The layoffs are cutting deep and BootCamp designers are not able to match the expectation of hiring managers

The current layoffs in the tech industry are going rather deep. Tech folks improve their skills for a lifetime to get a chance to get into big companies and yet, there is no protection even for the most promising performers. The tally of layoffs in tech looks like this below, but note that the number still represents the tip of the iceberg —

• Meta: 11,000 // Twitter: 3,700 // Stripe: 1,000
• Redfin: 862 // Lyft: 700 // Opendoor: 550 // Jull: 400 // Zendesk: 350
• Chime: 160 // Salesforce: 110s // Paypal: 59

I was recently in an AMA session that was on the topic of recent mass layoffs in tech and it seems like the fresh graduates and to-be graduates are the ones most affected. These folks asked a ton of questions and seemed scared about what the future holds. Although I cannot comment on career advice for other domains, I can surely talk about designers.

Bootcamps are a lie

Designers are struggling a lot to either keep their first job or land their first roles. Working in real-tech companies after their Bootcamp experience is a shock to some. The first thing that we need to understand is that what boot camps are selling as a dream is a big fat lie. Yes, there are pretty good curriculum frameworks and a ton of knowledge that you can be gained from these Bootcamps but —

• One cannot learn and create an A-Z design syllabus that can be mugged up in 12 weeks.
• You cannot be job ready for companies like Samsung, Nike, Airbnb, AT&T, Starbucks, Google, Microsoft, or other such name brands.
• Even expert-level moderators and instructors, won’t be able to provide in-depth value in 12 weeks. It is just too less time to be introduced to a bunch of new concepts and then learn to use these concepts for creating practically sound case studies.
• Your first 3–4 case studies are going to stink terribly. You need to work on them not taking them seriously. They are necessary to get started and for students to get a taste of the creation process.
• LinkedIn certifications are many. Hence, they quickly lost their value. I can get one certification every day while walking or running on a treadmill for an hour. Unfortunately, it is that simple to drown your profile into a sea of online certifications.
• It is impossible to understand the depths of UX Foundations, UI Foundations, Design Iteration & Development, Working With a Product Team, UX in the Real World, and UX Career Planning in 48 days. It is an absurd estimate by a long shot. A lot of the senior designers would still be struggling with multiple of these topics in their real life.

12 weeks course work from one of the boot camps 😂

Get Serious

I have tried hiring new product designers at an associate and product designer level multiple times in my past organizations and it has not always been a smooth experience convincing the stakeholders to commit to it. The truth is, when a company invests in an associate product designer, they are investing more in training that candidate, getting them industry-level experience, and more so getting them in the door so that they can start growing. They are still doing work and completing tasks but the level of work is not always what is expected of them.

At times, designers coming from a 3–4 month long BootCamp have poor visual design skills, they cannot convince stakeholders, their file structure is badly put together, and they still have a lot to learn when it comes to presenting their ideas. Fortunately, the hiring manager knows all of this and hence, at times they have to decide against hiring an associate product designer. Selling a junior-level product designer within the company is challenging. It is because people within companies look at a headcount as a headcount. You would be surprised to know that the leveling often goes unnoticed when assigning work. Stakeholders are simply concerned with assigning work and getting the work completed with all the details, they get frustrated when the speed is slow or when the final results are inaccurate.

If there’s one thing I would suggest upcoming product designers do would be to invest heavily in visual design and research skills specifically. It will take them to great heights if they can focus on mastering these skills and mesmerizing the recruiters and hiring managers during portfolio walkthroughs.

Skills are Gold

Hiring managers are looking for candidates to fulfill an overload of skills. It is overwhelming to sit with a job description and go thru’ each of the skillsets that many companies are looking for. I have done this exercise a lot of times and here’s a breakdown of some common skills that I found in the job description. Some apply to a junior designer, many apply to senior or staff-level product designers, and then are some high-level ones for the folks on a managerial level.

• Consistency in design, contributing to shipping features, knows how to architect around the brand and product feature architecture.
• Partner with product managers, engineers, product strategists, and writers.
• Should be competent — define problems, describe goals, map users, prototype interactions, and launch new products & services.
• Indirect leadership & mentorship of a team for senior designers. Additionally, required to do end-to-end interaction and visual design of products and services.
• Leadership for staff designers: Build relationships with leaders, strong communication, and executing stakeholder management skills.
• Skills dump: Design leader, visual and interaction design skills, design direction, design process, leading others, scope their work, the responsibility of other team member’s work, motivating designers around you, driving small or medium-sized teams, transforming a product, navigate ambiguity, set vision, set strategies, system thinkers, simple design for complex problems, strong storytelling, presentation and communication chops, understanding of mobile platforms & systems, and cross-functional team experience.

The above information might be a bit overwhelming but people who have spent a considerable time in design understand that design has a lot of depth to acquire to be looked at as a subject matter specialist. Here is a snapshot of what someone might learn after dedicating decades to learnings about UX —

Final Advice

The last piece of recommendation that I can the readers would be to become a student of the craft. Take a stab at it, one day at a time, and complete a small task. The magic lies in 1% daily progress stacked over a long term.

Borrowed advice

Someone told me to divide my career into three parts, the first 10 years for ruthlessly gaining skills, the next 10 for minting money, and the last 10 years for doing philanthropic work. I think this advice is more for building character rather than building wealth creation, design, or mentorship skills. Interestingly to perform well at all three stages, you have to improve yourself exponentially and invest in an entirely different type of mindset.

That’s the end of this short yet hopefully insightful read. Thanks for making it to the end. I hope you gained something from it.

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