Grace Ling, engineer turned designer and founder of the biggest design community online, talks about standing out in today's job market, including tactics to fast-track learning, breaking into new companies, and practicals for designers. Topics include challenges faced by UX Designers, using LinkedIn for connection and inspiration, the value of feedback and learning in the age of social media, networking and making connections, landing a role at EA, and finding design through internships and online communities.
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Quick takeaways
To stand out in today's job market as a designer, focus on continuous learning, trying new things, and iterating, rather than striving for perfection.
Building a strong network and leveraging a unique background are crucial for success in the job market; tactics include highlighting transferable skills, using social media platforms like LinkedIn, and joining design communities.
Deep dives
Finding Your Own Path in UX Design
In this podcast episode, the speaker discusses their early experiences in UX design and how they dealt with imposter syndrome. They emphasize the importance of recognizing that everyone is on their own journey and that perfection is not necessary. Instead of focusing on being perfect, they encourage focusing on the learning process, trying new things, collecting data, and iterating. They also highlight the value of building a network and leveraging a unique background to stand out in the job market. The speaker shares specific tactics such as highlighting transferable skills, using social media platforms like LinkedIn to increase networking opportunities, and joining design communities. They also discuss their approach to LinkedIn and how they made themselves stand out on the platform by being authentic and sharing their journey.
Putting Yourself Out There
The podcast delves into the speaker's approach to self-expression on LinkedIn and the strategy they employed to overcome the initial intimidation of the platform. They discuss how they evolved from feeling like a small potato and not qualified to post, to finding LinkedIn a wholesome and relatable place. By sharing their own journey, the speaker was able to make valuable connections and create engaging content that stood out from the corporate noise. They emphasize the importance of being authentic, differentiating oneself, and showcasing both technical and soft skills on LinkedIn to connect with others and inspire them.
Embracing Learning and Iteration
The podcast explores the speaker's mindset of embracing continuous learning and iteration. They share how they didn't wait until they felt like an expert to start creating and putting themselves out there, but instead documented their early stages of learning. They discuss overcoming discomfort and the fear of being perceived as cringe by realizing that not everyone's opinions matter and that it's more valuable to focus on helping the majority while being open to feedback for improvement. The speaker also highlights the benefits of quick feedback loops, rapid iteration, and treating data as a means to grow.
Building a Network and Landing a Job
The podcast dives into the speaker's experience of cold reaching out to hundreds of people on LinkedIn to build their network and ultimately land a job. They provide specific tactics for reaching out, such as personalized invitations with a focus on connection. The speaker shares the importance of treating conversations as opportunities to make friends and connections, rather than solely being transactional and making direct job asks. They also discuss the value of building lifelong mentoring relationships, staying connected with contacts, and helping one another throughout their design careers.
This episode is all about engineer turned designer Grace Ling, who scored her dream job as product designer at EA and is also now the founder of the biggest design community online, Design Buddies. Grace jumpstarted her career by putting herself out there as a content creator and using some unique tactics when applying for roles. In this interview we talk about how Grace fast-tracked her learning journey, her playbook for breaking in to a new company and practicals to stand-out as a designer in today's job market.
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