The Most Important Question in this Rough Job Market is "Who is Your Design Goal?"
To navigate this rough design market, understand who you want to be like
Right now, the future of design looks rough. The design job market, especially in tech, has collapsed, and with looming threats like AI on the horizon, it may seem like there’s no future in design.
If that’s how you feel, let me offer some grounded advice. First, AI is overblown: There are many indicators, both in and outside the market, that suggest AI, in its’ current state, is a buzzword:
However, that's not the focus of today's newsletter. Instead, let me tell you about being a designer whose career prospects collapsed three times (two Recessions and a Pandemic).
Whether you’re thinking about moving away from UX, trying to start a side business, or just finding a design job, the most critical question for your career is this:
Who do you want to be like, and why?
Asking that question has probably helped me navigate rough times in my design career more than anything else.
To understand why, I’ll say something that may shock some of you. If a MAANG (Meta, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Google) interviewer offered me a job, I’d (probably) turn them down in a heartbeat.
Understanding who you want to be makes you stand out
Some of you might be confused right now: isn’t the goal of every designer to get a fat tech salary and work for top tech companies?
Not mine. I know what type of work I want (Healthcare UX or Complex Web Design) and who I look up to in those fields. Doing that hasn’t just clarified my career path; it makes me a desirable candidate for those jobs.