful of UX-related internship openings, and I surely was not the only designer fighting for those positions. Despite several applications, the only emails I ever got were rejection letters.
It became so frequent that I automatically assumed it was a rejection letter whenever the email started with:
“Thank you for your interest….blah blah blah, unfortunately we will not be moving forward with your application”
At that point, I thought to myself,
“ How can I increase my value to an employer?”
