Hirlevel #11 - August 2022

Hello, fellow creative!?

I made it to Canada, yay! ??

I hope you’re having a lovely summer or winter (depending on which hemisphere you live).

After lots of work and excitement, I finally made it to Toronto, Canada. Well, this visa has been a few years in the making. Leaving New Zealand was stressful because our flights were cancelled multiple times. There was also a heatwave in Vancouver, so my dog was stranded for a few days. She made it to Toronto safe and sound, thanks to the pet relocation company.

Being triple-jabbed, using masks all the time, and washing my hands like a mad person, I survived the pandemic without catching the virus in New Zealand. But eventually, I got it in the first week of living in Toronto. I didn’t like it, to say the least. In case you’re concerned, I’m good now. Fully recovered. I haven’t experienced any long-covid effect people talk about, except a weird cough that lingered for a few weeks. But perhaps I’m one of the lucky ones. Stay safe, you all!

July was a bit bittersweet for me. Just a couple of weeks before moving to Canada, the company that offered me a job decided to withdraw the offer. I would lie if I said I wasn’t bumped about it. It took me a few days to recover from it. I just didn’t understand why a company behaves like this…and why they are doing it now, waiting for me for months, and then without any further indication, they just withdrew the offer, while I would have just taken the job in person in a few weeks. So it left me thinking not highly of the management and their communication style. Clearly, they have never made any international move in the past and don’t know how much stress this flaky decision can cause in a person’s life. So their decision made me rethink what I’d like to do in my next role and vet the company and team more deeply.

I found myself being much pickier about the company & team I’d like to join next. I only started applying for jobs last week. I ended up applying for only six positions. I heard back from 4 of them already, and now I’m waiting for the 2nd round with two companies, and 1st round with another one. Fingers crossed.?

It’s an interesting experience because I have the same resume (with an additional eight months of experience). Still, when I applied for jobs from NZ, I sent nearly 200 applications, and I only got three interviews. Here, when I have a Canadian phone number & visa sorted out, the percentage of positive responses was way higher.

I believe better things are ahead, and a great company with a great team is just around the corner.?

Design on YouTube

I’ve done a few interviews in the last week. Interestingly enough, hiring managers still ask about the design process (even when interviewing for a lead level), especially when sketching and low-fidelity design fit into their process. I’m a huge fan of sketching during my projects. If you haven’t seen my video about UX sketching, make sure you watch it. I also give a FREE work booklet you can download and practice common UI components.

I took a little break from content creation in August because of the international move & one more round trip in New Zealand. But I’ll be back with new videos in September. I have some exciting topics planned for you that I hope you’ll find helpful.

Design resources you want to see

#1. If you’re about to change jobs or want to start in the design field, I have a playlist on YouTube you’d probably find helpful.

#2. Check out my Notion to prepare for your next/first design interview. You can find plenty of links to valuable resources, job boards, and practice interview questions. It’s an ever-growing library, so make sure you take a look: Link to Notion?

#3. I came across a book written by Paulette Dale. If you’re a woman who wants to communicate confidently, Did you say something Susan? is a fantastic read.??

#4. If you’re designing forms (like most designers do), these articles are great resources for best practices:

• Article #1 by Designlab?
• Article #2 on accessible forms by Rangle
• Article #3 on form design by Nick Babich (by the way, if you’re not following Nick on Medium, you should. He has well-written, easy-to-digest, helpful UX articles)
• Website #1 to dive into HTML of accessible forms

Closing

If there's anything you'd like to see me cover in future newsletters, don't hesitate to let me know. You can always message me. I read all of my emails and messages, and I reply to them myself.

I'd love to hear from you!

Thanks for reading. I’ll see you in October.

If you haven’t heard it yet, my UX book is out! ?? Get your FREE copy from Gumroad: Link to book Just put $0 for free checkout to get the book.?