Changing Horses in Midstream
By: Cesar Paredes
Tags: Career Paths, Client Relationship, Cfa Research, User Research, Mentorship

Changing Horses in Midstream

How a mentorship helped guide me through a career transition

Background: Direct service to client success

I started working at Code for America in the summer of 2017. Coming from the traditional nonprofit world, this was my first introduction to a tech environment. My only knowledge of this new space was whatever The Social Network and Silicon Valley taught me, and whatever Craigslist ads were looking for (you know, front-end rockstars and engineering ninjas). I knew — and still know — how to write exactly zero lines of code. I am still unsure of what GitHub really is. But I did come with a specific set of skills: talking and listening to people.

My previous roles had all been direct-service related. I’ve worked with college-bound high schoolers, people looking to get connected to public benefits, and most recently, conducting SNAP (food stamps) outreach. That’s where I learned about Code for America, an organization using technology to make government services work better for everyone.

While conducting CalFresh (the name for SNAP in California) outreach I used GetCalFresh.org, a website that Code for America built and still maintains, to help folks sign up for CalFresh benefits. After some time in this role, an opening became available for a Client Success Specialist on the GetCalFresh team. I got the job, and as a Client Success Specialist I responded to client questions and concerns via the sites live chat and messaging features.

When I started, I felt more like an outsider than I had at any previous job. I quickly realized that while I thought I was “tech savvy,” I wasn’t. While I may not have brought a GitHub account along with me, I did bring a lot of other things over from my previous jobs. In addition to my knowledge of the rules and regulations of the program, I brought knowledge and experience from working directly with clients. I knew what language they used and I knew what language to use with them. I knew that sometimes a client isn’t looking for an answer to their problem, just an opportunity to vent. This background helped me communicate with clients as if I were speaking to them in person instead of through a computer.

Although I am a Bay Area native, I never thought I would get a job in tech. But here I was in a new job, a new space, and no idea what the next steps were in terms of my career. Coming from an immigrant family of non-“professionals,” my view of the workforce was pretty limited. What role came after Client Success Specialist? Did I want to be a Client Success Manager?

Conducting in-person prototyping at a UC Berkeley CalFresh clinic in my client success role

Client success to user research

A few months in, I found myself notetaking for a designer/de-facto researcher during a couple of research sessions. During this collaboration, she asked if I had ever thought about becoming a user researcher. I had to admit that I had never heard those two words put together. She commented on my demeanor with the participants and how I made them feel comfortable, and she praised the quality of the questions I asked. Based on my interactions with the research participants, she suggested I speak with our Head of Product because I might be a “good fit” for a user researcher role.

So I did. And the more the Head of Product explained to me what user research was, the more I saw the connection between the two roles. The relationship between client success and user research seemed obvious, and the leap from one to the other more than reasonable. Both roles speak directly with clients. Both roles learn about issues with the product clients are interacting with. Both roles require a level of compassion necessary for quality human interactions. She was convinced that it would work and we began discussing how I would make the transition.

It’s important to note that, at this point, Code for America did not have any staff with the “researcher” title. Those responsibilities fell on to the shoulders of the designers and product managers. An issue which proved to be a central challenge for this transition.

The learning of the skills required for this role started out simply enough. I read blog posts, attended a course at General Assembly, tagged along with designers as they went out to do research, etc. But without any one person dedicated to research while I was still the only Client Success Specialist, it was difficult to be in two places at once.

As the organization grew, we added another Client Success Specialist and bought more into the importance of research. Eventually a dedicated User Researcher joined the team, and then eventually another, and then a couple more. I continued helping out with projects, learning different techniques ranging from card sorting to contextual inquiry to remote usability testing.

User testing at the Richmond WIC office

I had been unofficially splitting my time between these two roles for almost a year at this point. And while my team was very supportive of the transition into user research, I couldn’t help but feel imposter syndrome. I felt like I was still lacking something. Looking back, I’m not sure whether it was in my skillset or my confidence — more than likely it was both. I buried that fear under the work of my two roles and carried on.

Our product, GetCalFresh, grew and expanded into a service used throughout the entire state of California. During our largest period of growth, I had to temporarily revert from the 50/50 split to 100% client success to help keep up with the incoming messages from a dramatically increased number of users.

Finding a mentor

Around the spring of 2019, the idea of a mentorship was brought up during a 1:1 with my manager. She felt a more structured approach to the transition would prove to be valuable. Luckily enough, a user researcher from another team had been a mentor while at her previous company and was happy to step back into the mentor role. The purpose was to learn about different research methods and become more comfortable within the realm of research. There was no pass or fail, and a title change was not contingent on completion — the idea was simply to learn. The mentorship took place over the course of about six months. We agreed on a general outline of what the mentorship would look like. The outline was as follows:

Ask 10–12 researchers (from both Code for America and external companies) to present about projects where they used a specific research method. Read a blog post or two about each method before meeting with the designated research presenter. Ask questions. Each researcher would present a case study using a given method, and my mentor and I would ask about what went wrong, what went perfectly, what they would have done differently, etc. Learn. Rinse and repeat. (Oh, and send a Thank You card — my mentor was insistent on this.)

Since the research community is pretty new and relatively small (something I quickly learned), it wasn’t difficult — or at least my mentor didn’t make it seem difficult — to find 11 researchers who were happy to present case studies of their work. She reached out to previous and current colleagues, classmates, and acquaintances and we soon had a line-up of researchers from across the country. Some visited our office since they were just a few blocks away, others spoke with us via video call. All presentations were scheduled for an hour, leaving plenty of room for questions throughout. Due to scheduling, presentations ranged from being a day apart to being a month apart.

Aside from the valuable learning opportunities, what may have helped the most was the feeling of acceptance. Everyone we spoke to was excited to have someone new join their unofficial club. Each presenter gave a similar nod of “Yeah, that totally makes sense,” when I mentioned the idea of transitioning from client success to user research.

By the time we got to the last couple of presentations, it was official: I was a Junior User Researcher at Code for America. While I had been doing the work of a researcher for many months, the mentorship was the piece that helped solidify a couple of things for me. It helped me realize that I made the right decision in looking for a change, and that research was a great fit for my set of skills and interests.

I’m probably not the first, and I don’t imagine that I will be the last person to make this transition from Client Success to User Research. Going forward I have a few hopes for my organization, and for others.

Recommendations for supporting employees through career transitions

Organizations should think beyond a career ladder. Not every move is going to be a vertical one. If there isn’t already a pathway for this, consider creating and formalizing one. This could include mentorships, professional development, and an overall sense of confidence that transition is possible for anyone.

Managers should continue to encourage their teams to explore other disciplines of interest. I know we encourage inter- and intra-team exploration into each other’s roles, but this isn’t necessarily done with the purpose of transition as much as it is getting familiar with the product from various angles. It’s important to nurture curiosity. Changing your mind about a field of interest doesn’t need to stop in school.

And if you’re considering a mentorship program at your organization:

Remember that everyone learns differently. Provide general guidelines but allow the mentor and mentee to openly discuss and structure the mentorship to however would be most beneficial for them. If presentations aren’t beneficial then maybe the learning can be more hands-on in the field, or a combination of these options.

With that being said, it would be a great idea to mix things up and use various teaching styles through the length of the mentorship. There could be a presentation one week and a mock journey-mapping session the next.

Be aware of time commitments. Consider how much time goes into planning and conducting presentations and activities. A mentor and mentee should both have the capacity for the work.

Go for broke. Allow mentors and mentees to do as much as they can (while still tending to their full time responsibilities, of course). My situation was different in that I was already doing the work of a researcher, but if you have six months for the mentorship, then make those six months count. Speak to as many other researchers as possible. Leave the four walls of your office and see how it’s done elsewhere. Or just go out and do real research.

And if you are considering a change, whether it be vertical or lateral, then be your own advocate and say something. Talk to your colleagues and your managers and find out what you can do to help facilitate your own growth. You might just end up in a role you didn’t know was right for you.