How to find the opportunity you will love as a designer
4 qualities to look out for.
One of the questions that I get asked often from students I meet is “What should I look for to find a job I will love?” You may be trying to figure out which companies to apply to, or you might be contemplating between offers. In both cases, it is difficult to know everything about a company just based on job postings, company brochures at career fairs, conversations with recruiters, and even end-to-end interviews. There is no straightforward guide, and it is much more than just about the numbers in your offer letters.
The truth is, you will never know exactly what your experience will be like until you start working. But here is a number of qualities you can keep an eye out for to increase the likelihood of finding the job you will love and thrive in.
1. Seek companies that are interested in solving problems that excite you
Designing a meaningful solution that will add new value is hard. It requires you to put in the effort to understand the problem space well, and the project can take anywhere between a few months to years until the product sees the light of day. This requires patience and grit to stay focused on the north star. During the product development cycle, you will also need to tinker with big & small ideas and validate them quickly to make informed decisions. The more you can relate to the problems you are solving for, the better you will be at determining what works and doesn’t. It also saves time from having to recruit prospective users every time. Talk to companies that are solving for problems that excite you.
2. What they are working on now is important, but what’s more important is the potential
Many people want to join a company because of a product that they love or think is cool. “I want to design the 000 mail app” or “I am a fan of 000 product”. Current products are important not only because they are business drivers, but also because they are solid proofs of how much the company is committed to its mission that drew you in. Start by research the products (current and previous) and get a sense of how much commitment there is.
But it is just as important if not more to consider the potential products the company can be working on in the future. Here is why.
- A product that exists upon joining the company may shutdown and go away tomorrow. Especially in tech, it is not uncommon for even a large scale service close down (ex. Google’s Inbox and others) in lieu of serving another purpose for the business. If you joined a company after considering what it can be working on and not just the existing products, you will have a better chance of finding a new challenge that you will enjoy even if the current product team gets reshuffled.
- Nobody hopes to join a new place and aspire to be make only small refinements to an existing product. Think about the types of impact you want to be making in the long-run and compare that to the types of projects you can see the company working down the road. Don’t limit yourself.
3. A place where you can be who you are as a designer
Every design team, whether it is a large scale organization or even a single person, is different. And each org has a different expectation of a designer. Find a place where you can be open and candid to put your foot forward in regards what you can do, because a comfortable environment will lead to better performances. When there are new challenges, you will also be able to focus on growing and overcoming the hurdles heads-on instead of getting distracted by other unimportant elements.
It’s important to determine how much of your current expertise and your growth path aligns with what will be asked of you. You have to reflect on both your own skill set and also find out how designers collaborate with each other & with partners. Put in the effort to go beyond the generic overviews and find out the specifics, because this is something that will matter day-to-day. Prepare a list of questions that what you are curious about, then have conversations with the hiring manager and also the team you will be joining to get candid perspectives. Interviews are not only for the company to get to know you, but also for you to get to know the company and see if it will be a good fit for you.
4. A place where you can see yourself grow as a designer, a creative, and a person
Your workplace is where you will spend most of your time when the sun is up, and where you will meet many if not most of your new connections. The experiences you go through and the people you interact with will play a part in shaping who you grow to become in the next few years. So, think hard about how you see yourself fit in and evolve after you join a company. As a junior, you tend to learn a lot on the job and by observing those around you. As you become more senior, more learnings come from reflecting on how you worked through the challenges thrown at you.
Finding an opportunity that will make you happy is more than about the company’s brand, the title, and the compensation. Many of us spend the majority of our waking hours being at work. So, let’s spend those hours tinkering and being challenged with what we will love.
