Why You Should Become A Designer

Despite the economy going into a recession, countless jobs lost, and some industries facing extreme loss if not extinction, the UX field is still holding strong.

During the past couple of weeks I've noticed a bounce-back in job postings and recruiter messages for UX,UI, and product design and I'm encouraged but frankly, I'm not surprised.

Before I even created my first prototype on Sketch, I googled "Open UX jobs in the US" in 2018. At the time it was around 20,000 with a predicted growth of 22% in the next 10 years. Now I'm seeing UX split into specialties like Researcher, UI Designer, Product Designer, Visual Designer, etc. It's growing and evolving and right now with such a high demand for exceptional online experiences, it puts me and others in my field in a really good position.

And to be completely honest, it’s really not that hard to get into if you have an internet connection at your disposal.

I never went to college and I don't have a degree but that hasn't even slightly held me back from landing interviews and working my way up in the industry during the past 3 years. I'm seeing more and more job postings ditch listing a degree as a requirement, but instead focus on amount of experience and hard skills like researching, wire framing, design systems, e-commerce, etc. Most of these skills are relatively easy to master in an online course or even working under a good mentor. 

Not only is UX design a reliable field in high demand, but it's so fun. There’s endless problems to solve and it’s so satisfying to be part of so many different innovations. 

I can work in any industry I choose, rather thats medical, financial, tech startups, ecommerce, I mean you name it. As part of a generation that places so much emphasis on having a job you’re passionate about, it’s really easy to find a company or industry that’s doing things you’re excited about and most of the time, you’ll be able to find somewhere thats looking to add a designer to their team.

And if you ever find yourself wanting change, UX is one of those unicorn careers where it’s actually encouraged to jump around and work for one place for a year and then pivot to somewhere completely different for a year and so on. Being a “Zoomer” with a goal of staying interested and trying new things, this works out swimmingly.

If you or someone you know is looking for a career with high security, opportunity, and it relatively easy to get into, I highly recommend looking into UX. And of course, feel free to shoot me a message or set up a phone call with me if you would like some insight.