Job Search Diaries No.2―Senior Product Designer
Wedding planning while job searching 💒 *plus* freelance income deets, how to get paid for take-home assignments, and inbound lift from LinkedIn posts.
Welcome back to JOB SEARCH DIARIES, where we shadow someone’s tech job search for an entire week. Ride the highs and lows with these job seekers and get the scoop on fresh tools and tactics for job searching in tech.
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Onto the diary!
Today, we have a Senior Product Designer trying to make the shift from startups to larger, more established tech companies with strong design cultures.
About me: I'm a product designer with seven years of experience in enterprise & consumer products.
My location: Miami, Florida
Role I'm seeking: Senior Product Designer
Target company stage: Series B or later
Target industry(ies): Health, Government, Climate
Passive or active search? Active
When I started my job search: June 2023 (it’s been 8 months)
Number of applications so far: 200+
Number of HR or recruiter screens: ~16
Number of first-round interviews: ~10
Number of final-round interviews: 6
Average time spent weekly on job searching: 15-20 hours
What drove my job search: I worked full-time as the founding designer at a Series A health-tech company for ~2.5 years. Over time, the company stagnated, and I felt I had outgrown the role. After a round of layoffs, I became a design team of one. Rather than stay full-time, I became a part-time contractor and began to search for a full-time role to continue my growth as a designer.
Day 1
8:00 am
I'm bombarded with text messages the moment I open my eyes. I'm planning a big fat Indian wedding in Asia this Fall. Because of the time difference, our vendors text and email me while I’m asleep, and I respond as soon as I wake up.
After answering messages for a half hour, I make coffee and breakfast. I call my mom and dad to discuss logistics for their upcoming visit this weekend.
9:00 am
I’ve been looking to sharpen my UI skills, so I signed up for a few UI email newsletters: Shift Nudge & LearnUI. I read the content in these newsletters, which prompts me to consider redoing my design portfolio landing page (yet again). This may or may not be a waste of time, but a portfolio is never truly done, right?
I have a call with a seed-stage cybersecurity company this morning. I'm not super excited about the company because it doesn't fit my ideal criteria. I may withdraw from the process after the call with the recruiter.
I sometimes wonder if I'm being too picky in my search. The reality is that the more rejections I get, the more I broaden my search criteria. I remind myself to go into the call with an open mind. We'll see how I feel coming out.
10:30 am
Chatting with the recruiter at the cybersecurity company.
11:00 am
I'm quite conflicted after the call. My search has been long, and I don’t want to shut the door too quickly, but the role is wrong for me in so many ways:
it requires me to pick up my life in Miami and move to New York
it's early-stage
they’ve got first-time founders (I’ve vowed to avoid this at all costs)
it’s in a different industry than I’ve been targeting
I'd be the only designer (yet again)
the recruiting process isn't exactly chill. 4+ rounds, which sounds tiring 😓
When I write this out, it’s clear that this company checks none of my boxes. I'm going to send a withdrawal note. If things get desperate in a few months, I’ll open up / change my criteria. For now, I want to stick with my plan.
11:30 am
Took a quick break to watch a video about a particularly long design interview process & time-intensive take-home. An accurate reflection on the state of the design job market right now...
Dm'd my friend at a large tech company for a referral. Applied to the role right away.
Cold applied to late-stage healthtech startup.
12:00 pm
Lunch. For lunch, I usually mix it up. Sometimes I'll do leftovers from the night before, whip up a quick sandwich, or go to a nearby spot with my fiance. We both work from home, so lunch + coffee walks are a great respite. Also, we live in Miami, so the weather (most of the time) is sublime.
I try to focus on a balanced plate (i.e., 1/2 plate veggies, 1/4 plate protein, and 1/4 plate carbs).
12:30 pm
Quick workout. Like my lunch, I mix it up depending on my mood - running, tennis, strength/weight training, pilates, HIIT, or yoga. I like to get a bit of movement 5-6 days a week and leave the house so I don’t get stir-crazy.
1:00 pm
I freelance with various companies for 15-20 hours a week. This week, I have a good chunk of work to do for my previous employer. When I left this company, I didn't have another opportunity lined up, and they were eager for me to continue my work since I was a team of one. We agreed on a rate, and I got started right away. The work ebbs and flows like a standard job: some weeks, I have more work, and some weeks, I have less. I catch up with the product management and eng leads every month, and they tell me what they need help with for the following weeks.
In addition to this work, I've done freelance work for two other startups in the fintech and productivity-tech space. Both of these opportunities came through my network. The work has been shorter in duration and smaller in scope. The rate is ~25% less than my main freelance gig because these companies are at an earlier stage, so I work at a discounted rate. I view these freelance opportunities as paid opportunities to diversify my design portfolio. I'm getting good exposure to different industries and device types.
On average, my freelance work nets to about a quarter of what I used to make.
3:00 pm
Doctor appointment.
5:00 pm
Therapizing with a friend who just got laid off. We spitball making a group of UXDs + UXRs who are on the job hunt. I am interested in discussing this more in-depth tomorrow.
9:00 pm
An organization I volunteer with posted photos from an event I participated in this weekend on Linkedin. I reposted this, since I’m trying to up my LinkedIn posting game.
(update later) this post got zero engagement, which is rare for me. My posts usually get ~10+ likes. Perhaps people clicked on the main post? Anyway, it’s an interesting data point.
10:30 pm
Worked on the new layout for my portfolio.
Peruse LinkedIn job board before bed to see if anything looks interesting.
10:45 pm
I'm waiting to hear back from a recruiter about a market intelligence company. I'll likely follow up with him tomorrow.
As I write this, I just got a LinkedIn DM from a recruiter at a large financial service company. I will look into that tomorrow.
Total time job searching today: 3 hours