Andrew Astleford’s Post

Advice for breaking into content design: 📝 I need your help. I’m at an interesting point in my career. I’m nearing the 5-year mark since I broke into content design. I’ve loved telling my story and providing guidance when I can. I feel a responsibility to do that. If you’ve read my posts, or if we’ve chatted in a video call, I hope I’ve been helpful. But, recently, I’ve felt what I did to change careers isn’t as relevant anymore. For a number of reasons, the landscape has changed. I read a post from Hang 🤙 Xu about how the UX job market changes every 1-3 years. I’d never considered that before, but the observation makes sense. I’m not as close to the entry-level scene for content design these days, but I sense there are higher expectations from hiring managers compared to what I faced in 2018. So, for anyone who broke into the field in the past 1-3 years, I have a few questions for you. How did you do it? What challenges did you face? What was the hardest—and maybe the most surprising—part of your journey? What would you advise now? If we get enough responses, I’ll share them in the coming weeks. I think they would benefit many people. View Hang Xu’s post: rb.gy/7skbc. #UXWriting #ContentDesign #ContentStrategy

Breaking into content design: 🔨 Think about it this way. Recently, Hasan Bakir started an interesting discussion that included advice for anyone considering getting into content design. Here’s my take: The job market is improving, but having a backup plan is a good idea. If I were attempting to break in now, I’d try to get any job that allowed me to work on digital experiences of some kind, even if the position isn’t labeled as a UX writer or content designer job. However you can, gain experience and build your portfolio. When there are more openings later, you’ll have something to show for this time. Form relationships, too. The unspoken thing in all this—even for experienced content designers—is that there’s a good amount of luck involved to get a job. It helps to be known by somebody, whether it’s a recruiter or hiring manager or someone within a company who can make an introduction. What advice would you share? View Hasan’s post: bit.ly/3NAbIjy. #UXWriting #ContentDesign #ContentStrategy

Staying motivated in content design: 💪 What’s your approach? I took part in a UX Writing Hub event about breaking into content design and managing career transitions. We received more than 50 questions. 👀 Throughout the next several weeks, I’d like to answer the questions I didn’t address live. If you’re interested, you can view the full session: bit.ly/46pTt6T. *** Q: How do you stay motivated as a content designer? Can it get repetitive at times and what do you do when it gets repetitive? A: I don’t think “repetitive” is what comes to mind because I’ve worked on so many different things. But it’s possible to get too comfortable in a position. After a while, you may reach the ceiling of what’s possible within your job. There may or may not be an opportunity to be promoted. If not, you have a personal choice to make about whether you want to continue on your path. I stay motivated by observing my teammates and other coworkers. I try to take pieces of what I admire about them, whether it’s how they approach a specific part of the job, their communication skills, how they think about problems, etc. I feel like I have so much more room to grow. There will always be someone you can learn from, regardless of where you find yourself on your career journey. Maybe this is just me, but thinking about a career in that way instead of trying to earn a specific title or accomplish markers like they’re part of a checklist is helpful. That helps me stay motivated, and little about this development journey feels repetitive. (The attendee who wrote this question chose to be anonymous.) View the previous posts 👇 What prepared me for this career: bit.ly/3vbeBRx Selling transferable skills: bit.ly/41nxD34 How content design has changed: bit.ly/48k37tj Managing imposter syndrome: bit.ly/41hL4BM Stepping into a senior position: bit.ly/4a65gdK Positioning yourself to transition: bit.ly/3R2GKBx Defining UX writing: bit.ly/47BcWTJ Getting new portfolio examples: bit.ly/46uSaU8 Finding entry-level roles: bit.ly/47pEX0q Introduction: bit.ly/3sDKD7J #UXWriting #ContentDesign #ContentStrategy