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Dear Reader,
Since the start of covid, I began mentoring young designers looking to either start or career transition into the tech space. It's hard to pinpoint a persona type of a mentee because the mentees have a wide range of design experience and tech savviness. Still, a trend tends to be (a.) recent undergraduate students or (b.) individuals looking to transition from a different industry (such as teaching and nursing quickly coming to mind).
I provide two primary services: (1.) Teaching UI design fundamentals and conducting UX research and (2.) prepping mentees for the job market.
While the first service (UI/UX fundamentals), I enjoy it because students are not yet committed to taking over the tech world. Students may not want to go into tech but are curious to use a new creative tool.
This post focuses on the second group - prepping students for the job market.
I came across this article in Business Insider, which comments on the growing trend of potential catfishing employers during the interview process. (My apologies as there is a pay wall, I've included a few images from the article to give you the gist of the content). Underqualified applicants hire ghost applicants to coach (or participate) in the application and interview process (tech's version of Cyrano).
I've experienced a degree of applicant polishing that needs to take place. It's essential to bring your best self forward during the interview, and in my experience, helping build the confidence and routine to accommodate an interview gives applicants a fighting chance.
However, recently I have noticed trends in applicants demanding didactic feedback.
- Applicants want specific answers to interview questions.
- Applicants want to be prepared for any whiteboard session imaginable.
- Applicants get upset when the interview doesn't pan out to a profitable full-time career.
- Applicants apply to positions but lack substantial quantitative qualifications.
- Applicants solely use "LinkedIn Quick Apply" but don't seem willing to network.
It feels like an unsolved Rubix cube with applicants' requesting that I translate a solution for them over zoom by giving specific instructions.
New applicants run into tech for compensation and flexibility but ignore the job details. I want to scream from the mountain top to a valley of applicants is:
You must keep exploring and practicing your craft, even if it's not connected to a paycheck. A completed Bootcamp course does not mean you are ready for every design position.
Are you ignoring an opportunity to push forward your original career or industry by running into Meta's arms? Not all jobs are for all people.
You must be intellectually curious about tech and design. What are you curious about if you lack curiosity in the tech space? Is it better for the society for you to pursue this actual curiosity as a potential career path rather than having a free beer at work? So much potential may occur when combining interests.
Thank you for reading,
Christian
