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Bartender to UX/UI Designer
56 Plays9 months ago
Let's be honest, job hunting in the tech industry is challenging, especially for candidates seeking their first role.
Today, we're chatting with Hayla, a UI/UX Designer, who shares her journey of perseverance through the tough job market, eventually securing her first role at Wigco Digital. She encourages other job seekers to "get their hands dirty" during the job hunt and sheds light on agency work experience.
If you have any questions for Hayla or myself that could be answered on a future episode, please email me at [email protected].
Interested in taking the plunge by starting your career in tech? How does $1500 off a Springboard Career Track Course sound?
Use code EPEHT at checkout to save $1500.
Learn more here.
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Transcript
Introducing Halah: Springboard Success Story
00:00:14
Speaker
Hey everyone, welcome to another episode of Life After Tech Bootcamp where we're going to talk to another alum who has used Springboard as a tool to get to where they wanted to go. And today I'm excited to introduce you to Halah.
00:00:30
Speaker
In June, 2023, Hala graduated from the springboard program with a UX and UI design certificate. Before starting a tech career, she worked in customer service, social media marketing, and data analysis. Her current role as a UI UX designer at Whitco Digital, she collaborates with startups and small businesses to translate their visions into engaging digital experiences.
Navigating Post-Bootcamp Job Hunting
00:00:56
Speaker
Hi, Hala. It's great to see you again.
00:00:58
Speaker
Hi, thank you so much for having me. Likewise. And I'm really excited. I'm excited about every episode, but for yours in particular, I just know how stressed out graduates are right now. Not even graduates, but anyone looking for a job, particularly in tech, like it just seems brutal out there.
00:01:22
Speaker
And it's never easy to come out of a bootcamp and looking for a job kind of no matter what your background is really. But now it seems particularly hard, but you just got your job. So there are jobs to be had, something you did worked. And before we get into that, I'd love to know, like, how did you keep your morale up? Because June 2023, that's a tough time to job hunt.
00:01:51
Speaker
Yes, it definitely was. And that's what I'm hearing across the board from everyone that graduated with me or around the same time as me, especially from other designers. But what I did to kind of keep my morale up and just stay positive and the brutal, like you said, job hunt that's happening right now is just networking. Realizing I'm not alone. There are so many people in the same boat as me. And
00:02:24
Speaker
just making sure that you connect and network and share your story with as many people as possible. That seems to be what worked best for me, but yeah.
The Role of Networking and Perseverance
00:02:37
Speaker
Yeah, I was quite humbled during our pre-interview when you said, and I'm sorry if I'm bringing up a tough time, but when you said that the only interview you got was for the job you got and
00:02:52
Speaker
I was very taken aback and that's really tell like I'm not job hunting right now and I feel like I don't even want to tell people that because I don't want any people feel worse. But yeah, I was just shocked at what's going on and I'm not really sure what's going to change. I don't really sure. I'm not really sure what the future holds but
00:03:15
Speaker
Regardless, people are persevering. And I would still say that if you want to get into tech, I would never encourage someone not to. It's not a dye industry. I do think there's room for everybody right now. It's just a little slow. So with that being said, let's get back to the beginning. You did a bunch of things and I'm a little disappointed because in our pre-interview, you said you like photographed dolphins.
00:03:42
Speaker
your bio that you gave me. So I'd love to know what were you doing before UX, UI came into your life. What was, what was happening? Of course. So through my career, I have had pretty much every job under the sun. Um, I just wanted to try out everything and see what I liked, what I didn't like, what, um, I was just naturally good at or what I wanted to be good at.
00:04:09
Speaker
So my first job was working at like a hardware store as just like the cashier and surprise didn't love that. So I kept moving on to different career paths. I was a cupcake baker. Like you touched on, I was a dolphin photographer in Hawaii nonetheless. So that was just magical every single day. Loved that job, but
00:04:36
Speaker
ultimately moved away from Hawaii. Um, I worked for the DMV. So that was an exciting little story there. Um, all of that kind of led me to the pandemic where I took a step back and looked at my life and, and decided to look at like what I wanted to do for
From Diverse Jobs to Tech: Halah’s Journey
00:04:55
Speaker
the rest of my life. Like I felt like I wasn't really progressing anywhere within customer service or data analytics. Like I feel like I was in a really good spot with that. But then, um,
00:05:05
Speaker
I kind of just stopped. I quit my job working for the government and I started bartending just for fun to try to figure out what I wanted to do. And I was actually talking with one of my coworkers on a shift and he was talking about tech and how there's so many different job openings and there's so many different paths that you can take within tech. And I wanted to work remote. So that was a huge like push for me to start looking at tech jobs and what I would like.
00:05:34
Speaker
Um, I took a one week course with career foundry for coding. Um, just like the fundamentals of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. I didn't love it, to be honest with you. It was a lot. Um, and I think I spent like 45 minutes trying to figure out why my code wasn't working. And it was because of a little comma.
00:06:01
Speaker
in the middle of nowhere. It was not supposed to be there and I don't know why it was there, but I moved it and everything worked. It was great, but I just didn't love that. So then I started looking at other avenues within like the same realm. So that's where I landed on UI UX design, product design, all of that fun little stuff that I'm in now. And that's what ultimately led me to springboard and the bootcamp course that I took and then graduated from.
00:06:29
Speaker
Amazing. And it sounds like you were just giving yourself opportunity. You were just exploring things, not really going into anything with expectations, but coding. What is it? Let's try it. Okay. Yeah, I don't like it because a comic can ruin everything.
00:06:47
Speaker
A darn comma. Oh my gosh. That's a comma. They can't sit with us anymore. Yes. Interesting. So, okay. You discovered, what was that like? Walk me through that moment when you discovered UI, UX. What about the profession made things click for you? What made you realize that this was the right career path to pursue? It checked a lot of my boxes.
00:07:16
Speaker
I wanted to work remote. I wanted to work with creative individuals and like-minded people. I wanted to work with large companies or small companies, all of the above, and helping them craft their vision. I mean, I worked in marketing for a good chunk of time. And I really enjoyed helping small businesses out with their social media, their presence, their engagement rate.
00:07:45
Speaker
redefining their brand, all of that was just really exciting and enticing for me. And a lot of that aligns with product design and UI UX design, along with my passion for people.
00:07:58
Speaker
I love people, their different backgrounds are just fascinating to me. When I actually worked for the DMV, that was one of my favorite things was just talking with people who just moved to the state and they're registering their car or changing their license over. I just love to hear their story about where they came from and what brought them here and what they're hoping Colorado will give them. I think that was just awesome.
00:08:25
Speaker
And within product design and UI UX design, I get to kind of shape the experience that people have when they click onto a website or open an app. I just think that's super fascinating. So really this career path checked a lot of boxes for me. And that's kind of ultimately why I decided to stay here.
00:08:46
Speaker
makes a lot of sense. And yes, I think you do have to like, or at least be interested in people to an extent, I think you can just look people and be in UX. But you do have to understand why they are the way they are. Yeah. That's really fascinating. And then I guess, you know, obviously, you went to springboard, what was it about the course that
00:09:10
Speaker
also checked your boxes because there's so many boot camps out there. Some are definitely a little shady. Some are a bit more reputable.
Springboard Experience and Learning
00:09:19
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. So I looked at a lot of them. Um, ultimately what pushed me towards springboard than other than other ones was mostly the IDP, the industry design project. That was a huge thing for me to have real world experience working with, um,
00:09:37
Speaker
product that is either in the beginning stages or an actual product that's live and also working with real-life stakeholders because that's a huge skill to have especially as a new designer entering the job market that we've already talked about. So that was a huge thing for me as well as having one-on-one mentorship. That was a huge thing because I mean if I'm in a group of 20 people and
00:10:01
Speaker
I want to be able to talk to my mentor and get that feedback that I'm craving, I'm needing to help push me to the next level with my designs and with my course. So that was a huge selling point for me. Certainly. And I think that mentorship, there's something to be said about that one-on-one attention, which most people don't get growing up, especially in the US. And I would imagine in most schooling systems, you just don't get that kind of attention.
00:10:28
Speaker
you can I like that you could learn your own piece there were certain things I struggled with that my mentor focused on with me more than perhaps parts of the process I wasn't interested in or he was also a little upfront and would tell me I've never used this software I've never had to do this so don't sweat out
00:10:48
Speaker
don't sweat about learning in design. I struggled with those animations. And he's like, I've never done this before. And guess what? I've never had to do it at work. So not saying you shouldn't learn this, you never know. But yeah, it was really nice to have a bit of that validation. Yeah, I agree with that.
00:11:13
Speaker
Yeah. So within the course, was there anything that, you know, you learned then and are really using now in your current job? I think the biggest thing that I'm utilizing now that I learned from the course is just being open to feedback and asking a ton of questions. I think when I first started, like I would get on the call with my mentor and just show her my designs.
00:11:41
Speaker
and then just be quiet because I was afraid that she would like rip it apart or I was just not cut out for this or whatever that would run through my mind's anxiety, right? But I think as I showed her more and more designs and I grew as a person, as a designer, as a student, I was
00:12:02
Speaker
kind of craving that, that feedback of like, please rip it apart. Please tell me what I can do better. Um, so I think that's something that I really took from the course and I, I'm instilling every single day. Certainly. And it is so humbling trying to get feedback. I think, I don't know if you felt this way. It sounds like it was more of a progression. I think for me working in fashion,
00:12:27
Speaker
You're constantly getting feedback and oftentimes you're being ripped a new one fashions mean. But yeah, and UX, it's still really intimidating, especially when this is the portfolio work that can help you get a job later. It's a very vulnerable thing to do. And I think for me, I was
00:12:44
Speaker
afraid, but then I just had this moment where I'm like, know what, no, if I want to get somewhere, I'm going to have to learn to take it. And luckily, my mentor was not really, really mean. But and yeah, even now, I don't work with really mean people. So I guess it's it's a little bit of both.
00:13:05
Speaker
Yeah, I'm noticing that there's really not a lot of mean people in the design realm. Like I feel like everyone's super uplifting, very encouraging. They just want to support you and make sure that you're doing the best you can and going where you want, like what are your goals and I want to help you get there. So that's been
00:13:25
Speaker
kind of life changing for me because I mean working at the DMV I would be yelled at every single day all day long by people coming in like, I need to register my vehicle. So I think kind of changing those gears and I'm like not in fight or flight anymore has been just totally different.
00:13:43
Speaker
Well, okay. In all fairness, the DMV is hell. But that doesn't excuse people treating you poorly. So yes, getting to learn that feedback and getting to be comfortable and opening up that way. But was there anything outside of the course that you did to help supplement your knowledge and then perhaps your job hunt? Yes.
Teamwork and Collaboration Insights
00:14:06
Speaker
I actually stumbled upon a hackathon.
00:14:09
Speaker
It was just a random post on LinkedIn and there says, Hey, do you want to join this hackathon? And I thought nothing of it. It's like, sure, I'll, I'll join up. That sounds great. It's in like a couple of months. Uh, fast forward a couple of months. I got the email that said, Hey, you're actually involved in this. Are you ready? And I was like, Oh my gosh, I don't have a team yet. I don't know what I'm doing. Like I've never been in a hackathon.
00:14:32
Speaker
So I joined the team last minute, like literally 20 minutes before the hackathon started. Random people, I had no idea. There was somebody from Germany all over the US. I think there was someone from South Korea on my team. And I was just floored by the knowledge that they brought. Like some of them were students. Some of them were actual designers who had years and years of experience. So it was so cool to kind of just
00:15:02
Speaker
immerse myself with that team and learn from them. And we ended up going with my idea of doing a like AI book club app. So that was so fun. It was kind of like, I don't know, I felt very proud. I was like, they picked my idea. So we got to kind of move forward with that. And it was like, I think overnight something, it was like 24 hours or 48 hours for the hackathon.
00:15:32
Speaker
and just like everything that they would throw on the Figma file. I was like just absorbing all of it. I've heard from other people when I asked them
00:15:45
Speaker
what types of experiences do they give themselves to supplement their knowledge, their job, and hackathons come up. I personally have never done one. I'm curious to know, how do you think that might have helped you with the job hunt? What about the hackathon made you feel a bit more prepared?
00:16:05
Speaker
I think throughout the course with Springboard, you're primarily working by yourself with your mentor. The hackathon really showed me that I can work on a team and I thrive on a team. I like getting other experiences. I like getting that other feedback, them looking at my design and being like, actually, I think I would tweak this or I have an idea. So that was super encouraging for me that I was on the right path. I'm still new, but I'm learning.
00:16:35
Speaker
And just like having the support system, I think behind me was a lot. It was really good. Certainly. Yeah. And to your point, you know, I would imagine you were great at working on teams even without having to ask, but.
00:16:51
Speaker
That is another talking point for teamwork. And now that I think about it, one of the biggest roadblocks I faced when interviewing was, how do you work with engineers? And you don't do that at springboard, but I would imagine when that happened, you would get that experience. And I'm not telling people to stretch the truth, but all you really need is one experience to say that you have.
00:17:19
Speaker
you know, quantifying your experience or like saying, well, you don't have this many hours. You just need one experience and am I wrong? No. Um, I think that's a super good thing to do. Um, unfortunately the hackathon I did, we did not have developers working with us, but, um, one of my really good friends is actually a software engineer. So he has a lot of that experience. So anytime I have questions, I just ask him.
00:17:48
Speaker
Like, how would you navigate this? Or how would you look at this design and develop it so that I can learn and make sure that I'm designing with them in mind just because I think that's the right thing to do? Such a good mindset to have. And also that just shows a soft skill of trying to understand that it's not just you in the room. It's like that collective.
00:18:12
Speaker
A lot of newer designers and they just don't know because they haven't had these experiences. But yeah, just because you design something doesn't mean it can be built, especially, you know, I work in big enterprise. So we have a lot of things premade. So our engineers will consistently be like, no, that's just not what
00:18:32
Speaker
we have built in production. So we're not going to design this way. And you learn pretty quickly what you can and can't do, but yeah. And also just the time and resources to build things. That's a great way to show that you're thinking about it, even though you might not have directly passed off a design to engineering. Yeah.
00:18:55
Speaker
So with that being said, you know, you finished the course, you've done this hackathon, you're in the job hunt.
Effective Job Hunt Strategies
00:19:01
Speaker
And like I said in the beginning, June, 2023, brutal. So where do we start? Well, I had a fantastic career coach.
00:19:16
Speaker
He broke down everything for me. Any questions I had, he would go above and beyond to answer everything. So he was a huge resource for me during the job hunt. I apply to hundreds of jobs every single week. I was in three to five networking calls every single day or every single week. And it was a lot. It was like another full-time job on top of working a 40-hour job.
00:19:45
Speaker
So like it was just a lot, but it just kind of goes back to what I said in the beginning where you just have to maintain that positivity because if you don't, it will drag you under. And I know so many people that I've talked to are feeling that discouragement and feeling like they are just not good enough and they'll never going to get that first design job that'll help propel their career.
00:20:09
Speaker
Um, but I always just try to be, I don't know, the supportive person that everyone else was for me and just say, Hey, like apply. You never know. You never know. Like one of these times they're going to call you back. You're going to get that interview. If you don't get that one, you're going to get another one. Um, it's not going to be a forever thing. You will land something eventually. And that's kind of just what my mantra was during the entire job hunt was like, it will happen one of these days.
00:20:37
Speaker
Yes, yes. And I think that's kind of the best you can do is just keep trying, which I'm sure everybody's heard that. And that's not anything new or original. But yes, I agree. And despite the odds, kind of being against a lot of applicants right now, at the end of the day, people are getting jobs out of boot camps. It's still happening. So it's not impossible.
00:21:07
Speaker
But yes, I have been trying to bring this up with other guests on the podcast and just other people I've been networking with on the side about what people can kind of do.
00:21:20
Speaker
there's this, I was talking to someone about how there's a sect of job hunters who feel that they're a little bit entitled to a job. And it kind of comes off as, you know, why, why aren't I, I did everything I was told to do, why aren't I getting what, you know, springboard promised me or what I think the job market should be giving me. And I see kind of, I see that playing out a lot. And I just thought that
00:21:52
Speaker
was a very interesting take on, it was more so the entitlement. I think everyone's allowed to be mad and frustrated, but when I saw this level of entitlement, I feel like in this scenario, it isn't fair that you've done everything that you can, that you've been told to. But I feel like in these tough times, that's when you need to get a little creative. And I feel like that entitlement gets in the way of that creativity.
00:22:22
Speaker
Yes, I completely agree. I think Springboard is a tool. It's something that's going to help you rather than just give you something and you get out of it what you put in. So that, that was kind of what pushed me through everything. And doing, like you said, being that creative little side projects will help you move forward and actually get something, land something, whatever you're wanting out of completing the course.
00:22:51
Speaker
Um, I've seen a lot of people being creative with their resumes and their portfolios and that's eye catching. That's what's going to get you something in this job market. Just because, I mean, you have hiring managers with 300, 500, 600 applications on their desk and there's only one role open. So if you aren't doing that creative side, like you're not doing something creative, then
00:23:18
Speaker
you're gonna be like everyone else, especially right out of bootcamp with the portfolio that you have, which I mean, I'm sure it's great. Mine, I was very proud of it. Now that I am looking back at it, after like five months of like, I built it and then five months later, I'm looking at it now. I'm like, oh, there's some things I can change on this. There's some,
00:23:44
Speaker
things I can be a little more creative on or stand out with. And I think that's where we need to be, especially like right out of bootcamp or right after graduating, even if you have a four year degree. It's just the job market is saturated and there's a lot of competition. And if you're not willing to get your hands a little dirty, then maybe it won't pan out the way you expect it to.
00:24:11
Speaker
Yes, certainly. I remember graduating from fashion school in 2012. So during the great recession and all of my professors, people were just telling me, you're not getting a job. Like it's just not going to happen for you. Wow. It was a lot or not so much directly that, but there was this constant, I mean,
00:24:34
Speaker
Tech I think is just a little stalled right now. I don't see it shrinking like I did with fashion. Brands even now are getting away with less because of many factors, but I don't see that in tech. I think they're just hitting a roadblock. But yeah, I remember just getting like, I really hustled to get a job and I left no stone unturned.
00:25:03
Speaker
there were days where I was in three different states interviewing, it was I yeah, just sitting around and applying online did not do me well. But we're not here to get into fashion. So actually, one thing you said, like you've seen some people get really creative with their portfolios and their resumes. So what were anything that comes to mind that you remember? Yeah, actually, so I remember scrolling through LinkedIn, and
00:25:31
Speaker
this guy posted a resume, but it was for a job posting. It was like a product design job at Amazon. So he literally went to the Amazon site, took a screenshot of it, and built his resume the way you would look at the Amazon website. And I thought that was just super creative, super great. He ended up submitting that resume. I don't know if he actually did that role or got an interview or what.
00:25:58
Speaker
But I thought it was very interesting and just different because everyone has basically the same format for their resume, which there's nothing wrong with it. If it's not broken, don't fix it. But I just thought it was a different take and definitely something that we should all be looking at doing more of, especially with how, like you said, brutal the job market is today. Interesting. That is really cool. I want to see that.
00:26:25
Speaker
That sounds really fun to look at. And yeah, I would definitely, I'm not hiring anyone. I don't have that kind of power, but I would definitely do a double take. And then I would, if he's doing that for his resume, I would definitely want to look at his portfolio to see what he did there. Um, I wonder now I got on the question a lot about getting cookie cutter.
00:26:51
Speaker
I've gotten the question about how to make someone's portfolio not look cookie cutter and I've given my advice. I don't think my word should be etched in stone because everybody has different ways of making their portfolio stand out. So I'm curious, you know, if someone were to ask you that, what would you say?
00:27:15
Speaker
Well, my portfolio is pretty cookie cutter right now, to be honest with you. Mine was. Yeah. I mean, it's great to start out with having that template. Um, so I'm kind of branching away from the template cookie cutter, uh, portfolio. I'm actually working on trying to build mine with Webflow. So, um, I just think that like what you need to bring into your portfolio is more just personality.
00:27:41
Speaker
I am a big person of color. I love color. I want color all over the screen. So that was kind of hard for me to not have every single thing have color on it when I was going through all of my projects through bootcamp. But I think with your portfolio, just showing that personality and doing something different that you don't see on every other portfolio is probably a good way to stand out.
00:28:09
Speaker
Does that answer your question? Certainly. Okay. So this is the portfolio that you shopped around you networks. Um, I know you told me the story, which I will let you repeat in a minute, but how you got your job.
LinkedIn Success Story
00:28:25
Speaker
Um, and it was through networking and it sounded like it was someone you had met way prior earlier in your bootcamp experience. So if you'd like to share that story with everyone.
00:28:40
Speaker
Yes, of course. So, um, I don't know if everyone listening has gone through the bootcamp course, but that one part in the curriculum where it says you need to start networking and build out your LinkedIn and make sure it's optimized and make sure you're connecting with X amount of people every single week and reaching out engaging. Um, so during that part of the curriculum, I really dived into my LinkedIn. I optimized the crap out of it.
00:29:08
Speaker
Um, I am actually pretty proud of it. I like it. But, um, a lot of that opened relationships that I was wanting to kind of more like cultivate and, um, I don't have meaningful connections because I mean, everyone can go on LinkedIn and say, I'm going to connect with these 20 designers. But I wanted to make sure I was connecting with people who share the same vision as me or the same direction, or they are where I want to be in say five years.
00:29:37
Speaker
So that's who I really kind of focused on. So I connected with her pretty early on in my bootcamp career. And I kind of just like commented on her stuff. I interacted with her posts. I sent her things that I thought she'd really enjoy. And we kind of developed a good friendship out of it. And then when she decided to bite the bullet and start her own design agency, she asked if I
00:30:06
Speaker
had found a job yet. And I said, no, I have not found a job yet. But then she was like, well, maybe, would you like to work for me? So we started talking more about it and kind of define the role a little bit more. And
00:30:21
Speaker
then all of a sudden my inbox had a job offer email in it and I could not have been more excited. Oh my gosh. I'm like feeling the relief for you. I'm going through it all over again. Please, it's a great feeling. Like do it every day. Like you should feel that way every day when you wake up. Well, maybe not. Maybe there's room for like newer, better feelings.
00:30:46
Speaker
It's your life. You do what you want. That's so exciting. And I remember when you applied to be a guest on the podcast, I was looking through, I was like, what's this company? And I looked at the website and it's unlike anything I've ever really seen before. And okay, I'm going to share my
00:31:11
Speaker
view of it, but then you can fill in what it actually is. But when I went on, it took me a second to realize what I thought at first, it was something that designers could sign up for to do projects and deliver work for it. But then as I read more, I realized, oh, like I'm someone that would need a design, something design pretty much on the, you know, website tech and not, you know, you're not designing my, uh,
00:31:39
Speaker
my bedroom or anything but I could submit something to you guys and then pay kind of like a fee for a specific turnaround time and I thought that was so interesting like it was because I think a lot most of the time if you haven't really worked with designers people have a very skewed way of what that process might look like how most people know if they're not a designer
Innovative Design Services: Halah's Company
00:32:09
Speaker
So I loved how it was set up that like within this amount of time I could get this kind of result. It kind of bridged the gap of, I'm going to talk to this designer so they can design me a logo. And then they kind of tell me, okay, I can do this for you at this price in this amount of time. And then have the customer be like, what? No, that's ridiculous. I can just design it myself. It was really just kind of like, I felt like in a way when I read it, obviously I would never treat a designer like that because
00:32:38
Speaker
Most people can't design a good logo if they're not a local designer. But it was really cool for me to look at and think, oh, someone who doesn't know how to work with designers.
00:32:50
Speaker
It, you kind of set the tone. You kind of set like, this is what we're going to do for you. There's no negotiating really. Yeah, that's, that was my take on it. And I thought it was a really interesting approach. So I'm going to shut up and I'm just really curious to hear what things are like on your end. And did I get it? Yeah, I mean, you did, you did. And I'm super glad that you did because our website is like, I, like I said, it's a new, it's a little startup that just launched, um, I think last month.
00:33:19
Speaker
So I'm really glad that you understood what our services are and what we're about and what we're trying to do for people. So yeah, it is a different kind of design agency. And it was very refreshing whenever she was telling me about this opportunity, because like you said, contracting and freelancing and normal design work can be a little daunting, especially if you don't know what that design process is. So this model is more transparent, in my opinion.
00:33:49
Speaker
Um, we work with startups, small businesses, mid-sized businesses. Um, and we do everything from web accessibility to product design, even marketing, um, and actual development. And we will even actually, um, let me find the right words.
00:34:10
Speaker
We will even perform web maintenance for you. So if you don't want to maintain your website, we will do it for you. So we'll host that domain. We'll do like security auditing for you. We'll set up the back end for like credit card payments and make sure like all of your interface edits are made for you. So like you're changing prices or copy or what have you. But yeah, so that's kind of what we do. We do have different rates too. So you can do,
00:34:39
Speaker
the basic plan, standard, premium, whatever kind of fits your budget and your project size. But it's all one request at a time, which is very interesting because we can have a multitude of clients and still cater to all of them and the way they need. The only thing that changes between the plans, we're not only thing, but the main thing that changes between the plans are just the turnaround time for the task that you put in. And that task could be defined as
00:35:08
Speaker
I need a color palette for my business, or I need you to rework this button for me, or I have a vision in mind and I want the website built. So how do we get there? And we help you break down that large scale project into manageable, digestible chunks that we call tasks. So you're working at this company, you're breaking down things into tasks.
00:35:38
Speaker
What is your, I feel like I want to ask what your day in and day out is like, but you've kind of already told me, but I'm really curious. Managing all of that is a lot of work, especially for small businesses. How with this business model, how are you able to.
00:36:02
Speaker
you know, keep within all the time frames, manage all these clients. Like I, I briefly did this for people and I'm not going to lie. They were really annoying and I'm sure your clients are way lovely, but I just remember this one guy, like every day he would call me at like 8 a.m. and I'm like, I don't get up until 10. It's like, it's just, I could, I don't know. Maybe I wasn't doing something right, but I'm just really curious how you manage like the client expectations and
00:36:32
Speaker
keep things running optimally. Yeah. So we have a Trello board, which is like a task management software. So we use that. And that's how they put tasks into queue. And then you can comment right on that task card, which is really nice because then you can have back and forth communication between the client and us. They can ask questions. We can answer those questions. We can submit deliverables through that.
00:36:59
Speaker
And they can have unlimited revisions on everything. So they're always satisfied on whatever we're actually providing them. Um, so we just kind of make sure that everyone's getting attention and, um, everyone's happy with the work that we're submitting. Um, and basically having that Trello card is, is like how we keep track of like how long a request has been in queue for or, um,
00:37:26
Speaker
what they're wanting out of this request. And then we also have a Slack channel that we all communicate on and the clients have access to. So just a lot of open communication, very transparent and just making sure that they're taken care of because at the end of the day, like we're doing this service for them and we want to make sure they're happy.
00:37:45
Speaker
Certainly. And if it's a small business, like this is their baby. Like this means everything to them. So, um, I think there's even more heart on the line in this. So I'd love up to learn a little bit more about like the company dynamic. I know you said this, you're now manager and the owner of the agency brought you on, but, um, do you work now with engineers or other project managers? Like what's, what's the company team like? Yeah. So there's three of us.
00:38:15
Speaker
It's a real small team. It's really great. We're all really close. We're good friends. So there's the owner, head of design. She's amazing. We love her. She has 10 years of experience in design and all things crazy. And then there's me, other designer. And then we have a web developer on our team as well. So he's the one that does all of the magic on the backend and puts it all together for the actual site.
00:38:44
Speaker
That's awesome. So now that you have worked with an engineer, what is it like? Like what, um, what have you learned with that, um, collaborative type of relationship?
Learning and Growth in the Workplace
00:38:56
Speaker
Um, so I have learned a lot about how the animations actually work on the backend. So that's been pretty interesting for me. Um, I'm actually in the process of learning a little bit of that, so I can kind of help out here and there.
00:39:12
Speaker
Just because that's who I am, I like to learn new things. So anything I can learn, like throw it at me, please. But yeah, like working with a developer has been different because I've only really worked with or been around designers. So hearing like a different perspective of like how things actually translate over to the website versus in Figma has been a little different.
00:39:36
Speaker
It is a little different, and talking to them and how they would approach things and put things together is just another way of going about things. It's not to pit anyone against anyone, but it's truly different and truly to have that healthy collaboration. It's a true understanding of, I don't know how you feel, but if I'm passing off work to engineers,
00:40:01
Speaker
I've suddenly learned just how they're going to look at it and approach it and question it so that I can kind of come about and, um, I could kind of like make things a little easier for them. Whereas like I've been really working with them to kind of explain the user experience. And if someone doesn't want to build a part of my design, I know whether to advocate for it or not also. Right.
00:40:29
Speaker
Yeah, also just making sure your ask isn't too big. I've definitely designed things that I think aren't that big of a deal, but then my engineering team will be like, actually, no, this is going to be really difficult. So taking the time to really understand why things are the way they are in their perspective, I think I find that engineers will always talk to you about what they're doing. They'll never be shy. So it's always important to ask where they're coming from.
00:40:58
Speaker
And then it helps you make better business and design decisions going forward. But yeah, it's. I think like part of just liking how people think they are definitely super unique thinkers and it's been really rewarding getting to work with them. Oh yeah, definitely. It really has been, I've learned like so much, so much more than I thought I would in a month or two of working.
00:41:22
Speaker
with an actual company. Like it's just been night and day difference between bootcamp and actual employment. Yeah. Well, what are some of the biggest differences that you've seen? Um, mostly I thought that stakeholders would be very, this is what I want and very strict and stern and like you better deliver it. They're not like that at all. Like I haven't come across a single like meme, I guess, if you want to call it that, um, stakeholder, they're all like so nice.
00:41:52
Speaker
And they're just like happy that you're helping them out and explaining things that they wouldn't necessarily understand or know from like their vision into like a design perspective. So it's, I just, again, I love talking to people and learning about their backgrounds and what's going on in their little heads. So I think that's been the biggest difference is just like.
00:42:12
Speaker
stakeholders are so fun to talk to and like hear their journey and why they're here. Yeah. And that's really great to hear because I know, you know, you can get some really tough clients. So, and I also feel like with the prices you guys are charging, you know, you're getting people who are investing money. They're not just spending, they're not just going to, you know, Fiverr and getting the cheapest person they can find to get something like, I bet your clients are actively making
00:42:42
Speaker
good investments, good business decisions. So I would imagine that would come with a little bit of EQ of like, okay, we're going to outsource this part of our business to experts and we're going to trust them. Yeah. And that's been what I've noticed is they will ask, they'll be like, Hey, this is what I'm thinking. Tell me what you think. And they like really want to hear our side of it and understand. And then we all kind of collectively move toward the solution together rather than
00:43:11
Speaker
I guess being bossed around, I don't really know what happens in a dynamic where you have like a strict stakeholder, but that's what I would imagine would happen. Oh, gosh. Yeah. I mean, I think at least what I've discovered with people who do contract work, freelance work, clients really vary, but typically like it's those lower paying clients that are the biggest nightmare.
00:43:42
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. But you don't have to deal with that, which is great. So I'm, I'm very, very happy to hear that. With that being said, you know, is there anything we didn't get to talk about today that you wanted to share?
Advice for Job Seekers
00:43:57
Speaker
Um, I don't think so other than just like keep your head up, because I know that it's the job market's tough right now, but you'll, you'll get to it. And if you need help or you want some
00:44:12
Speaker
somebody to vent to, please reach out to me. And I will be happy to just grab a glass of wine and we can have a Zoom call and just complain about everything if you want. Or if you want advice on how to network properly or how to reach out to somebody or whatever you need help with, I'm here. I may not always have the right answers.
00:44:39
Speaker
and understand everything, but I'm here to help you and I want to help. So let's do it. It's a very, very kind offer. Well, where can people find you? Where is the best place to reach out to you? Probably LinkedIn would be the best. Um, so if you do want to find me on LinkedIn, my name is Hala Williams and you spell my first name H-A-Y-L-A last name W-I.
00:45:08
Speaker
L-L-I-A-M-S. Yeah, please connect with me and we'll cultivate a cool little friendship, hopefully.
00:45:16
Speaker
Fantastic. And I have to say, you know, as I've done a couple of these episodes, it's been so rewarding to hear who's connected with who. I get people who reached out, they said that they've watched so-and-so or they don't watch. They listen to so-and-so's episode and then they reach out to me. I love the little community I'm creating here. So I'm really excited to see what this experience brings for you and the people you get to meet.
00:45:41
Speaker
So with that being said, my last question for you is what's next for you? Like you've come this far, you've persevered, you're working in this awesome company. I really hope I get to meet your manager at some point and have her on the podcast. What's next for you? Where do you see yourself going? So I have a five-year goal that I'm working towards. I'm wanting to become an expert in web accessibility. I want to follow in the footsteps of my manager who
00:46:11
Speaker
took the first step in that little journey. So that's a huge thing for me. And then just kind of, I don't know, working towards improving every day. I think that's just my goal for right now. Like I graduated bootcamp, I got a job, now I'm going to like relax for a minute and just learn. And just kind of like grow as I can, meet as many people and just go from there.
00:46:39
Speaker
That's fantastic. I love that you're starting to think about the niches of UX. I know my mentor said the riches are in the niches. Niches, niches, you know what I'm trying to say. Yeah. Very exciting. Well, I look forward to staying in touch and seeing how that five year goal is going. Yes. Hila, thank you so much for your time and sharing your story.
00:47:04
Speaker
For anyone listening, if you have questions for Hala or myself that could be answered on a future episode, please email me at alumnipodcast at springboard.com.