Why I Transitioned From Marketing to UX Design

I know this isn’t the first time someone has written an article about transitioning from Y to Z in their career. But I’m sharing my process here in hopes to provide some first-hand advice on affirming your decision to pursue (or not pursue) UX design.

If you’re currently in marketing or any dissatisfying career, perhaps you’ll be able to relate to my experiences and process.

TL;DR

• Like many people, I had no idea what I wanted to pursue as a career while I was in college. So I picked something random that I hoped would make me money and be enjoyable: marketing.
• As I learned in the years to come, marketing did not align with my skills and interests.
• I decided to pick a career that would give me satisfaction at the end of the day (for the most part) and represented my skills well. After much research, this proved to be UX design.
• It’s okay not to know what you want to do while you’re in college. I didn’t—and I’m okay.

Why Marketing?

Here’s the gist of my background: I graduated with a Bachelors of Arts in Media and Communications from a small school in southern (very southern) Iowa.

I had no idea what I wanted to do besides being a money-making musician (ha ha—that did not pan out), so I picked something random I hoped I’d enjoy.

After graduating, I started freelancing as a blog writer and copywriter, while doing some marketing on the side. In a couple years, I began a full-time job as a marketer.

All that to say, I kind of fell into marketing from some odd side jobs I got as a freelancer. It wasn’t something I ever really picked, but I thought why not? It’s something. Especially as a recent grad who had no idea what she wanted to do with her life.

Why Not Marketing Anymore?

Perhaps if I actually studied marketing in school, without simply diving headfirst into it while on the job, I’d end up liking it.

That’s not the case though.

As I discovered with my first full-time marketing job, for me, the work was too focused on numbers: How many more people a month are viewing our LinkedIn posts? Are our social media engagements up from last month?

I was once someone who loved the idea of social media marketing—using my creativity to make posts sounded delightful.

It turned out, however, that marketing relied heavily on generating successful outcomes. There wasn’t much room to fail. If the numbers weren’t up from last month’s consistently enough, you weren’t doing what XYZ company hired you for.

Maybe it was because I didn’t go to school for marketing. Maybe it’s because marketing just isn’t for me.

When I lost my job in April 2020, I didn’t really miss my job, and I didn’t know if I’d want to go back into marketing again.

I started looking into other options.

So … Why UX Design?

As I became more dismayed about my career trajectory (at 25, did I really want to be knee-deep in a career crisis?), I randomly came across an advertisement for a bootcamp for UX design. Looking more into it, I felt like I may have found something that finally sparked an interest.

I embarked on some research, not wanting to make a major mistake and later feeling like I made the completely wrong choice.

Before jumping in, I also had to make sure of the following:

• Do I have the flexibility in my life to take on a full-time bootcamp program?
• Can I afford it?
• What will serve me more in the long-term? And in the short-term?
• Will I regret my decision if I don’t take the bootcamp and take another marketing job instead?
• What are the pros and cons of taking this bootcamp versus not taking it?

It wouldn’t be until one year later that I signed my agreement to the bootcamp to be a student for the next five months. And when I started, I knew I made the right decision the very first virtual meeting I had with my cohort.

UX design is the right fit for me because:

• I value using empathy in my work.
• I want to feel like I’m making a difference and improving others’ lives by encouraging accessibility and user-friendliness.
• I enjoy utilizing my creative and imaginative mind to come up with solutions.
• I get a kick out of working on a variety of projects broken down into smaller chunked pieces.
• Technology will only be growing in the years to come.
• It’s a lucrative career with growth opportunities.
• The UX/UID job market has grown in the last few years.

And if you value these things too, I’d suggest at least heavily considering UX design as your career as well.

Now

I’m grateful every day I made the decision to switch from marketing to UX design. As I expressed, more things about this path feel like almost total alignment.

That’s not to say my career path won’t take a turn again—because who really knows? Who can predict the future like that?

Although it took some twists and turns, I’m glad for my decision.

Additional Advice for Career Transitions

1. Think about the long-term: What seems daunting now may be one of the best investments you make in your future success.
2. Look for something that combines your core values and skills: For me, I’ve always appreciated using my empathy to understand people. As a UX designer, I’m able to use this core value — and couple it with my skills in design.
3. Yes, money matters too: Parents usually have good intentions when they say, “don’t worry about money; follow your passion!” but this isn’t always the best advice to follow. Success, for me, entails being well-off financially.
4. What’s predicted to grow in the future? This could give you an idea for what career path to follow, ensuring you have some job stability in the years to come.
5. Time is your best friend: It’s never the case for things to unravel overnight. Trust me, I tried to force “my one and only career” many times. But it’s not really a landing point — sorry to say. It’s a path. You may have many careers in your life; however, there’s usually one career that may stick out to you more than others for a said time period.
6. What matters to you? When all is said and done, you’re the one who needs to enjoy your career. Put other people’s opinions aside and get in-sync with your own.

Questions or comments? Feel free to get in touch with me on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/stephanie-guarino