Changing Careers to UX Writing
A Day in the Life
Inner monologue: After three years trying, you are unable to get a job in UX Design, despite your education and earnest attempts. You recall the title of UX Writer…
You remember: I’m a writer. I’ve written a book of short stories, a novella, a dozen feature-length screenplays, multiple self-published comic books. You find another means of connecting your past achievements to a new, different career.
I start with UX Writers Collective. Since I’m unemployed due to the pandemic, and stuck inside, I have time to devote to learning new skills. Complete the course, and during the course, I sign up for their Slack channel. The group itself mentions they have a Facebook group. I forgot that Facebook still exists, and login to Slack.
I use uxfol.io to create my case studies, then I design my website through squarespace. I keep things simple, direct, and constantly update my case studies and the site itself. There’s always room for improvement, there’s always a way to address questions with the iterative design process.
Afterwards, I connect online with the authors of the books I’m reading, with the instructors of the courses they taught online, in the hopes of being a part of the conversation in the industry and staying relevant.
Inspiration
I listen to podcasts, some about the industry, others geared toward other interests:
Writers of Silicon Valley
UI Breakfast
Team Deakins (From Roger Deakins, acclaimed cinematographer)
Throughline from NPR
LeVar Burton Reads
Design Better
I research the guests from episodes that I found engaging. I connect with those guests online, either through social media channels or newsletters. Sometimes I forget where I heard them speak, but I’m glad I have connected with them, anyway, because their perspectives are valued.
In the hopes of hearing something new, or listening to how other people are approaching the day around the world, I log in to Radio Garden and drop a pin in a random city in a different country.
I edit my resume on InDesign. Should I take a cue from other content designers, or design my own? Should I take the advice from other hiring managers, and make mine unique, or stick to a template that is ubiquitous from recent bootcamp grads? Every answer has a contradictory one.
I follow my own path, or copy what other people have done, and adjust the design to my own specs.
I become disheartened that I haven’t gone through General Assembly, Flatiron, Pratt, or SVA. I start to believe that the only people able to get jobs in the industry are the ones with enough money to spend on post-graduate degrees, wherein their connections obtain a foot in the door. I scoff at my own cynicism.
I watch The Muppet Show. I wonder if in real life there could be a traveling orchestra of singing chickens. What a world that would be!
Job Searching and Research
I read articles on Medium, and gather information from people who are kind enough to provide helpful links. I mostly follow articles being published by UX Collective. The amount of articles available from different sources stresses me out, and I don’t know which to read. I decide I want information rather than opinions. Give me truth, facts and, maybe, forecasts.
I connect with Slack workspaces focused on Content Design and UX Design:
content-ux.slack.com
uxrescue.slack.com
thefearlesscommunity.slack.com
And within those Slack workspaces there are channels for job and collaboration opportunities, so I sign up for that, too. I read comments in a thread that single-handedly crushes my self confidence of changing careers. I think to myself, What’s the point of doing anything when there are people out there who think you’re not worth entering into this industry? Why are there gatekeepers anymore? Then I press onward.
For websites on job opportunities, I look here:
Angel.co
Upwork
LinkedIn
Working in Content
Content Writing Jobs
Adelante — Career Group for UX Writers
I take in all of the advice from different sites and articles on how to “break into the industry,” and collate them into a single document of supporting and conflicting, encouraging words.
I connect with professional UX Writers through UX Coffee Hours. Being honest and truthful, I receive help and advice I aim to include in my processes. I have doubts and hopes, and consider which emotions to publicly display. I display them both, despite their unforeseen consequences.
Keeping in Touch with People
I try to keep in touch with the people I’ve met IRL through LinkedIn, but no one answers. I straddle the line between being genuinely interested, and itching to ask if they can help me get a job, or connect me with someone else. I don’t want to be shameless, I don’t ask upfront for help or connections. What works best? Is anyone sincerely interested? I think being interested in someone’s life and career is worthwhile enough, and I forget about ever finding a job, only about connecting with people. Some reply, mostly there’s dead silence.
I question whether reaching out to people is worth doing after all. I wonder if it’s me or what, I don’t know, and I can never receive an answer. This, as it turns out, is the surefire way to obtain a job: real human connections.
I become despondent, I think about how nothing really matters, but that as long as I’m alive I’d like to live my own way. I forget why I decided to change careers in the first place, and remind myself why:
I’d like stability in my life, the ability to collaborate with other people without ego driving the solution to the problems, enjoy the work I’m doing, make a positive impact (however significant) for people’s lives, feel that I’m valued for my contributions, earn enough money to support myself and live, work in an industry that values empathy over superficiality.
Then make a cup of matcha tea and I feel better. Maybe try again later.
Read, Read, Read
Become part of a book club, search through meetup, or goodreads. Start your own. Read books concerned with Design:
Read books that are outside of your desired career interests, as well. Range by David Epstein is one book that is clarifying my own approach to learning and living. When I become too tired with design books, I pick up a novel by Pedro Juan Gutierrez, Samanta Schweiblin or whatever catches my eye or interest. For some reason I’m interested in how the Imperial Senate of ancient Rome worked, so I find a book about that.
In a brief moment of opinionated dialogue, I say that you’ll be a far better designer if you have things to relate design to other than just design. Strike that, you’ll be a more interesting human if you’ve other interests outside of design. Don’t ever be afraid to travel outside the space you’re situated in, especially if it doesn’t align directly with it. You never know how it might relate to your process, and even if it doesn’t, the histories and cultures of the world are rich in wonder.
I check-in every day. Try not to lose focus or momentum. Remain active with inspiration and initiative to not fade away. Keep hope alive... despite what feels like an insurmountable field to cross. Stay concerned with my own progress, unhurried or worried about others, peers, colleagues. Going at my own pace, I slow down or speed up depending on my own goals. So far, this is what I do to keep active in a time of uncertainty.
