Career Paths in Design

The job market is definitely getting smaller and the competition for those jobs is getting more competitive out there.

Over the years I have remained focused on a singular goal in my career. That focus has changed as I achieved one and set myself another.

When I was a designer I wanted to become a design director. When I had gained more experience in managing a team, I set the goal of becoming a vice president of design. After being let go in a company downsizing, I realized that I am truly happy when i am creating designs so I felt I needed to return to being a designer again and sought a job which was less corporate .

In the beginning it was simpler to find ways to show my talents and attain promotions and pay increases.
However later on I found it was necessary to include others in my plans and goals. I needed to listen and learn from others about myself. What they saw as my strengths,and also as areas that I needed to work on if I was to get to the next level.

There were two ways that worked for me.
One was speaking to my boss honestly about what my goals were and asking what she felt I needed to work on to get ready to manage people and direct product development and design.

I was lucky to have a boss that was good at listening and cared about my future with the company. In some cases I know people are not as lucky. However I advise that you take this step anyway. It's never wise not to include your boss in this type of conversation from the start. The next person you would speak with is your Human Resources Representative.

What you need to do is call to say that you would like to speak about your career path within the company.
Be ready with notes on how you see yourself getting to the next level and what you need help with.
Do you need to be a project leader to gain management ability? Do you need to learn a computer program?
Do you need to attend some higher level meetings to gain exposure? Doing all of these things without a pay increase is valued by your employer and gives you experience, which is more important than a few extra dollars at this point.

Take a good look at the current people in charge. Think about what job you could do 5 and 10 years from now and find a way to make a career plan with the HR representative to help get you there.

Okay, what if your company doesn't do this so well and you've done all you can think of?

This happened to me and so I found myself a mentor; someone who had worked in my field, is successful, creative and is someone I trust. We met once every week for a year. She talked to me about my goals. She questioned me about how I present myself, how I speak, what I wear to work, and how I solve problems , among other things. She was honest about her perceptions of me and gave me advice on how to improve my behavior at work to be viewed as the kind of person who could be promoted to a high level position.

To find a mentor I joined a group called Women as Mentors. I do not believe they are still around. However I think the current solution to this would be to network with other women in business and on linked in to ask their advice on who would they might suggest you to contact.

Most important is to keep in mind what you do really well. Try to stay away from setting goals that take you into areas where your strengths are not the focus. I learned this the hard way. Once I set a path in which I was looking to match what I do well with what the needs were I found a job that is right for me.

I love going to work every day.