<p>Published on <a href="https://blog.prototypr.io/one-year-later-after-i-finished-my-general-assembly-ux-boot-camp-95dd7f6ffc5b?source=rss----eb297ea1161a---4">| Prototyping: From UX to Front End &mdash; Medium</a> Lex Walker <img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*zufQyzhQbNKCd_mk0H36sA.png"><em>Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. — Thomas Edison</em></p>
<p>The failures, tactics, and routines that I have learned through this process.</p>
<p>I can’t speak for everyone, but this article is for people who are thinking about making a career transition or becoming a designer.</p>
<p>This last winter I decided to take a 10-week boot-camp at General Assembly. What is General Assembly? It’s a private, for-profit education (learning accelerator) that offers short courses, online classes, workshops, events, and immersive 10- and 12- week “boot-camp.”</p>
<p>Please do your research if you’re thinking about doing a boot-camp and ask yourself if you can commit 3-to-4 months without working, to invest in a new skill or sharpen an old one. <strong>These boot-camps are expensive, and you need to take it seriously.</strong></p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/700/1*9tBwpCFJJXFfoiVSkxWOtg.jpeg"></p>
<h3>I finished!</h3>
<p>This is not going to be a Cinderella story. I didn’t have the same story as my classmates or reading articles about other GA grads on Medium. Before General Assembly, I already had a design degree and experience. (Doesn’t mean shit.)</p>
<p>After graduating from General Assembly, I thought it was going to be a walk in the park since I had prior design experience. Everyone was telling me I was going to be the first one getting a job from my cohort, but that couldn’t be further than the truth. If anything it was just the beginning of an extended 12-month period of looking for work, wearing the same sweatpants, and being on unemployment.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/500/1*Nhy7GWSGNM_ukTOy2NdD5g.jpeg"><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/700/1*9tBwpCFJJXFfoiVSkxWOtg.jpeg"></p>
<h3>What I did after General Assembly?</h3>
<blockquote><p>“This part of their lives — a largely self-directed apprenticeship that lasts some five to ten years — receives little attention because it does not contain stories of great achievement or discovery. — Robert Greene”</p></blockquote>
<p>The behind the scenes:</p>
<ul>
<li>I’ve had 35 interviews</li>
<li>I’ve talked to 150+ recruiters on the phone</li>
<li>Went to coffee and met with other designers</li>
<li>Hired another career coach, besides the one you get from GA</li>
<li>Went to mock-up interview workshops</li>
<li>Message my network on LinkedIn ( I messaged like 40 designers)</li>
<li>Did all the daily UI challenges (164/164)</li>
<li>Made small changes on my portfolio</li>
<li>Added a new case study on my portfolio</li>
<li>Worked for free for 4-months to get more experience</li>
<li>Bought design books</li>
<li>Bought a whiteboard</li>
<li>Found a mentor</li>
<li>Joined a design Slack group</li>
<li>Went to events</li>
<li>Designed a presentation deck for my case study</li>
</ul>
<p><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/700/1*9tBwpCFJJXFfoiVSkxWOtg.jpeg"></p>
<h3>What advice would you give to a recent GA grad or someone thinking about taking the boot-camp?</h3>
<h4>For a recent GA grad:</h4>
<ul>
<li>Make a presentation deck for your case study (Do not show off your portfolio, because you’re going to look like a noob, and you are also relying on the Wi-fi.)</li>
<li>No golden portfolio is going to get you the job</li>
<li>Ask yourself what type of designer do you want to be? UX Researcher, UI Designer, UX Designer… Tailor that to your portfolio/resume</li>
<li>Whiteboard a lot…..Like a lot!!!</li>
<li>Do not have concept projects in your portfolio (They make you look green)</li>
<li>Just put GA under education, and that’s it</li>
</ul>
<h4>For someone thinking about taking the UX-immersive course:</h4>
<ul>
<li>Get ready for presentations</li>
<li>Work on your weaknesses, not your strengths (Coming from a visual design background)</li>
<li>You get what you put in</li>
<li>You’re not guaranteed anything, like a job after you graduate</li>
<li>P5 is your, “client project” ask them if they are going to ship your work, because if they don’t, it’s just a concept project</li>
</ul>
<p><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/700/1*9tBwpCFJJXFfoiVSkxWOtg.jpeg"></p>
<h3>What are bad recommendations you hear in your profession or area of expertise?</h3>
<blockquote><p>“Fake It ’Til You Make It.”</p></blockquote>
<p>I think it’s the worst advice you can give to a young designer. I would say 90% of my interviews have been senior roles, and they have all called me out on it. I don’t talk like a top designer or act like one. There is nothing wrong being an intern or an associate.</p>
<p>We all have to start from somewhere. So please stay in your lane. Don’t drink the kool-aid of you getting a 100k.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/700/1*9tBwpCFJJXFfoiVSkxWOtg.jpeg"></p>
<h3>Recruiters</h3>
<p>Recruiters are your best friend until you don’t get the job 🙁</p>
<p>How do you feel about recruiters? 🤔 (Probably 50/50)</p>
<p>To me, a recruiter seeks out, screens, and interviews candidates before presenting them to the client.</p>
<p>For someone making a career transition, this can be hard. It’s tough for a recruiter to present to the client when you have no work experience or little experience.</p>
<p>As much as they would love to be the conduit to the next step in your career their client’s wishes bind them. Keep in mind that you haven’t paid the recruiter a dime and never will, they bring their clients exactly what they seek or risk having the client identify a new source of talent acquisition.</p>
<p>Please treat the recruiter with respect, build a long-lasting relationship, and act like it’s a real interview, because that recruiter might leave that staffing agency and go recruit for Facebook or Google.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/700/1*9tBwpCFJJXFfoiVSkxWOtg.jpeg"></p>
<h3>Majority of entry-level roles are never published</h3>
<p>Be proactive and focus on what you can control. Reactive people: will apply online and wait for an email or call. Remember that people with good jobs are the proactive ones who are solutions to problems.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/700/1*9tBwpCFJJXFfoiVSkxWOtg.jpeg"></p>
<h3>Interview Hacks</h3>
<p>It’s all about telling a story. People tend to gravitate to you more when you tell a story.</p>
<p>Rather than walking the hiring manager through your resume chronologically, because they can read it 🤦‍♂️, you’re highlighting the key strengths of your background and creating a story, showing growth.</p>
<p>If you’ve done your pre-interview homework, you’ll know what aspects are most important from your background to highlight.</p>
<p><strong>Realize interviewers have jobs, too!</strong></p>
<p>Interviewers don’t want to waste their day talking to boring candidates on the phone; they want to check the ✅ that says “Hired” and get back to work.</p>
<ul>
<li>Instead of seeing it as an interrogation, you’ll feel like the interviewers is a friend who’s just asking if you can help</li>
<li>Instead of putting them on a pedestal, you’ll see them as a future colleague</li>
<li>Instead of spending the entire time talking, you’ll turn the phone interview into a dialog and mix in some questions</li>
</ul>
<p>Remember: They’re looking to hire someone and want you to succeed because it’s in their best interest.</p>
<p><strong>Phone Interview</strong></p>
<p><strong>Stand up: </strong>you’ll sound more confident and energetic</p>
<p><strong>Smile: </strong>people really can hear if you’re smiling</p>
<p><strong>Use your notes: </strong>treat the interview like an open book test</p>
<p>I tend to tape my notes on the wall that is eye level, so I don’t have to look down while I’m interviewing.</p>
<p>When it comes to note taking I always do the left brain and right brain strategy that <a href="http://jimkwik.com/kwik-brain-013/">Jim Kwik</a> talks about on his podcast. It’s not necessary to do it, but it has helped me with the companies products and business goals.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1000/1*eCbJE1LfJ4VniUMlUGTqtQ.png">Draw a line in the middle of the piece of paper 🙂</p>
<h4>Questions?????</h4>
<p>Prepare to ask questions after the hiring manager is done talking. At the end of every interview, you will always get, “do you have any questions for me?”</p>
<p>If you say, you don’t have any questions you might as well just shoot yourself in the face! (All that hard work for nothing.)</p>
<p>It instantly communicates three things: (1) I don’t care. (2) I did zero research. (3) I might just do the same if I get hired.</p>
<p>The interview is won before you walk into the room. If you’re unprepared, you’ll never get the job.</p>
<p>These type of questions signals to the interviewer that you’re someone they can bring in, and, on day one, you’ll get to work immediately. Rather than being someone who needs their hand held and to be trained for hours on end.</p>
<p>Also, when you ask these questions, the interviewer is giving you all the ammunition you need to seal the deal, and bouncing back questions you didn’t plan to ask based on the answers they gave you.</p>
<h4>Handling Rejection</h4>
<p>I’ve been rejected 35 times and I’m still going strong. All it takes is one yes. I’m blessed to have been interviewed by Google, Nest, Airbnb, Atlassian, ServiceNow, Zelle, Asurion, and SAP. But I didn’t get those offers, because of culture, or I wasn’t ready at the time.</p>
<p>You either win or l̶o̶s̶e̶ learn. Learn from your mistakes after every interview, reflect, and get better.</p>
<p><strong>How to stay positive while you’re interviewing</strong></p>
<ol>
<li>Smile as much as you can, because a fake smile will turn into a real smile</li>
<li>We tend to focus on the things we don’t have (aka job), and we should focus on the things we do have</li>
<li>Walk outside for 15–30 mins</li>
<li>Stop comparing yourself to other people, I know that might be hard with social media, but at the end of the day you’re against yourself</li>
</ol>
<p><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/608/1*Ne20CUeQTceCcUl1NPg66w.jpeg"><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/700/1*9tBwpCFJJXFfoiVSkxWOtg.jpeg"></p>
<h3><strong>The Notorious Design Challenge</strong></h3>
<ol>
<li>Present a case study</li>
<li>Take-home design test…it should take no longer than two hours, but we all know that is bullshit, try two days or five</li>
<li>Whiteboard challenge</li>
<li>Design a one-page website in Sketch in 20 minutes</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Tip: Don’t be surprised if you have to do two design challenges(The most common one is take-home design test and whiteboard challenge.)</strong></p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/700/1*9tBwpCFJJXFfoiVSkxWOtg.jpeg"></p>
<h3>Find a mentor</h3>
<p>Every great leader had a mentor. I’m so blessed that I found a mentor that I get to see at LinkedIn every Thursday. He has helped me with my whiteboarding game. <strong>Don’t be afraid to ask for help or be vulnerable.</strong> That is the only way you’re going to get better. My mentor tells me my shit sucks all the time and I love that.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/700/1*9tBwpCFJJXFfoiVSkxWOtg.jpeg"></p>
<h4>You’re now a job philosopher. Congratulations. Now you can watch the Post Malone video. 🎉🎉🎉</h4>
<p><iframe src="https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2FSC4xMk98Pdc%3Ffeature%3Doembed&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DSC4xMk98Pdc&#038;image=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FSC4xMk98Pdc%2Fhqdefault.jpg&amp;key=d04bfffea46d4aeda930ec88cc64b87c&amp;type=text%2Fhtml&amp;schema=youtube" width="854" height="480" frameborder="0"><a href="https://medium.com/media/e01f411417dd61c780c34d6f96bb555a/href">https://medium.com/media/e01f411417dd61c780c34d6f96bb555a/href</a></iframe></p>
<p>I hope this article brings joy to whoever is struggling to find a job or is going through a career transition. Don’t give up on your dreams, because you might be one step away from turning it into a reality.</p>
<p><strong>How bad do you want to be a designer?</strong> It might be rough for a while, but it will pay off.</p>
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<hr>
<p><a href="https://blog.prototypr.io/one-year-later-after-i-finished-my-general-assembly-ux-boot-camp-95dd7f6ffc5b">One Year Later: After I finished my General Assembly UX Boot-camp</a> was originally published in <a href="https://blog.prototypr.io">Prototypr</a> on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.</p>


One Year Later: After I finished my General Assembly UX Boot-camp

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