Pivoting to a new career: How I left my architecture career and found purpose in Service Design
By: Mideva Labs
Tags: Fellowship, Design Thinking, Career Paths, Pivoting, Service Design

Pivoting to a new career: How I left my architecture career and found purpose in Service Design Mideva Labs Sep 3·7 min read

Tarmacking is almost a rite of passage into the job market for many young Kenyans who have graduated from university. Tarmacking is a term many Kenyans use to describe the job hunting experience, especially after university. The term was derived from the idea of walking for many hours from one office to the next to drop CVs at the reception in hopes of getting called for an interview and eventually landing an opportunity.

The great disappointing feeling of coming to the realisation that the job you thought you would have almost immediately after graduation is a far off dream, hits many young graduates like a tonne of rocks. I, unfortunately, do not belong in the group of the select few who are spared from this experience. Tarmacking became an activity that I detested but could not run away from.

Completing Architecture School

After completing a 6 year rigorous architecture course, I was more than ready to take some time off and not have to think about either architecture or looking for work. I mean 6 years was quite a long time. In fact,I am pretty sure that if someone got married and had a child while I was joining my first year of architecture school, that child had learned how to crawl, talk, walk, maybe even went to daycare, eventually joined kindergarten and by the time I was completing my final year, the child had already enrolled in their first or even maybe progressed onto their second year of primary school. So you can understand what I mean when I say that I needed a break.

I was lucky enough to land a couple of volunteer opportunities that allowed me to travel through East Africa for a couple of months. During this time, I was able to work as an English teacher and an administrator at an NGO. It was an interesting experience working among different cultures and it opened my mind to how different people are. Such an obvious thing to say, however, I think that one has a different appreciation for it once you experience it.

After this, I came back to the country and faced the reality of looking for a job.

Job searching

I really wanted to practice under a registered architect and learn the ins and outs of the industry from him/her. I began polishing up my CV and portfolio and sending them out to as many firms as I possibly could. I felt that I did not have the option of being picky because I almost desperately wanted to just get my foot in the door and work my way up. I, therefore, felt it best to cast my net as wide as possible. I reached out to friends and family and asked if they knew any architects who were hiring, so that I could send my application to them. Unfortunately for me, only a handful of the people in my network knew architects.

After 3 months of actively job hunting, the ministry of health announced the first case of COVID 19 in Kenya. Suddenly, businesses were shutting down, employees were being sent home, those who managed to keep their jobs had to work from home, social gatherings were banned and social distancing had to be practiced in public. It was like a scene from a horror movie.

Exploring other careers

Among the sectors affected by the pandemic, construction was not an exception. Many architecture firms were being affected which meant that for them to hire new talent, was almost impossible. I had to restrategize. A couple of months later as many people were turning to online spaces to set up small businesses, I followed suit. I managed to put together some savings and money which I borrowed to start an online shop and I chose Instagram as the main platform where I would sell my merchandise. Besides, it worked to my advantage that it was free to join the platform as a vendor.

It was while I was running this business that I realized that I lacked the entrepreneurial skills I so desperately required. I did not have any marketing skills, accounting skills, or even social media design skills. I had to embrace the idea of taking online classes as much as I was not open to it. Mostly because it felt like there was unnecessary pressure from individuals on LinkedIn to “make proper use of your time while in lock down”. Seeing these sorts of posts made me roll my eyes. They sometimes seemed to have an underlying message that people who were not taking any online lessons were not being ambitious enough.

Anyway, I began taking online classes to understand how to market my products better, brand my business and improve on my customer service skills. The only criticism I have about these courses is that I wished I could find short courses that would help me cater to the Kenyan market.

Discovering UX/UI Design

Unfortunately for me, I was not able to keep the business afloat. It was a slow and painful process but I picked up my L and moved on. By this time I had already decided that it was no longer worth it to keep looking for architectural jobs. I had been applying to them only to get a rejection email or worse — no response.

Everything began taking a toll on me and I decided it was time for a fresh start. During this time a friend of mine who works in the IT industry told me about User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI) design. “It’s basically designing websites and apps and making them user friendly. Since you have done architecture you can check it out and see if it’ll interest you because it involves a lot of creativity and you do not have to know how to code” he said. And thus was my introduction to UX/UI Design.

I had already warmed up to taking courses online and surprisingly, I was enjoying it. Therefore, it wasn’t difficult for me to sign up and complete a free user experience design course. I really enjoyed the classes and I was excited to learn more and know how I could become a user experience designer (UXD). As an architect, I felt that the UX design process was somewhat similar to the architectural design process and I thought to myself that I could fit right in!

Seeking mentorship for this new career

I then made a conscious decision that I would use LinkedIn to reach out to as many UX designers as I could, introduce myself, and request them to hop on a call with me and tell me all about UX design and how I can grow in the industry as someone who was transitioning from architecture.

I was lucky enough to have a number of designers willing to hop on a call with me. Some even referred me to other designers who then referred me to other designers. From the discussions I had with all these designers, I decided that I would get myself into the industry and become a UX designer. I had no clue how I was going to do it but I had the determination to do so. I was beginning to feel hopeful.

Eventually one of the designers I was in contact with, referred me to a design fellowship opportunity by Mideva Venture Labs for which she thought I was a good candidate. As though all the stars of the universe had aligned and decided that that was going to be my time, I applied for the opportunity and was successful. In fact, what I thought to be just a UXD opportunity with a focus on tech products, turned out to be so much more.

Research Synthesis session at Mideva Labs

Blessing in Disguise

In the past three months as a design fellow, I was introduced to service design in the area of social impact.

As destiny would have it, my new role as a service designer involved researching skills that university graduates needed to prepare them for the current job market and entrepreneurship opportunities so as to increase their chances of getting an income. An initiative that I thought should exist at the time when I was tarmacking and starting my small business on Instagram. Isn’t it interesting how life works?

My name is Gakii and I took the leap of faith to transition into a career that I knew nothing about. I have been working in a design team at Mideva Labs to bring to life an opportunity addressing challenges that many young people face when starting out their careers or beginning the entrepreneurship journey.

The Idea Studio Africa Fellowship is a place where young people can supercharge their growth, surrounded by an incredible community of experts, coaches and facilitators supporting them in their journey to achieve their potential. I hope this piece can encourage other young people seeking support as they explore new careers or even start a business, Idea Studio Africa is a place for you.