10 Directions to Take Your UX Career
By: Danny Sapio
Tags: User Experience, Design, UX Design, UX, Product Design

Working for an agency gives you experience with many brands and project types that can inspire you creatively at each project kickoff. An agency’s ladder is about the same height as an in-house ladder depending on the company’s size. The main difference between agency work and in-house work is the culture. Agencies occasionally expect longer hours since you’re working for clients who can be demanding, but because you are there longer, you get some benefits like a more casual dress code, beer on tap, game rooms, etc.

If the agency has multiple locations, you may have various ladders to choose from and could hop from one to the next while remaining with the same agency. While waiting to move up into a managerial role, be sure to learn as much as you can about leadership and how you would want to manage a team.

3. Startup “ladder”

While you would technically be considered an in-house designer working for a startup, it’s also like doing all the roles at once like a freelancer and living the agency life of never leaving the office and wearing flip-flops. Sometimes you’re even choosing your title at a startup, so there are no rungs of the ladder to climb. At an interview, when you ask the traditional “what would my opportunity for growth be in this role?” the answer would be very optimistic, “the sky is the limit!” Startups can be invigorating if you’re passionate about the product or service but don’t hope for much of a life outside of work. Time is of the essence, and money is in short supply, so everything has to be very fast-paced.

Working for a startup at the beginning of your career when you’re single and don’t have many responsibilities is far more fun, and you get to try on a bunch of different hats to see where your passion lies.

4. Freelance

As a naturally anxious person, this choice puts me on edge, but it’s an important one to note. If you have the courage, portfolio, network, and a self-motivating personality, this is an exciting option. Freelance could be a valuable part of your career path if you need a break from the 9–5, are still developing your skills, or need a change of pace.

Anywhere on your career path after your junior design work, you could take the plunge to work for yourself and feel the wind of autonomy beneath your wings. Make sure to research what freelancing is really like before taking it on full time. There’s a lot to learn about quoting projects, client boundaries, over-communication, finding clients, and so on.

5. Industry SME

Another way to go about your career path is to become an industry SME (subject matter expert). You will continue to be marketable as you move from company to company because you already have so much background knowledge coming in. You can work on moving up the rungs as you shift around, but as I mentioned earlier, lateral moves aren’t the worst. You will most likely be in the workforce for about 45 years, and we’re on this earth to enjoy our lives; we don’t always have to be in such a hurry to move up quickly.

With this path, find an industry you’re passionate about and set forth learning and growing. If you’re ambitious and interested in becoming a CEO one day, this route is the path most traveled.

6. Industry hopping