Credits

The juniors in the design and creative industry are some of the hungriest group of professionals to exist, and all in good fun and delicious competitiveness we can get behind.

“A career is a marathon, not a sprint.”

Those words I’ve read somewhere before, and have been told directly by some of my mentors when I was basically killing myself to get ahead.

I always felt like I needed to prove that I am worth something, and especially now with my ‘credentials’ sort of proven by my Medium page and my professional track record, it feels like I can’t slam the brakes and stop.

I need to be better, I need to be faster, I need to do more. These thoughts constantly flooded my mind my mind 10 years ago during my design diploma, and the same exact thoughts still flood my mind today.

“I am never good enough to be the best. So I need to work harder to get there.”

The result? Me being a lead designer after 3 years of industry practice, and an mid-level design manager and strategist after 5 years.

And you know what? It sounds really good on paper, but I’m not sure if it was really worth it.

“How do I become senior faster?” was a really common question I get from my mentees, and it is a very difficult question to answer, because what does being senior mean?

And what’s the rush?

“I don’t mind hardship, that’s what pushes me to be senior sooner.”, that was what one of my direct mentees told me just last week.

I get that mentality, I’ve been there. Having the right motivations will push you very far in your career, but there are many other factors that are not in your control that no one speaks about.

And I just wanted to share yet another untold reality of the design industry. Buckle up and let’s go.

Uncontrollable factors that will affect your path to senior