The pursuit of happyness
Learning, unlearning, and relearning
My career so far and what my future is...
I’m trying to cover my career from 2012 to 2023 in this blog. Please don’t read further if this is not something that you need right now. I wrote this for some realizations only.
The uncertainty
I completed my higher secondary education in early 2012 and I had no idea where to join or what to pursue. Engineering was my parent’s recommendation, but fate had a different path. I never dreamt of becoming an engineer, although I always said, I was looking for “Electronics and Communication” when someone asked - you know, the peer pressure was totally different back then. Meanwhile, my entrance score came and I was in the 44k ranking or so, I don't really remember.
A lot of days and weeks passed in confusion and then I decided to join a design school with the help of my old friend and completed it in the first quarter of 2015 with a degree in hand. I still remember when I broke the news of joining a different path, one of my relatives replied “Good luck… Don't go with the flow”. I mean this is one of the best pieces of advice or response I have received so far.
I learned some tools from the institute, but my skills were poor, I can see that now - time is a great book to learn from ourselves.
I waited for 3D jobs but that was never my path and I lost around 8 months I think - the testing period of my life. I literally had no idea what to choose or where to join. I genuinely doubted my career choice when received some offer letters, it was like mocking me as a person and a human. I mean who can live in a different state with peanuts as compensation?
The beginning
I left the 3D and visual effects career path and applied for an interface design job via the institute placement program. I realized some brutal and crucial facts about my current state from that company. This I’ll never forget.
Anyway, after a lot of thinking I joined a boutique as a Textile Designer because you know, my bank balance was going negative at that time. And there is an education loan waiting for me, but my papa is paying the minimum due for now - in short I didn't have much choice. Either join or..!
Existential crisis and imposter syndrome started after a few weeks. But now I think I’d say that was a great start for me, I mean, I got an opportunity to self-learn everything which is the backbone of my career now.
Textile design is a completely different experience. I designed in a 5.5m width Photoshop file with the help of fashion designers there, I mean I didn't have a clue how all this going to look when a lady wore them. But once I saw the physical output it hit differently - “a person is wearing a dress, which I worked on with the help of the founder”, my first experience.
The excitement
Time flies and I was sure about one thing.
I didn’t want to be a Textile Designer for long so I joined an offshore company in Mumbai with the help of one of my friends and lived there for almost 2 years as a Junior Graphic Designer. Learned the basics from a lot of people. A completely new experience. The work is different than I expected but learned something new every few weeks. Also met Adobe Muse - no code starter I guess - and mastered that tool, but Adobe killed it later.
From here I realized one thing, I had to find the zone and vibe to work well, I’m not a robot to give instant ready-made outputs, I’m a human, like everyone else.
Worked in multiple teams and alone, and completed a phase of their new project. I was really excited and curious about everything. I liked my PM at that time and got a lot of appreciation and feedback. Later they introduced me to multiple different work environments and learned a few from each.
But I wanted to do UI work and I have no laptop or PC with me. I’m getting miserable day to day due to this, I’m not getting any experience in this and time is also moving faster than ever - again imposter syndrome kicking in hard, and a lot of sleepless nights. That’s when I met a designer via an online community and he helped me to believe in myself. I sent my work to him, he gave genuine feedback (all others were like “wow…man awesome, absolutely great, etc…”).
He told me to complete the DailyUI challenge - a great way to learn design alone or with the flow. And then he invited me to join Dribbble, which was a great deal back then.
I owe him a lot.
This part of my life is a separate story, leaving for another day.
The rediscovery
I had to come back home due to a health condition and financial growth. Yes, I had fears about my next job, I didn't even have a portfolio then.
I once read on Reddit about why we restart a PC or any digital device when it is not responding. Rebooting the computer essentially gives its head a shake and starts over from scratch. I applied the same in my life.
I built a small to medium portfolio because I couldn't share any work from my previous company. Applied to all kinds of companies, and faced some brutal rejections. Again questioning life choices.
At last, joined a company based in UAE as a UI Designer but the tech office was in my favorite city. Moved there and faced a work rejection on the first day. However, my colleague and a senior designer helped me to learn, focus, and cope with design rejections. They sat in the office late with me for a long time that day, I’ll never forget it.
I completely lost my confidence and talked to my parents. I don't know any other jobs. I lost my track and vision. My papa calmed me down and said to try again tomorrow and if it’s not working come home.
And from there onwards, the graph went in a steady and upward direction only. Worked on a lot of projects, in-house and client works. I got the knack for starting and finishing a project alone. And then after a few months, I became the lead designer there and finally, I was satisfied with my work.
Also, I got an opportunity (more like pressured) to teach at their sister company (kind of a design institute). I passed the things I learned to six fellow designers. Even though I felt like NO the first time, now it's okay I think. But then the next question. What’s next?
I didn’t want to leave but due to some salary issues, I had to look for different companies. Because you know, we all are working for money. Satisfaction comes second only. This world is running on that theory these days. And most importantly I’m getting a feeling that everybody is happy and achieving something, I’m also happy but not reaching anywhere - a moment in everyone’s life!
The hope
Sometimes doubts will drive you, yeah in this case, I took a bet on my doubt and jump-shipped to a startup agency as a UI/UX Designer and completed 3.3 years there. I got a chance to self-learn again and got a big curved monitor too. I was so happy with the atmosphere and colleagues. No judgment or anything. A small team!
Designed multiple variations for the in-house products and client works. This is where I worked collaboratively with different designated workers. A tech project is running mainly on the business factor, without the sales or any insight, a tech project is just a bunch of codes that form a design if you run it.
I worked closely with the business team and development teams. Learned from both perspectives. This is an important lesson. You can't just learn this in a few weeks or months. Especially when the project is agile. Yes, I learned the agile methodology from here. I am deeply indebted to everyone here who helped me. I had the freedom to experiment, talk, and initiate, which helped me to refactor my self-learning skills in a better way. You simply can't get these from any company. So I shared some of it with my colleagues and utilized it for what we can achieve.
This is where I learned the biggest lesson - a designer and developer should be on the same page to deliver on time and cost-effectively. A designer can learn a lot from a developer. Which is doable, which is time-consuming, and which is practical in our particular scenario. Sometimes it worked as a design blocker for me and I know that, but I wanted something that works instead of just a beautiful design. So I compromised in some cases and insisted on some things. I did the QC too, just to make sure, that is what I envisioned. It was never my responsibility, but if I don't care about my design, who will?
This is where I practiced remote work and fell in love with the concept. The founder had only one condition, “work anywhere you want, I just need the output as described and expected”. Well, this worked great for me and the company valued my work. For this one thing, I am truly grateful to him.
But like every situation, the longer it goes, the more problems occur. And the more unresolved problems, the more career depreciation. But it’s a collective issue. I can't pinpoint all problems to a single person. At first, I thought like that, but sometimes, time will heal a few things and we can see a broader vision that was clouded on those days.
Either resolve or move on. So I tried to move on, on better terms. Felt happy.
The hiccup
I became familiar with my worth during this transition time. If I had spent a little more time in any company, maybe I would have fallen into a bubble (a comfort zone). So I interviewed for a few positions and joined again to a big corporate company. But that was the worst decision I ever took on in my career. More on that in the below blog.
But this was a realization that burnout was happening to me. I value my mental health, creative thinking, and sanity, I always give priority to this. I took a career break for the first time in my life. I enjoyed little things that made me happy these days, read a lot of things online, and watched a lot of movies. I spent time with my nephew.
For me a career break is not just a recovery time, it’s an income-less experience too. So I casually started to look for startups/product companies and did a few freelance works too. This time, I had an intention in my mind, I needed to know more about them too. If I need to accept a fine offer, I need to know about their process and their employees and their attitude towards the employees. I respect a good and genuine culture.
The turning point
So during this lookout, I stumbled upon a founder who is settled in the UK. Since he was a native speaker of my language, communication was quick and I was able to understand him much more easily. Did a few works for him in freelancing and we were both looking for our career and startup. After a few weeks, we both realized we could do more and achieve more if utilized the energy combined.
You can read some points from this blog.
Startup life is a roller coaster drive. I tasted its flavor and it is not for everyone. But I really liked it. Sometimes the uncertainty gives me a vision, of how to drive through its path. We may sometimes go outside the chartered course. But we can always recenter if we are in the driver's seat. He gives me a lot of opportunities to learn about his industry and his experiences.
And in return, I pass on the things I learned throughout my career. No amount of knowledge is cheaper. It can make an impact on people’s lives if used effectively. And at some point, I was exposed to the reality of user experience with his journey. It’s not something that you can understand by reading, but only by experimenting with the real users and their needs.
The story still continues with a limited up-front notice of 15 days or so. And it’s been over a year now. This never felt like a year if I’m being honest here!
Having the freedom to choose what projects you work on and with whom you work is the ultimate form of freedom in work life.
Updates
This medium article is the reason why I’m writing this. It took me around 4 hours to complete this. It’s totally worth it.
Reading time: About 11 minutes | Speaking time: About 16 minutes