Lessons I Wish I Knew Before Adulting

A little bit about me… I am about 8 months post-grad and currently working full-time at a fintech startup as a UX/UI designer.

During college, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I had an idea of what I wanted but had no idea how to attain it. I changed my major probably 6 times. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to pursue a Veterinarian Degree or an Art History. So I settled on communications. Big change, right?

During my senior year, I was applying for jobs left and right, desperately trying to get a YES from someone, regardless of how I felt about the company or even the job I was to be doing. I was told NO so many times I lost count, I just decided that for every NO I received. The coming YES would be that much sweeter.

So LESSON 1: Don’t be afraid to get told NO. Make it a goal to go out and get rejected a couple of times, if that's what it takes to find your career.

I knew I wanted to work in design but didn’t know where to look and I sure as hell didn’t have the 5 years of experience that every ENTRY level job required. The job posting my company had was for marketing, but I expressed some interest in product and design during the interview. Through this, I was able to do a bit of both, the company listened to my interests and tried to build a role just for me. It was stressful doing both, but I got to learn soo much.

LESSON 2: Formal education may stop for you after college, but you NEVER stop learning. Put yourself in a position to learn, always.

It’s common for startups to wear multiple hats, and it eventually started to become a bit too much for me. I am kinda stubborn and would work myself till I was literally a vegetable. And my team noticed that, so I fully moved over to product. It really was as simple as that, they found a place for me in the product team and I was doing my dream job.

It was perfect, right? Well, there came some challenges that some of you will face too, and may even be feeling it at school. I’m talking about imposter syndrome. Imposter Syndrome is when you have worked tremendously hard for something, you’re qualified, and people praise you for your work; but on the inside, it feels like you are spiraling. Like you are a shell of a human, watching your accomplishments as if they were someone else's. It’s hard to put into words what this feels like.

LESSON 3: You deserve it! You deserve to get your dream job and celebrate all your successes. Take time to appreciate these things.

Some things I have learned working in a startup are that everything moves quickly and if you fall behind it can be difficult to catch up, and things are constantly changing. Ideas, concepts, and people. However, working in a startup is also a TON of fun, usually, the team is smaller and it makes connecting with your coworkers easier, it's possible you can have a bigger impact on the company and you learn SO much.

If you are in design or looking to pursue a career in it, learn to take constructive criticism. It is extremely important for your mental health to know others' opinions about your WORK are not an attack on YOU.

Sometimes as an artist, you can see your WORK from a different perspective than someone who is in a different field. But at the end of the day, if you are working in a position like mine, you aren’t creating something for yourself it's for the company, its product, and those who are going to be using it.

LESSON 4: YOU ARE NOT YOUR WORK. It’s sometimes difficult to separate these things, but for people in design, it’s a must. Don’t let one side rule the other.

Some parting thoughts I’d like to end with:

• Be yourself, it's a cliche, but in a lot of my NO interviews, I kept putting on a face to try and get people to like me. Understand that interviews are really just conversations, and the more relaxed you are the better it will go.
• Talk to people, build your connections, and network; it can be scary, but sometimes it really is WHO you know not WHAT you know.
• Find yourself a mentor, someone in the field you wish to work in, they will be some of the most significant help in providing resources, advice, and more.

I hope that if you are reading this, you can take at least one piece of advice. Just remember, nobody has this shit figured out, stop worrying.