From being unemployed to bagging my first UX job 🚀
About Me-
Hi! I am Vaishnav Ramayan, I graduated in engineering from RVCE Bangalore in 2020 ( the year that it was!!) and I have always been curious and keen to solve people’s problems around me.
I founded a company to uplift dancers during my college days, then I was introduced to the golden word ‘UX’ when I was coding the landing page for the same. Long story short, I failed as a founder and I had to shift paths. That was when I dug deeper and since then! my curiosity towards this field has been never-ending.
I started applying to UX internships and luckily, I got into a B2B Unicorn Startup, I found an amazing mentor who was guiding me into the world of UX but after 6 months, during my full-time conversion COVID HAPPENED and I Failed Again!
After 6 months of constant hustle, I landed myself as a UX Researcher at Swiggy.
Tip 1 - Look for Mentorships and Bootcamps.
I believed that I had the Curiosity and Zeal to learn and understand the UX Game. But unfortunately, I didn't have the right Direction/Path to win in this game. If I would choose to be a self-learner, it would cost me a hell lotta time.
That’s when I realized, I need Mentorship!
I researched and compared several UX boot-camps across India. In this process, I came across Abhinav Chhikara’s UX Crash Course on youtube through which I got to know about his training program- 10k Designers and I quickly enrolled myself in the upcoming cohort, after questioning previous graduates and mentors regarding their experience in the Bootcamp.
Tip 2 - Never rely just on Bootcamp’s resources and mentorship.
The Bootcamp I attended was super structured, beginner-friendly, and offered amazing Mentorships from the best in Design Industry. But I always aim for that extra mile and
Read more books -
- “Don't Make Me Think”- Steve Krug
- “Design of Everyday things”- Don Norman
- “100 things every designer needs to know about people”- Susan Weinschenk
Enrolled in more courses-
Read lots of blogs (listing my fav)-
Tip 3 - Manage to bag an Internship during the Bootcamp.
I had really few case studies (Mostly all of them were - WIP) but I never stopped applying to the companies. After few months, I got an internship in a fintech company. I dedicated time to the Bootcamp as well as my Internship.
Internships allow you to gain “Industrial Expirience”-
- Design conversation with developers.
- Aligning your design process to business goals with your managers.
- You will also have a shipped product in your portfolio.
Tip 4 - Cold Networking works like Magic
Basically, a cold networking email is just an unsolicited message inviting someone to connect. You may send it via LinkedIn message or regular email. Unfortunately, electronic messaging is a difficult medium for building a new relationship.
Guide to Cold Networking on Linkedin -
- Send connection requests with notes, appreciating their work you liked/explored.
- Think of having a good long-term relationship with your connection rather than having a short-term one.
- Do a favor - Redesign or design critique their work/company’s product design and provide solutions to them. (Refer-https://medium.com/design-bootcamp/redesigning-moneytaps-landingpage-using-aida-framework-881beb44959e)
- If your connection likes your work, ask for a Referral or make a Job Proposal.
Tip 5- Upload every god-damn project of yours on social media.
Fun Fact- Swiggy contacted me for a job opening after reading my what’sapp casestudy.
Personal branding is the conscious and intentional effort to create and influence public perception of an individual by positioning them as an authority in their industry, elevating their credibility, and differentiating themselves from the competition, to ultimately advance their career, increase their circle of influence, and have a larger impact.
Tip 6 - Avoid Emotional/Mental Burnouts.
How to avoid Burnouts-
- Do NOT compare yourself with your fellow designers, only compare your old design to the new one.
- Take time to appreciate your effort and work.
- Take sufficient breaks if needed.
- Learn to accept the rejection.
Tip 7 - Hustle Beats Talent When Talent Doesn’t Hustle
“Hustle is one of those skills sets that kids should be learning along with good table manners and proper etiquette.” — Gary Ryan Blair
THE GREATEST WASTE of untapped resources in this world is good intentions that don’t translate into purposeful, goal-directed behavior.
So Hustle! Hustle! Hustle! till you claim what you deserve. 🦄
