At some point in our lives, we might decide to venture into certain professions, or fields, start a business or maybe embark on certain journeys (if we havenāt already). Sometimes, in these fields we find ourselves, we meet a long line of others vying for the same opportunities. In some cases, the opportunities might be limited and this brings about stiff competition, which makes it necessary for us to figure out how to set ourselves apart from the crowd.
About 2 weeks ago, I read and shared (on Whatsapp) a Twitter thread that spoke on how it is necessary to do things that make you stand out in your career at this point considering the recent layoffs happening in big tech as this will prepare you for uncertainties and get you closer to other opportunities if need be as nobody is ātechnically safeā.
An hour after I shared the thread, a friend replied asking how she could set herself apart as a UX designer currently job hunting. Considering how the industry might be currently regarded as āOversaturatedā (I donāt believe it is though) and with the recent influx of other amazing designers in the field around the world.
She asked questions likeā¦āDo I need to learn code?ā etcā¦
Up-skilling is a great way to stand out for sure but I still didn't have a particular answer to her question at that moment. It made me run backtrack to my early days as a UI/UX designer and how I got opportunities to make design contributions on real-time projects at that early stage.
ā¦Storytime
I heard about UI/UX design extensively for the first time in September 2018 when Paul, a close friend who was a Dev had just completed the HNG internship. I was a Graphic Designer at that time designing party posters, cover arts etc in school but there still wasnāt any personal fulfilment for me and I still didn't believe I could make a sustainable career out of Graphic Design at that point probably because of the exposure I didnāt have which made me charge really low for my works (I blame the free crack*d photoshop I was using) and how I thought I would someday lose interest in my strong passion for design and probably face an engineering 9-5.š¤”
I researched UI/UX design and career prospects as a UI/UX designer and the results were quite fascinating to me. I made up my mind very quickly to transition to UI/UX design. But my laptop at that time (HP Mini) wasnāt ready to make the transition with me yet.
In December 2018 I got another laptop and started learning and practising UI design. A few months after, Paul who had seen a few UI concepts I had created using Photoshop and Figma invited me to join him on a project. My first paid UI design gig. Just a few months after making the transition (Life is good yeah!) I wish.
I worked on this and got paid after. Very smooth. Even though the pay wasnāt much, it was better than what I was earning designing party posters.
I thought it was really a bed of roses out there.
Months passed and I hadnāt worked on any other paid gig after. The realization hit me that even though there werenāt a lot of people doing it then, to get opportunities, you needed to understand certain fundamentals and have a bit of experience.
This led me to focus all my time at that point and resources on learning. I was also experimenting with UI explorations on the side. In the course of experimenting, I started designing concepts and solutions from daily social media content and problems a lot of people could relate to.
In September 2019, I came across a tweet
Paul also sent it to me and came up with the idea of us building the āSocial Trekking Appā Otrekā¦ which kin suffer head be thatā¦ he spoke about how it will look good in our portfolios and help us get gigs faster etc. I set to work immediately. I designed a UI flow for the concept from the tweet in one day. It was a Sunday. I sent it to Paul and a few other friends. Everybody went crazy...I look at it now and I really donāt know what we all saw in that design š„“.
The hype gave me so much āgingerā and I decided to share it on Twitter as I had seen just a few people do at that time but shied away from becauseā¦Uncle Imposter Syndrome.
And boom š£ā¦
ā¦I wasnāt really bored shaā¦
The tweet blew up and my DMs were buzzing. From prospective clients, a few devs requesting for the design file to implement and fellow designers who wanted to connect.
That was quite an exciting period for me as I made connections with people who gave great feedback and also gave me opportunities to contribute to quite a number of other real-time projects. All these helped me learn a lot and also develop personally as a designer.
I decided this was going to be my way of standing out at that time. I would be working on unique concepts once in a while to be shared on my socials and defy all the odds of imposter syndrome.
I posted my next UI concept on Twitter during the COVID lockdown. An app that helps you find the perfect recipe.
And we actually built this one (Me, Paul and a few other friends)
Google Play Link š
This also made numbers and somehow led me to my first full-time role as a āProduct designerā. Someone saw it on Twitter and decided to Invite me to work on a contract project with him. We completed the project and a few months after, in September 2020 he invited me to work full-time with him at an EdTech startup where he was the Co-founder.
I got the call on a Friday and resumed the next Monday.
also, somehow Paul is currently the CTO of a leading Foodtech startup in Lagos. My guy knows his way around food.
I have shared a few other design explorations on social media from then till now and every new one brought my work to the attention of very helpful connections I later made.
After I shared my first exploration It was clear that my social media presence and design explorations were already playing a role in helping me stand out as a junior designer so I leveraged it, experimented and shared more stuff. They helped me set a foundation for subsequent opportunities.
Even though a somewhat solid social media presence worked for me, I saw colleagues and friends stand out by doing other things like proper networking and being very strategic. Also upskilling.
And from this, I knew for sure that there wasnāt a specific way or linear path to go about it and everyoneās method might be very or slightly different.
Regardless of the profession or field, you find yourself in, It's important to ask yourself āWhat sets you apart from the crowd?ā as opportunities that require standing out can come knocking at any time. If we find ourselves in certain scenarios where it is necessary to stand out, I believe Itās best to observe the field or scenario first, then figure out a unique way that works and aligns with our personal attributes and values better and grab the opportunities waiting.
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On a personal note... I made a few upgrades to my home office/workstation this past week. Yunno what they say about a good working environment and productivity...
hehe.. let me know what you think.
Happy new month! See you in 2 weeks. Have an amazing week.
pizz out āš¾
Itās very amazing seeing you transition in the Tech space.
I always look forward to your mails cos itās always a worthy read for me.
Iām proud of you šÆand even tho Iām inspired on my own as a person, I still feel inspired and gingered to thrive in my field any time I read your mails.
So, thank you
BTW, Iām gonā be eating Pancakes for breakfast today ššwanna have some? š
Followed Rah here and read few articles and it's been inspiring yet subtle for me
Good work!!šŖš¾