Career Transition Stories
By vidhya sriram
I will be talking to people who have returned to workforce or transitioned to other careers recently, successfully and creatively.
Think of this podcast as a compass to make the way finding easier.
Career Transition Stories May 22, 2020
Career Transition Stories - Journey to becoming a Rotational Product Manager (Shruti Keoliya)
Today's conversation is with Shruti Keoliya, the RPM at Zynga. Her spontaneity is enchanting, her hunger to learn is limitless and her sense of adventure is something we can all use. Shruti breaks down what made her choose Product management and how she got here. Find out about the failure resume she keep to stay inspired.
Intrigued? Tune in and you won't be disappointed.
Resources:
Connect with Shruti at https://www.linkedin.com/in/shruti-keoliya-6a1275127/
Music Credits:
- Journey with Nalinakanthi | Durai Srinivasan
Durai's Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/DuraiSrinivas
Career Transition Stories - Architecture Design to UX Design with Sudipti Singh
Today, we are talking to Sudipti Singh who has transitioned from architectural design to UX design.
She thought architecture design was her thing until it was not. Her need to be more involved with people and work in a collaborative environment resulted in some soul searching. Diligent research and smart networking led her to enroll in the Human Centered Design & Engineering masters program at University of Washington. In 2 years, betting on herself has paid off. She is in her first year and formalizing her career with a coveted internship from dropbox as a UX designer.
RESOURCES
The Adobe article this prompted Sudipti's desire to switch to UX from architecture
Super Important to know:
- UX Collective was and still is a really helpful resource on Medium. I regularly use Medium to keep an eye on discussions/trends in UX. https://uxdesign.cc
- IDEO Method Cards were a really helpful place to start learning about research methods. You can take many of these methods and customize them as you might need for different projects. https://www.ideo.com/post/method-cards
- You might find that a lot of rules-of-thumb or common ideas in UX come from an industry leader called Nielsen Norman Group. Check out their many, many resources/links/information: https://www.nngroup.com
Resources that can give you a leg up
- This article really helped me when structuring my portfolio presentations for storytelling. I refer back to the graphics on this page frequently: https://uxplanet.org/5-storytelling-tips-for-ux-portfolio-review-78217ce1f983
- The government actually has a UX website… I had NO idea about this for a long time, and it was super interesting to find. Here’s a particularly useful link that explains some basic info: https://www.usability.gov/what-and-why/user-experience.html
- Look into any interaction design groups in your location to see how you can get involved. For example, in Seattle, there’s AIGA and IXDA:
Easy to learn resource to optimize your resume
A really great place to start is optimizing your resume. I found this helpful when I was re-doing mine. Beware of resume readability by things like ATS screeners (your resume can really hurt you if some companies screen it and remove it due to incompatibility). https://blog.uxfol.io/ux-designer-resume/
Takes time but you’ll get there
- You can check out some great design portfolios at https://www.bestfolios.com/home or https://cofolios.com if you’d like to see examples of what to work towards.
- Try to join design challenges or design jams! Adobe tends to have many, for example, but you can check out local schools or other organizations to learn about similar competitions--they’re a great way to build your portfolio or to gain experience. https://adobecreativejams.com
The transition from Program Management to Product Management
Richa Pareekh from Uber and Cindie Kumar from Boardspan share their journey to Product management.
The transition from Business Analysis to Program Management
Natasha Rogen and Megan Beatty are sharing their journey from being a business analyst to becoming a product manager.
Special Episode - Conversation with Nupur Jain and Kartik Sundar - The creators of HelpYourPeers platform
Episode Description:
Nupur Jain partnering with her husband, Kartik Sundar posted in Women in Product offering to provide mentorships to people affected by Covid-19 was published on March 30th 2020. The empathic post has turned into a movement.
As of May 17th 2020, HelpYourPeers connects:
1440 candidates with 360 mentors across 32 countries. In the US alone, we have 1002 candidates with 254 mentors.
It reminds me of Margret Mead's quote:
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has"
Today's conversation to learn more from the creators of HelpYourPeers to about their journey through this.
Audience Questions (00:50 min)
- How to answer "Tell me about yourself"
- What is the advise to transition from Software Engineering to Product Management?
- What is the difference between Product and Program Management?
- What would Nupur and Kartik do if they were not in Product?
- What does it mean for both Nupur and Kartik to be in Product?
- What preparation can some do to show up well for mentorship calls?
Resources and Links:
- https://www.helpyourpeers.com/resources
- https://www.producthunt.com/newsletter
- https://www.mindtheproduct.com/tag/newsletter/
- https://a16z.com/
- https://stratechery.com/
If you are thinking about building a product go to :
- https://www.strategyzer.com/
- https://betalist.com/
Music Credits:
- Journey with Nalinakanthi | Durai Srinivasan
- Durai's Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/DuraiSrinivas