“Through the UX Tree mentorship, I gained invaluable insights and skills, transforming my approach to UX design and landing my first job in the field.”

I’m Reuben, a product design graduate who was working as a designer for an engineering company while undertaking the mentorship. I’m a Mentee of round 5 and also completing a UX Design Masters degree at IADT.

How did you first hear about the UX Tree mentorship, and what made it stand out from other programs or courses?

I believe I stumbled on it by complete accident while searching for Junior UX designers on LinkedIn attempting to understand how they went from academics to industry. The mentorship stood out for its ability to bridge that gap with statistical proof to back up my assumptions.

What was the most challenging part of the mentorship for you, and how did you overcome it?

I believe the most challenging part was something I wanted to solve when going into the mentorship, this being to improve my knowledge of the process and the ability to understand how to turn research insights into design solutions.

My mentor Stewy helped me greatly with this by keeping my focus on the MVP rather than letting me stray off to edge cases attempting to solve all user problems. I ended up creating a prototype that addressed specific issues holding the most impact and by doing so resolved a multitude of the edge cases.

How would you describe your relationship with your mentor? What impact did they have on your learning journey?

Stewy was a great mentor for me, his knowledge and expertise are something that you wouldn’t get from a traditional boot camp or even master. It’s his industry knowledge that is a major part of my learning as education only sets you up for a stringent and linear approach to best practices.

Stewy was able to help me understand and mirror what happens within a real-world scenario while also doing it in a positive and constructive way. Stewy was also contactable and carved out time to meet with me every week to help motivate me through times of confusion which had a major impact on my project.

What are the top three skills or insights you gained from the program that you believe will benefit you the most in your UX career?

• Improved my presentation skills with knowledge of frameworks to use to get your point across clearly and insightfully.
• Gained knowledge of the process from idea to implementation and how to take those insights and create tangible results.
• Learned the ability to take on constructive feedback which is a very important skill to have in this industry.

Do you have any advice or words of encouragement for people just starting in UX?

I cannot say this enough, persistence will land you a UX job.

The mentorship got me my first job, I had finished my degree, boot camps, and applied to hundreds of jobs and maybe you’re in that same position of uncertainty, not knowing what to do next. The mentorship will greatly improve your ability and confidence while placing you in the correct mindset to be able to showcase your abilities. 

There is a large competition for junior roles, therefore there is a need to show you’re upskilling and improving with an interest in the industry so you can stand out against other applicants. There is hope though, in the long run, you will be rewarded by remaining diligent and focused, eventually landing that UX job which will feel even more rewarding knowing you earned that spot.