Career
I Need A Quality Portfolio
*Edit* Speaking of, Google just emailed me about my application for a design position. They want to see my portfolio. Gah! Time to buckle down and make magic happen. I need to respond back “sometime soon.” That’s pretty subjective. Is that like, by Monday? next week? next year?!
Title says it all.
I’ve been meeting with a ton of talented people inside Microsoft who are working on projects like Office and Dynamics CRM. From designers to researchers, I’m learning what it takes to work in Microsoft focusing on the “user experience.” It is an exciting period of time where you can see that there is a building momentum driving the design influence. Looking at Vista, Office 12 and even Windows Mobile, you see that changes are more than just slapping on a glossy interface. That is the obvious artifact of a new design approach. However, you also see a move away from deep heirarchies and static information that requires your changes in styling done manually. Comparative to the last iteration of Windows and Office (granted the time gap) you have to admit that working with projects that not only impact millions of people on a daily basis, but is also more complex than your average script. They did some good work, eventually. Thinking also in context that Microsoft initially came from a traditional computer development vision, this kind of change is really significant. That’s why I think in the next five or so years, it will be really exciting to be a part of the influence that drives the “user expeirence.”
Yes, I am interning at Microsoft. Yes, I am studying interaction design as an undergraduate degree. No, I don’t have a proper portfolio. Yes, it matters, a lot. A lot, a lot.
So what are my next steps? There are some options…
- Freelance/contract work through a firm
- Magically find a design position in Microsoft
- Stay in IT at Microsoft and maybe move into design later (but how long?)
- Find a design position in another company (most likely marketing and ads)
- Work at Banana Republic again (ha! never again…)
- Go to Carnegie Mellon University and earn a MS in Interaction Design
Each having their own pros and cons. My next steps? seriously find someone else to take over my responsibilities in the frat and focus on my portfolio. Sheesh!
Discussion
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I’ve found it’s really hard to get an entry level UX position. Everyone I interviewed with told me to find a developer job at a firm with good designers… and now here I am.
In the last couple weeks I have been getting to give a lot more input on UX decisions.
One nice thing about implementing other people’s designs is that you get very intimately familiar with they’re values and design decisions.