Growing my career

How I grew my career in product design and you can too

Sep 24, 2023

Five things I do that have helped me grow my career and landed me roles at places like Microsoft and Gusto.

#1 Seek mentorship

This was very important for me early on. As I have grown my soft and hard skills, I don’t seek mentorship as much, but still find it valuable.

I was blessed to connect with Drory Ben-Menachem at the beginning of my product design career. He helped me understand what hiring managers were looking for, what areas to focus on, and how to level up my portfolio.

He prepared for countless interviews including my onsite with Microsoft (landing me the job). I am truly blessed to have friends like him.

I cannot overstate how critical it was for me to find a mentor early in my career. This industry, like most others, is built on connections. Building those connections like mine with Drory and others accelerated my job options.

Takeaway: Find a mentor, but don’t take it personally if they don’t have the bandwidth to take you on. Keep looking and asking, you’ll find one.

#2 Learn new skills

My only experience with coding before getting into product design was one class in C++ (I don’t recommend it for the faint of heart 😅). While I didn’t love C++, taking that class broke my limiting belief that, “I can’t code.”

I “broke” into product design how many folks do, by designing websites. I was insatiablely curious about how HTML and CSS worked. This curiosity took me down the rabbit hole and I never looked back.

After starting in design systems I wanted to learn more about JavaScript and React. So I took a few online classes like Design + Code’s React for Designers course (I highly enjoyed it). This helped me to understand basic things like APIs and composition.

I was fortunate enough to work with some killer engineers at Microsoft and Gusto like David Zukowski,

Jordan Cutler

, and Eric Nagy who helped me advance my React and TypeScript skills.

In my experience, engineers LOVE to help designers learn to code, never be afraid to ask them.

Takeaway: Try new things and don’t be afraid to experiment. Niche skills on top of basic design skills can help to set you apart from the rest of the pack.

#3 Ask for feedback

Asking for feedback can be challenging for people who have fragile egos. But, there is good news for you if you have this problem: it gets easier. In my first year or so I wanted to prove myself to everyone. This resulted in arrogance and created unnecessary friction in my work environments. I eventually realized that I needed to work on my imposter syndrome and open myself up for feedback, even when it stung. By doing so, I have been able to grow exponentially, not only in my soft skills but also in my hard skills.

Another lesson I learned was that not everyone has valuable feedback to give, some just want to give feedback for the sake of doing so. Your job is to sift through all the feedback objectively and incorporate that which resonates as true.

Takeaway: Ask for feedback often, but be mindful of what you take to heart.

#4 Create content

It’s never too early to write articles or blog posts or produce a podcast or YouTube video. For me, writing about the work that I have produced (like building a Figma kit for 100 designers at Microsoft) helps me to reflect on what I did and how I can improve.

In addition to reflecting on my process, publishing articles on a semi-regular basis has helped me build a community and stand out in job interviews.

Takeaway: Find ways to document and publish your work. You’ll thank me later.

#5 Have a growth mindset

This point ties well into the previous ones. Mindset can make or break you.

I look at my career as a business and I often reflect on its growth. It can become easy to get comfortable in your career and coast however, I wouldn’t advise it.

I really love working on design systems and continue to learn new things, even years into the specialty. Never limit or kid yourself into believing you’ve got it all figured out because trust me: you don’t.

It also goes without saying, have fun. Look for areas to grow in that you are curious about, it doesn’t always have to be boring.

Takeaway: It’s okay to be proud of how far you’ve come, but seek humility because you have a long way to go.

Tying it together

I hope this article provided insight into how I’ve grown my career and maybe even some ideas to try. If you’d like to read more articles like this one, consider subscribing to support my work. And if you’d like to stay in touch you can add me on IG.