Career Services in Coda! [Katie Rivard]

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Career Services in Coda! [Katie Rivard]

Career Services Orientation

Lesson: Exploring Different Workplaces for Designers

10 minute read

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When looking for a job, it’s important to find a role that will challenge you and help you grow. However, it’s also crucial to find somewhere that has a culture and atmosphere that will help you feel supported as you tackle your first design job.

The good news is that there are many different environments in our industry, from tiny agencies and startups to mammoth corporations. Identifying what kind of company you want to target—including giving thought to what values and team structure you’re looking for—can help you find a position in which you will thrive.

The guidelines below are general descriptions of different types of work environments. Remember that every company is different, so your own research on individual companies should be the determining factor for each role you consider.

Agency

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Design agencies usually handle a number of different projects at once, requiring the designer to excel at time management and task-switching.

The benefits of working at an agency can be substantial⁠

: an agency is not only a great place to quickly get exposure to different types of work, a range of skills, access new tools, as well as receiving mentorship from more experienced designers. However, there are some drawbacks too. Often, you have to stick quite rigidly to the agency’s process; and client projects can require short, rapid iterations, meaning you don’t have time to work through it as thoroughly as you might like. Your earning potential may also be limited, given the focus on client services work.

In-house at a startup

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Like agencies, most startups have fast-paced projects, and are best suited to designers who can work quickly and are comfortable taking on a wide range of work. Unlike an agency though, a startup is focused typically on just one product or service. Working at a startup can help you understand the foundations of a business, and you’ll have the opportunity to contribute to many aspects of a startup’s growth.

The downside of working at a startup is that they often have small teams and relatively small budgets. Startups generally aim to hire generalist designers who can bring a range of skills to the table. And because you are building a company from the ground up, it can often be

difficult to safeguard work–life balance⁠

. You may find yourself working long hours so that the business continues making the progress it needs to. Lastly, there's no assurance that the business will make it unless they've achieved product-market fit and are starting to grow.

In-house at a larger company

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Larger companies and corporations are often great for designers who are just beginning their careers, as well as those who are looking for growth and advancement opportunities. They tend to offer more stability and continuity for those changing careers, might provide higher salaries and benefits, and often have structures and processes that can help with work–life balance. Resources are also usually more abundant in larger companies, leading to larger teams and bigger budgets.

However, the processes you have to follow will almost certainly be more rigid than in a startup. You’ll probably face more bureaucracy than in smaller startups or agencies, and your work will often need final approval from C-Level executives. You may also find that you end up

focusing on a specific product area⁠

or feature and iterating on it for a long period of time to make incremental improvements. There are hard-fought skills in doing that well, but it's different from what you might do in creating new products or features from scratch.

Growth and innovation teams

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Often called “R&D”,

growth and innovation teams⁠

include designers who can identify where and how products might need to be developed. This might be to create new revenue streams, or to prepare the way for a company’s long-term future. These teams can exist in a company of any size, and they often welcome junior designers with open arms.

A growth and innovation team will typically collaborate with a product team, but take on more risks through experimentation, sometimes without clear insights or goals initially in mind. While this process can be exciting, the products or features you work on may never see the light of day, or they might be released in low fidelity for proof of concept, before being handed over to the product team for full implementation. Designers who excel on these teams are good at spending a lot of time in research, prototyping, and testing to determine the value of a new product idea and how it should work.

Freelancing

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Freelancing is a type of self-employment where you, as the designer, work with clients on a per-project or retainer basis. While freelancing can be a great way to accumulate experience with a variety of products tailored to your own interests—and give you the freedom to turn down projects that don’t interest you—it does come with its own set of responsibilities.

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As a freelance UX designer⁠

, your list of responsibilities goes far beyond the design process itself, and will often include marketing, signing on new clients, managing existing projects, and ensuring that your legal paperwork, taxes, etc. are all properly filed on time. This requires an exceptional level of organization and follow-through, since your paycheck depends on a steady stream of client projects. And since you’re juggling the business side of things, you might find that you’re spending less time honing your design skills.

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For many, the benefits of being a freelance designer⁠

—control over your own schedule, income, and task list—far outweigh the additional work that’s required to make it a success.

Closing thoughts

Determining the path you want to follow might feel daunting. However, most designers will work through a variety of these environments during their careers. Choosing one doesn’t mean you’re stuck with that choice for life. Your first design job will pave the way for future positions in any of these different work environments.

Use your first position not only to do good work and gain industry experience, but also to explore and reflect on the kind of work environment you’re in, and whether you might prefer to target something different in your next role. You may not know which of these workplaces are right for you in the long term until you’ve given a few of them a try.

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