The Unusual Way Science Led To A UX Career _ Adaptive By Design Ep. 5

**Mara’s Journey Through Springboard’s UX Design Boot Camp: A Comprehensive Look**

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### Introduction

Mara, a graduate of Springboard’s UX Design Boot Camp, shared her experiences and insights into the program during a podcast interview. Her journey from working as a medical professional to transitioning into UX design was both inspiring and informative. In this article, we’ll explore Mara’s experience in detail, including her challenges, successes, and how she leveraged her background in science to excel in design.

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### The Boot Camp Experience

Mara described her time in Springboard’s UX Design Boot Camp as transformative. She highlighted the self-paced nature of the program, which allowed her to balance her studies with her previous job as a medical professional. The program’s structure was designed to help students progress through modules independently, with regular check-ins and feedback from instructors.

One of the standout features of the boot camp for Mara was the opportunity to work on real-world projects. These projects not only honed her design skills but also provided valuable experience in collaborating with clients and stakeholders. She mentioned that the program’s focus on hands-on learning was a significant factor in her decision to pursue UX design.

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### Favorite Project from the Boot Camp

Mara shared that her favorite project during the boot camp was a one-week Design Sprint. This project involved solving a complex problem by ideating, prototyping, and delivering a minimum viable product (MVP) within a short timeframe. The experience closely mirrored the节奏 of her current job at a product company, where she frequently works on agile projects with tight deadlines.

She appreciated how the boot camp prepared her for the fast-paced nature of design sprints. The ability to facilitate design thinking and collaborate effectively under pressure are skills she continues to use daily in her career.

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### Challenges Faced During the Boot Camp

While Mara’s experience was largely positive, she did face challenges during the program. One of the biggest hurdles was managing her time effectively while balancing work, studies, and personal life. She recalled feeling overwhelmed at times but credited her mentor with helping her stay on track.

Mara also mentioned that some projects were more complex than she initially anticipated. However, these challenges ultimately proved to be valuable learning experiences. They taught her the importance of perseverance and adaptability in a design role.

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### The Role of Mentorship

The mentorship provided by Springboard was instrumental in Mara’s success. Her mentor, whom she described as supportive and knowledgeable, helped her navigate both the technical aspects of UX design and the soft skills required for the industry.

Mara appreciated how her mentor shared insights into working in an agency environment and offered advice on managing client relationships. These conversations provided a realistic preview of what to expect in her future career and helped her feel more prepared when she entered the job market.

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### Transitioning from Science to Design

Mara’s background in cell and molecular biology initially seemed unrelated to UX design, but she found ways to leverage her analytical skills in her new field. She shared how her experience conducting research and analyzing data translated well into her work on user research and data-driven design decisions.

She also noted that her scientific mindset—her attention to detail and ability to break down complex problems—was an asset in UX design. This perspective allowed her to approach design challenges methodically and effectively.

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### Job Search and Networking

After completing the boot camp, Mara faced the task of landing her first job in UX design. She shared her tips for navigating the job search process:

1. **Networking:** Reaching out to professionals in the industry via LinkedIn was crucial. Most people she contacted were willing to share their experiences and provide feedback on her portfolio.

2. **Portfolio Preparation:** Mara emphasized the importance of presenting work that tells a story. She recommended including both personal projects and client-facing work, as the latter provides evidence of your ability to deliver in a professional setting.

3. **Interview Preparation:** Practicing for interviews, especially for design challenges like whiteboarding, was essential. She advised candidates to simulate real-world scenarios by presenting their work to friends or family.

4. **Persistence:** Mara highlighted that the job search process can be discouraging, but persistence is key. She shared how she applied to over 200 jobs and eventually landed two offers—one in UX design and another in edtech.

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### Advice for Aspiring Designers

Mara’s advice to anyone considering a career in UX design is to embrace the learning process and stay curious. She encourages students to practice consistently, seek feedback, and engage with the design community.

She also stressed the importance of building a strong network and being open to opportunities that may seem outside your comfort zone. Her journey from science to design demonstrates that persistence and adaptability can lead to fulfilling careers in unexpected fields.

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### Conclusion

Mara’s story is a testament to the power of education, mentorship, and determination. Her experience with Springboard’s UX Design Boot Camp not only transformed her career but also provided her with valuable insights into the world of design. For anyone considering a similar transition, her advice is clear: stay committed, embrace challenges, and never stop learning.

If you’re inspired by Mara’s journey and want to take the next step in your own design career, consider exploring Springboard’s UX Design Boot Camp. With its comprehensive curriculum, hands-on projects, and supportive community, it could be the perfect fit for your goals.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhello I'm Alexa you're listening to Adaptive by Design and today I'm speaking with Mara Bradley who's a senior interaction designer at a tech agency called right point after spending the early parts of her career as a medical assistant in neurology just one year later Mara pivoted to explore careers in uiux design by enrolling in springboards uiux design boot camp in today's episode we're going to be talking about all things transitioning into design boot camps and interviewing to land that first role so let's jump into it Mara on your website you shared that you loved product design because the work allows you to use both the analytical and creative sides of your brain I actually hear this a lot so could you start by sharing when you first learned about careers in ux design and how you made this connection so I actually started off on the Prem Metra when I graduated I graduated with the Bachelor's in molecular biology and then I also did like a postback and was pretty much like all set to apply to medical school but ultimately like I made the switch to interaction design I took like a little bit of a look back into like what actually like really interested me and kind of like pulled different parts of like what I experienced while getting my degree I really really enjoyed lab I love writing labart all of that but then I also liked being able to like express my creativity as well um so I kind of wanted to find something that wned the two of those together so you know like scrolling looking at Vlogs um came across like a lot of like what I do in my day as a like film the blank and it came across a ett designer and so I kind of just like kept looking into that like you know searching for like people on social media more videos and I was like this is really interesting so one of the people that I ended up following um was recommending this book called about Fai I ended up getting that book like looking at and I was just like okay that's like a big b I really like this yeah it is that's like a that's like a big one yeah it's a really big book I have not read it all the way through True Confessions that's okay that's okay yeah I mean it yeah it's super thick but but it's like a good book yeah I know I I actually personally have not read that one but but no it's like one of those good like go-to books when you're trying to to learn design yeah definitely definitely okay so sorry you bought the book and then yeah I got the book I was kind of like looking through it and everything kind of getting a sense of like What U design was and uh I don't know it's like something just kind of clicked almost I was like this is what I want to do so yeah cool what when you were in medical school or like you know on that path what were you doing to to get to that creative itch in your personal life was there anything that you were doing or you just knew like that was missing and you needed more of it so la like on the pr track there wasn't like actually too much that I did outside of my cour work but I did come across this opportunity through like a friend to help out with this um it was like a it was to help preh health students kind of like figure out their paths because they're like a quite a few different paths to like actually get to like medical school I ended up being someone that they were like interviewing just for like some like research that they were doing and they were like hey do you want to help out the desine for this and this was like I didn't know what like ux Define was at the time so I ended up helping out with that and I was like you know what I actually I really like and I would actually be working on this project until like 1:00 a.m. like having a great time having like cartoons on in the background I was like I'm really enjoying myself yeah so yeah that was that like also ped that yeah it's like that's what you know I love that you know that's kind of relatable I I went to design school for my undergrad and got a BFA and graph design but I remember I remember very specifically I had this one day during the semester in college it was like a day where I had three or four studio classes which are all like 3 hours long and so it was a long day that it was a long day that all to say and I had my interaction sign class is the last class of the day it was a night class like 7 to 10 or something and I'd already had like a number of other Studio classes before and I would go home after that class and I was so like psyched I was like so energized by that class I'd keep working on it into the night and I feel like that's just like that's when you know it's like if you're like working on this thing like staying up super late you love it like that's when you know youve like you're hitting something good when it comes to like be doing yeah definitely yeah very cool okay so you bought about face you bought the book you're reading into it there are a lot of boot camps that you can choose from right so I guess I'm just curious like what attributes in a design program were you looking for It ultimately LED you to the springboard class but like what was important to you back then I so when I was searching I looked at a few different things I knew that I wanted to do a boot camp I just finished college and then I did like a a boot well not a boot camp a postback and I think that lasted for like a year what's a postback is that like something you do in medical typically I'm not sure if it's strictly conducive to the Premed track but um it's basically so once you graduate like with your bachelor's degree you're able to like continue taking class or like sometimes they like more structured program s that like last for like two years sometimes one year and you take a set of classes and there's also like a DIY boot camp I keep saying boot camp there's also a DIY post back where you can just take whatever extra classes that you need and or to meet the requirements before flying okay so like get more experience in between the kind of like the next bigger set of yeah like schooling okay gotcha gotcha okay sorry so you you're in the midst of that post back or maybe yeah okay let's pick up pick up where we where we left off so I think I just finished the post back because I ended up uring springboard May of 2021 at believe so yeah I think I just finished the the post back and when I was like looking at what I could do to like get into the U field I was like I I don't want to go back to school I don't want to like go back like another two to four years like that's just no wasn't for me uh so I came across and be camp and also like my phone was recommending things to me so the phone is very smart oh yeah yeah I was just telling you offline I'm 35 weeks pregnant and for the last 35 weeks I have been just bombarded with all of all of the pregnancy and baby things that you could ever imagine on Instagram and like otherwise so I feel you on that but it's useful right like some of it actually really useful yeah oh yeah I love a good targeted ad yeah especially when you're trying to like get into design for the first time it's like good to know it's out there oh yeah of course yeah so yeah so I was just like looking at like prices location like duration of the program CU I wanted like a remote program as well and then also just like yeah and just like how extensive like the curriculum was and springboard just kind of like ticked all those bosses for me cool cool awesome and then I guess you know you've been working full-time as a a interaction designer now right so what has that experience been like what's it like working at right point just want to kind of learn a little bit more about your background and Design before we jump into some more focused questions on what it's like you know being a student and learning design with a boot camp right so I really enjoy working at righto um one of the things that kind of like made me gravitate towards um right point was that it was an henc so as like a new designer I like the opportunity to be able to be exposed like different Industries while I was learning as well as them having like a great uh senior staff the project that I've been working on like everyone that I've worked with has been just amazing like I I love that team so much oh that's great yeah makes a big difference yeah oh yeah definitely and like I learned so much from them as well so like I I feel like I really like growing as a designer like working with the people that I'm working with them being given the opportunities to like do some things like on my own or like try other things like do research as well in the project so it's just been like an overall like really great experience mhm you said so you're you feel like you're saying you're doing doing things on your own or experimenting with new types of research like yeah can you give a little more like color to like what that that looks like so are you leading your projects now what is your experience like working with the other designers on the team what yeah what is that all like within the context of an agency within the agency and we all like worked on like different projects or we're a different project quite a few people that I also like haven't really had like one-on-one like interactions with with an agency but within the project at first we started off like a like a smaller team but that also grew and as it through I got some opportunities to kind of like uh make some design decisions and uh have more like FaceTime with more of like the clients that we're working with as well so that's like how I was able to like grow cuz at first I was like I'm still under like the actual like design lead but I'm also kind of like the there's so many like different terms within the but um it's it's really interesting because like on the project you can be called one thing but like within the agency like you're something else okay so like yeah so like within the project like I am the Divine lead for one Squad but within the actual like agency like the company that I'm like working for right coin I am um a senior interaction designer so I'm not like a design lead within the actual agency if that makes sense I got you I got you I got you yeah you know I think it's just a good nod to it sounds like you found found like the right place for you right now cuz a lot of it this is just like in your career it's just like are you at a place you feel like you can grow and learn and getting opportunities to set you up for opportunities where you can uh move into that next phase in your career and so it sounds like you're getting that with where you're at at right point so it's really great definitely yeah okay well let's uh I want to talk more about you know your experience as a student being in the boot camp and like you know uh the springboard boot campus specifically because a lot of student or a lot of people listening to this podcast are are people who are considering a career in design and trying to figure out like what makes sense for them so kind of like putting yourself back in that point in time how were you feeling before you started the program like what sort of questions do you remember having that you like before uh you know that like first day starting starting the program so before that first day I know that I was quite excited when and this is going to like sound like a little cliche but um let's hear it when when I was just like okay like I'm I'm done with Premed like I'm not going to apply to medical school that was like all the way like reg like I took the amcat I had like my volunteer hour like everything um so I decided not to and ended up signing up for Bray board like the sun shown a little brighter the colors were a little bit more vibrant out I meant to be exactly y y exactly so yeah I was really you're looking forward to it yeah all Good Vibes were were you did you have any questions like or were you Mo like or were you mostly just like all right I'm like ready to can start this like let's get going yeah pretty much the second one I was very very start I knew that I was going to have questions once it started but yeah stting like you're just like I'm going to be a sponge okay so what do you remember about your first day then like what was that like who did you talk to what did you do I know like the springboard course is self-paced as well right so maybe it could look a little different for different people but I I I would assume like the first day there's some sort of like onboarding maybe so what was that all like there wasn't onboarding it was kind of like a like a syllabus say almost so like a lot of um setting up different things getting like introduced to the slack Channel taking a look at like your curriculum and then there was also like some introductory articles to like go through so there was yeah so the introductory articles is that was that like actually a part of the class already I think it might have been like the first I think like the first module so it was just like a little a little sneak peek into like what we doing we're going to ease you into this yeah okay but like you know springboard's course is self-paced right so you have to from my understanding you have to um sort of set up what your what your days your weeks will look like around how much you're going to get done within a certain amount of time is that right oh yeah okay so I guess like yeah how did you go about managing your time and like did you even think about that on day one or was it something that like came a little bit later uh maybe like later on that week or something at this time I was um still working at the neurology office uh so I really had to like manage my time because I was still working like fulltime as medical posant and uh then I was also like doing springboard when I got off work so I did like have some hours set up for w way to accomplish each day and each week and that was also something that I talked about with my mentor cool okay so did you take the whole course while you were still doing being a student during the day for the most part yes but then I ended up leaving my job in August all right so the last few months I was like full on springboard and how did you make that decision to to quit the other thing or to stop the other thing so I had a friend who was just like hey I want to live in New York for a month and I was like okay I'm down and like my job with you had to be in the office and I was just like um yeah I'm just gonna I'm gonna go so I love it very spontaneous and especially if you were already like planning to to switch into this new thing so you mentioned like getting on the slack that first day what is the community like when you get in there and what you know for my understanding too like with springboard you're in a cohort of students so a bunch of people start at the same time did you start to meet some of them did you interact with the students much like what did that look like I would say that personally I interacted with the students a little bit more like at the very beginning we were all like doing introductions and also like after going through the boot camp there's like moments where you have to like respond to something or post something on slack and like respond to someone else where Mark something complete so if I'm being completely honest that was probably big extent of my um black you while I was in the program projects are very important to you know Landing a job quite frankly in design I think it's great because with the portfolio of design projects it's one of the best like objective ways that really we can evaluate uh candidates for a role like a company's hiring for uh but you know yeah projects are really important so like when it comes to like a boot camp or some sort of design program that you're going to take like it's important to consider like what kind of what kind of portfolio pieces you're going to get out of that program so I was kind of curious to just learn from you like what was one of your favorite projects that you worked on from the course and how did it go how did that project go for you okay so my favorite project kind of changing immediately out of the pro out of the program I would just show my favorite project with like the first capson that we did which was like a little bit more ined out a little bit more like encompassing of like everything that we've learned from like research to like actually delivering like the MVP like the Prototype at the end of like our entire design with like USIC Flo and everything but thinking about it now I'm thinking that my favorite might have actually been the Sprint Project it lasted for a week I believe yeah cool yeah I think I think that's probably my favorite lasted for about a week and maybe because like that's how I kind of work now like on Sprint and that's why it's my favorite but yeah that's what that's what I was going to guess actually because just for context I I work at a product company and I've only I've only really worked at startups or like a product company and although I haven't worked at an agency I like know kind of how they work like you work with clients and um you often are like handing off work to that client and they'll kind of like finish developing it whatever so I would imagine that you're doing a lot more of like facilitation and Sprint design kind of work in that sort of environment so for some reason like before you were like before you answered that second part of the question I was like Mar is going to say the Sprint Project because that's what she does now and she loves it yeah oh yeah very cool very cool how did that work then in the program um were you was it like a theoretical design Sprint did you work with a company because I know also springboard does set you up with that opportunity to like work with external uh companies to get some experience so what was the Sprint like uh so the Sprint it was from kind of like it was on your own so you were like kind of Designing more so like in a bubble and each day was like I think the first day was like catching the design like you got the the design brief and everything so you would like gu and then like do user flow and then I think a bit of competitive analysis and then wire frames mid Fidelity High Fidelity and prototype and so you had to do that like within a week and then they also like space it out for you for like what exactly you needed to accomplish each day I don't remember exactly what the order was what day but it was interesting it was F I think it would have been really interesting to get like I don't know like how feasible this but uh to get like more people involved like uh I don't know not necessarily have like a Dev involved with with it to like actually like build it out but like have like um something that like lets you practice like design de uh hand off which is something that like I didn't really know about until actually like entering like the job field like that right point so that was definitely like a skill that I had to like build up like being able to like communicate the designs to like Dev and like hand it off that way and say yeah yeah yeah I mean it it that's the challenge I think of like like education it's like there's so much to learn and there's also only so much you can kind of fit into I don't know a program that's like 9 months long and so even for myself like I said I went to design school and I I got to be a fan graph design actually so that's a little bit of a different story but you know back then we we weren't even I didn't have any projects where I was working with any sort of like clients or companies I didn't until I did start um sorry until I did internships I didn't work with like Engineers or product managers or anything like that so it's like that is some of the best experience like once you actually like get a job or an internship um sort of role so I definitely resonate with you on that it sounds like the the uh Sprints or sort of the projects that you work on at right point they they might operate a little bit differently than like the framework you used when you were at doing springboard so and and that that's I'm not surprised about that either because this stuff although it has like a pattern to it it also does differ depending on like the company that you'd work for so I don't know just I'd love to hear a little bit more about what does that look like now like how do you run or facilitate a design Sprint with right point so it really depends on what exactly the uh the project well like the project within the project okay so if it's just like yeah if it's just like a small like um component update then uh that won't take like an entire Sprint we have like um two week long Sprint so that'll take like maybe like a couple of days but then also you have to like get like approvals from like the rest of the design team so it's like a small involved smaller project still could take about two weeks time it's not like yeah right yeah it it could take two week time depending on like how how many revisions need to be done and stuff like that but if it's like something a little bit bigger like a page redesign or something like that then we it'll start off with like some some research some competitive analysis think we can like get like the research team involved to like kind of dig in a little bit deeper about like what exactly users want and we do that let see in a little bit of like sketching some wireframes like it moves a little bit faster than what was like kind of shown in the boot can so are you comparing that to like maybe the Capstone project though where you're like from my understanding that that project is one where you're like starting completely from scratch you're like kind of even starting from a place where it's like how might we solve this like larger Wicked problem then to defining a more specific problem with the design Sprint that's like typically a weekl long week- long project where like you go from like essentially nothing to an idea at the end of it so are you running any sort of sessions like that at right point or does it tend to be more of Le a little bit bit more drawn out projects where it'll take at least like a minimum of two weeks to um to work through something still it changes it varies it depends on like what exactly the ticket is asking for so some of them can be like very small like just simply updating a component yeah which won't take long at all and then some of them are like larger like a page redesign which could take like a couple of weeks which is like the length of our Sprints and then others can be like way longer than that which will take like multiple Sprint but that's all like planned for gotcha gotcha okay back to the boot camp what was one of the biggest challenges you weren't expecting going into the program how did you navigate this challenge not sure if this necessarily challenge um but there was like at one point in the course like I know see like my me my M mentioned that I was kind of behind timing wise but I think I ended up actually like finishing about two months early so I wow I think it might have been like a a pacing for like some of the capson maybe maybe that's what it was but um okay yeah and why do you think that that was a challenge for you the timing because well I don't even know if it was necessarily a challenge mhm um it was just like one of those things where I was like oh am I falling behind but even my mentor she was just like um she was like no don't worry about that like it like most people say that they're like falling behind at this point um just because some I think it was like maybe Capstone 2 takes like longer than what wasn't originally planned but yeah once you like get past that then everything starts roughing up like really fast and like you end up like catching up or even like finishing early yeah well that's good that you even just had like the your mentor to kind of like bounce those sorts of conversations off of to like make kind of like make sure to like check in with you and say like hey just want to make sure you're like you're on track here to to finish the class or to finish yeah well The MENTOR relationship is really important I think when it comes to boot camps and I think just like who like a design educator is important to like any program like whether you're going to a college uh like traditional college program or otherwise so would love to just learn a little bit more about what your experience is like working with your Mentor during the program uh what was your first interaction with them and do you remember how you were paired together around actually I don't know how they pair the mentors the and yeah she uh she just got a sign to me nice was it a was it a good match it was I love her okay good I think they're I think there is some logic to it did you feel like a survey or anything or no oh my goodness I don't even remember if I did or not nice worri yeah I have I have no idea if I get or not okay well we'll skip that part what was your first interaction like with your springboard Mentor I believe it was video call said a video call um once a week I believe where we just kind of like got to know each other yeah like conversation was a little bit ago I don't remember exactly what we talked about but I think it was more so like an introductory like get to know each other like what brought me to springboard what she's currently doing well what she was doing at the time and yeah you were just so excited and like hyped on adrenaline that first day that none of this is quite coming back also I I know it was a bit ago so obviously it's a little hard to remember but um it's good that you had such a good relationship with with her yeah uh so I mean can you just talk a little bit more about like how would you describe your Rel relationship with with your Mentor it sounds like you met once a week what sort of uh you know what what did she offer you during the program that was so valuable honestly I was just able to talk to her about everything like we could talk about stuff like outside of the program talk about stuff within the program like she gave amazing constructive criticism um and like really helps me in the program and kind of prepare for like what to expect as an vinor as well as answering any you talk more about that talk more about like what do you have an example she would kind tell me like what all she was doing as a designer because at the time she was actually working at an agency um which um not the same agency but uh yeah she was working in an agency at the time and she's actually the one that kind of like got agencies on my on my like radar and just kind of like letting me know like the benefits of like working at an agency versus like the benefits or could she worked she worked at a chief places um before as well she gave me like kind of like her own like Insider knowledge on like agencies startups and uh she also would like kind of walk me through what her day was like as a designer like what all she would do that day or that week whenever we chatted and any like ups and downs that she also faced so it um kind of like put everything into like perspective which I really appreciated yeah yeah even for myself like in design school like I had great relationships with my teachers and a lot of my teachers were were working professionals too which was like uh really helpful but you know I was one of many students that they were teaching at the time and so I definitely had people in my life who back then I like SE support from and felt like I had somewhat of like a mentor relationship with and it really does go a long way being able to provide those like extra insights into what a day in the life is like or like understanding terms or okay you learned this framework you know this is how this is how we do it from kind of like a learning perspective and this is like 101 but but it might look a little bit different might have a little bit different um might shape out a little bit differently in like a real life context and this is kind of what that looks like like that is invaluable so uh being able to like have someone to connect with and talk about those things is so important definitely are you still friends are you still in contact now that you're outside of the program so I haven't talked to her than last year I want to say um but she is in new yor so um I am planing to visit her um actually next month so so fun so fun yeah sounds like you're New York bound that might be in the cards for you yeah I love that yeah yeah okay yeah that's that's great I definitely and I feel like uh yeah it's just great to to hear that you still have a connection with her and I think a lot of career related challenges um can be solved by a really good friend and someone you can just like kind of go to and be able to to ask questions to or vent or even just to catch up with to yeah to to work through something okay so I also noticed that you a peer mentor for springboard now what exactly do you do in this role and why did you decide to take it on so it's changed a little bit since I started before we ended up having like a like kind of quota of interactions that we had like meet each week but not anym which I I kind of like so now a lot of of my interactions are more like one-on-one or like a student will like message me on slack and just like ask like whatever question that they have like whether it be a specific project that they're working on or talking oneon-one like on like a video chat where they want me to take a look at or hear their ideas for their Capstone project want any like job advice for like applying to places or like just looking around and also just like any advice that they yeah sometimes they like one advice about just like navigating the program while also like juggling other things like working or like school or like something like that so it's so great that you're offering support in that way like why yeah why did why are you doing that like why do you care so I kind of took the role just to kind of like help other people like in their transition from like another field to uiux like I was so so lucky in getting a mentor well in getting the mentor that I did because she had like such a hug impact on me and my experience with springboard and so I want like people to have like a positive experience as well that such a gift Mar I'm so glad to hear that you're uh you feel that way I feel similarly I think like I had so many people when I was learning design just like show up and help me along the way that like that I just get so much energy myself from like starting a podcast and like talking about design or like making videos on YouTube and that like I just want to create more connections with people and like help other people feel that same way because made such a big difference for me so definitely such a gift that you're giving back that's so cool um so I want to talk a little about interviewing for jobs because Design Careers in in ux and product design they're they're really competitive uh that's the truth of it and getting that first job can be really challenging but I think what's really cool for people especially for people who transition into uh ux design is that often that means that they come from some sort of other career or some have some sort of like background in an education that's like separate from design and that they can use that experience and like Leverage it when they're interviewing so I was wondering you know with leveraging your background in cell and molecular biology and Neuroscience right I was wondering how you use that to help you when interviewing for roles so it was kind of like a mixture of responses that I received um from that interview quite honest I'm not going to includ like any conversations that I have with like work careers like the initial type of thing there were some interviewers who like were really fascinated um with me like having a degree that was like outside of um design or interaction like anything like that so there were some that were just like oh this is really cool and they like really value like experience outside of like what I guess would be considered like a traditional path design and there were others that were just like okay so what experience do you have I guess how did how did how did you let because like with neuros science specifically or even like you talked about like when you were uh Premed that you you you know you had like all these like really um analytical you used like your analytical brain a lot and had like analytical skills were any were there any skills that did overlap like when it came to what you learned in the the program and do you apply those skills still now like as a designer I would say and if it's no that's totally fine too yeah I would say mainly with research I'm conducting my G survey or just like Gathering like data like survey data from like responses maybe not as much aside from like Divine system work like building components and like making sure like everything is like like works is clean like the naming makes sense the grouping makes sense like I feel like that was where like the analytics would come in a little bit but um outside of that yeah yeah so mostly like when it came to like research those research skills there was more overlap yeah gotcha and how did interviewing go for full-time roles were there any challenges are Lessons Learned so I think overall went pretty well were you set on going to an agency because your Mentor had such a good experience I was not I would no I I would not set on it at the time like whatever job I got I was just going to go there um but I was I was really lucky in that I getting I had five interviews and two job offers at the end of it and one of them was the agency another one was like a I think it was edtech and so I ended up phone with the agency and why is that I partly because of like my mentor and like what she was telling me about like just how in an agency like as a early designer like you just have like so many opportunities to grow within like working with like different people and experien in like different Industries and so like that was kind of like top of mind when I was like making that decision because I was like okay I do want to get a lot of exposure I want to learn as much as possible and I was like I think the agency is the way to go long as well as the fact that like I need to I me like five I think people from the company and they were all like terrific so I was like okay I really like yall so yeah I mean that's a lot of it comes down to like who are the people that you're going to work with and that's super important and like how you can grow and learn like in that role yeah um how did interviewing go though were there any challenges that that came up or did you feel like it was kind of like a breeze like I was set up for Success from the beginning oh my goodness no so I uh it was super like oh my goodness looking at some of the like linked and like quick apply things and being like Oh 200 other people have applied to this job already like oh the application were super saturated so I think I actually ended up applying to like and I kept an Eggo spreadsheet so I ended up applying to like 200 places in the span of like a month and a half and uh you know like objections it's like it's a part of it but yeah it was just like ah this I just want to like work so that would like maybe like one of the challenges um a knober how did you persever how did you persevere through that though I think this is actually something that my uh my background kind of set me up well for so yeah I with the rejecting I was just like okay like that's fine on to like the next application so um I I didn't realize like take it personally or anything it was just like it's a part of the application process like you're going to get rejected from some places so yeah it was just kept moving yeah you're just like got to brush this off move on to the next ex grow exactly okay and then like once you were like yeah once you did start talking to like recruiters or hiring managers was there anything that you felt like was challenging a part of that process is there anything you can like share with a potential design student now that could like help them uh Max maximize their potential if you like anyone is like um not super comfortable speaking practice them because it is a lot of talking a lot of like presenting your uh like projects within your portfolio there was like one like white boarding challenge that I had to do so I like practiced that for like two days like I was just like presenting the White Challenge to like anybody that with nice were you presenting it to was it were you like presenting it to your parents or something yeah I present it to my parents I would like call my friends I would like present it to them I would present it to my brother like literally anyone I would like set up like I'm an imaginary audience and I would like present it as well like oh good question okay I love that okay actually though was the interview was the Whiteboard challenge virtual yeah yeah okay I actually that is like great advice because I think it's super important to practice the like facilitating the the the thing if it's a presentation if it's a whiteboard challenge whatever it is practice like opening up a zoom call or some sort of like video call platform and like figure out how technically it's going to work before going into it because then you're it's like it's kind of like going on stage for performance like you have to like get a sense of the the stage the environment where the exits are and like how to turn on the audio you know just like it's that's like actually a really good lesson I think it's like put yourself in that moment as in a as a realistic way as possible so that when you are in that moment and people are looking at you you've like I've been here before it's okay how about portfolio review stuff so for anyone who's like not familiar with this one of the big uh challenges I think with like you know getting that first job is presenting your portfolio so there's the presentation aspect of it but I guess like how did you feel about your projects did you end up ever having to like kind of go back and edit them getting feedback from any companies that like didn't decide to go with you as a candidate was there any sort of like insight there that you feel like you could chair uh with the audience I would say that I did most of my portfolio edits after reaching out and like kind of making connections on Linkin with like other designers who would like um everyone everyone I spoke to was like super nice super helpful so they would be like yeah like been over your for link I'll take a look I didn't leave any not that are me perfect so I got all of that done before I started um doing the interviews and within the interviews like I had a goto um where what project I was going to place and for me it was the IDP I wanted a project that was essentially like a like quote unquote like real life Project M for anyone who doesn't know IDP stands for industry design project that's what IDP stands for perfect okay so that was the one that you felt like was the most realistic because you were working with the actual company on it yeah yeah so that cool yeah and I also worked like a couple of other designers as well um I felt like it was like the most kind flushed out like best one to present yeah and like realistic and a sense because you were working with a client and you worked with other designers yeah I think like as a student it's totally fine to share personal projects or like work that's not necessarily like client facing in your portfolio to get interviews of course it's going to be a a a really it'll be a really interesting story to tell if you're if you do have client projects and work like that so that work would definitely be um a good portfolio piece if you are if you have that opportunity which it's great to hear that you did um Mara thank you so much this is so interesting to learn about you and your background and talk about tech agencies and uh all the things so I just am super appreciative that you came on the podcast today to share your story is there anything else you wanted to share uh before we totally wrap things up all right maybe one thing let's hear it so I know that like a lot of weight is like put on on making this connection and like getting your a job I guess through those corruption that you make like just some networking uh which is like super super super beneficial like most people that you reach out to within like the design Community are going to be like super helpful like they're going to be very open but also like don't be afraid to like just quote apply to play F I know like the numbers can be scary like seeing that like 300 other people have applied but like you never know so definitely apply to those as well yeah I like to say success comes from a combination of hard work and getting lucky and and the hard work part is like putting in the time learning the technical design skills you need to do to get the job and then the getting lucky part is like the serendipitous moments you have to put yourself into like serend serendipitous moments that means like applying to that job um that you know you're you're not sure if you totally qualify for but you think it's possible and you're excited about it and uh times that by two or 300 because that is that is often how how much it takes so it's um I'm glad you sh that because that is that is realistic quite frankly yeah of course okay Mara if anyone wanted to connect with you after uh listening to this episode or learn more about you online where can they go you can go to my Instagram _ Alandra you can also go to my website meab bradley. .c cargo. site perfect and we'll make sure those links are in the uh the notes the show notes for this video I'm personally going to go follow you on Instagram right after this because I an Instagram girly um but Mara thank you again so much this was so much fun so great getting to know you and we will definitely talk again soon thank you for this wonderful great meeting you well I for one am so glad to hear mera's design Mentor had such a positive impact on her experience transitioning into her career and interaction design big thanks again to Mara for sharing her story and giving us some insights into what her uiux design boot camp experience was like if you're ready to make the next big step with your career and design springo offers a 9month UI ux design boot camp with 10one mentorship real world design projects and personalized career coaching and it comes with a job guarantee use the code adapt div by Design to get $1,000 off enrollment for design boot camps with springboard you can find more information in the description below thank you so much for listening if you enjoyed this episode make sure to subscribe so you can stay up to date as new episodes drop again my name is Alexa and you've been listening to adapted by Design living the ux life I'll see you next timehello I'm Alexa you're listening to Adaptive by Design and today I'm speaking with Mara Bradley who's a senior interaction designer at a tech agency called right point after spending the early parts of her career as a medical assistant in neurology just one year later Mara pivoted to explore careers in uiux design by enrolling in springboards uiux design boot camp in today's episode we're going to be talking about all things transitioning into design boot camps and interviewing to land that first role so let's jump into it Mara on your website you shared that you loved product design because the work allows you to use both the analytical and creative sides of your brain I actually hear this a lot so could you start by sharing when you first learned about careers in ux design and how you made this connection so I actually started off on the Prem Metra when I graduated I graduated with the Bachelor's in molecular biology and then I also did like a postback and was pretty much like all set to apply to medical school but ultimately like I made the switch to interaction design I took like a little bit of a look back into like what actually like really interested me and kind of like pulled different parts of like what I experienced while getting my degree I really really enjoyed lab I love writing labart all of that but then I also liked being able to like express my creativity as well um so I kind of wanted to find something that wned the two of those together so you know like scrolling looking at Vlogs um came across like a lot of like what I do in my day as a like film the blank and it came across a ett designer and so I kind of just like kept looking into that like you know searching for like people on social media more videos and I was like this is really interesting so one of the people that I ended up following um was recommending this book called about Fai I ended up getting that book like looking at and I was just like okay that's like a big b I really like this yeah it is that's like a that's like a big one yeah it's a really big book I have not read it all the way through True Confessions that's okay that's okay yeah I mean it yeah it's super thick but but it's like a good book yeah I know I I actually personally have not read that one but but no it's like one of those good like go-to books when you're trying to to learn design yeah definitely definitely okay so sorry you bought the book and then yeah I got the book I was kind of like looking through it and everything kind of getting a sense of like What U design was and uh I don't know it's like something just kind of clicked almost I was like this is what I want to do so yeah cool what when you were in medical school or like you know on that path what were you doing to to get to that creative itch in your personal life was there anything that you were doing or you just knew like that was missing and you needed more of it so la like on the pr track there wasn't like actually too much that I did outside of my cour work but I did come across this opportunity through like a friend to help out with this um it was like a it was to help preh health students kind of like figure out their paths because they're like a quite a few different paths to like actually get to like medical school I ended up being someone that they were like interviewing just for like some like research that they were doing and they were like hey do you want to help out the desine for this and this was like I didn't know what like ux Define was at the time so I ended up helping out with that and I was like you know what I actually I really like and I would actually be working on this project until like 1:00 a.m. like having a great time having like cartoons on in the background I was like I'm really enjoying myself yeah so yeah that was that like also ped that yeah it's like that's what you know I love that you know that's kind of relatable I I went to design school for my undergrad and got a BFA and graph design but I remember I remember very specifically I had this one day during the semester in college it was like a day where I had three or four studio classes which are all like 3 hours long and so it was a long day that it was a long day that all to say and I had my interaction sign class is the last class of the day it was a night class like 7 to 10 or something and I'd already had like a number of other Studio classes before and I would go home after that class and I was so like psyched I was like so energized by that class I'd keep working on it into the night and I feel like that's just like that's when you know it's like if you're like working on this thing like staying up super late you love it like that's when you know youve like you're hitting something good when it comes to like be doing yeah definitely yeah very cool okay so you bought about face you bought the book you're reading into it there are a lot of boot camps that you can choose from right so I guess I'm just curious like what attributes in a design program were you looking for It ultimately LED you to the springboard class but like what was important to you back then I so when I was searching I looked at a few different things I knew that I wanted to do a boot camp I just finished college and then I did like a a boot well not a boot camp a postback and I think that lasted for like a year what's a postback is that like something you do in medical typically I'm not sure if it's strictly conducive to the Premed track but um it's basically so once you graduate like with your bachelor's degree you're able to like continue taking class or like sometimes they like more structured program s that like last for like two years sometimes one year and you take a set of classes and there's also like a DIY boot camp I keep saying boot camp there's also a DIY post back where you can just take whatever extra classes that you need and or to meet the requirements before flying okay so like get more experience in between the kind of like the next bigger set of yeah like schooling okay gotcha gotcha okay sorry so you you're in the midst of that post back or maybe yeah okay let's pick up pick up where we where we left off so I think I just finished the post back because I ended up uring springboard May of 2021 at believe so yeah I think I just finished the the post back and when I was like looking at what I could do to like get into the U field I was like I I don't want to go back to school I don't want to like go back like another two to four years like that's just no wasn't for me uh so I came across and be camp and also like my phone was recommending things to me so the phone is very smart oh yeah yeah I was just telling you offline I'm 35 weeks pregnant and for the last 35 weeks I have been just bombarded with all of all of the pregnancy and baby things that you could ever imagine on Instagram and like otherwise so I feel you on that but it's useful right like some of it actually really useful yeah oh yeah I love a good targeted ad yeah especially when you're trying to like get into design for the first time it's like good to know it's out there oh yeah of course yeah so yeah so I was just like looking at like prices location like duration of the program CU I wanted like a remote program as well and then also just like yeah and just like how extensive like the curriculum was and springboard just kind of like ticked all those bosses for me cool cool awesome and then I guess you know you've been working full-time as a a interaction designer now right so what has that experience been like what's it like working at right point just want to kind of learn a little bit more about your background and Design before we jump into some more focused questions on what it's like you know being a student and learning design with a boot camp right so I really enjoy working at righto um one of the things that kind of like made me gravitate towards um right point was that it was an henc so as like a new designer I like the opportunity to be able to be exposed like different Industries while I was learning as well as them having like a great uh senior staff the project that I've been working on like everyone that I've worked with has been just amazing like I I love that team so much oh that's great yeah makes a big difference yeah oh yeah definitely and like I learned so much from them as well so like I I feel like I really like growing as a designer like working with the people that I'm working with them being given the opportunities to like do some things like on my own or like try other things like do research as well in the project so it's just been like an overall like really great experience mhm you said so you're you feel like you're saying you're doing doing things on your own or experimenting with new types of research like yeah can you give a little more like color to like what that that looks like so are you leading your projects now what is your experience like working with the other designers on the team what yeah what is that all like within the context of an agency within the agency and we all like worked on like different projects or we're a different project quite a few people that I also like haven't really had like one-on-one like interactions with with an agency but within the project at first we started off like a like a smaller team but that also grew and as it through I got some opportunities to kind of like uh make some design decisions and uh have more like FaceTime with more of like the clients that we're working with as well so that's like how I was able to like grow cuz at first I was like I'm still under like the actual like design lead but I'm also kind of like the there's so many like different terms within the but um it's it's really interesting because like on the project you can be called one thing but like within the agency like you're something else okay so like yeah so like within the project like I am the Divine lead for one Squad but within the actual like agency like the company that I'm like working for right coin I am um a senior interaction designer so I'm not like a design lead within the actual agency if that makes sense I got you I got you I got you yeah you know I think it's just a good nod to it sounds like you found found like the right place for you right now cuz a lot of it this is just like in your career it's just like are you at a place you feel like you can grow and learn and getting opportunities to set you up for opportunities where you can uh move into that next phase in your career and so it sounds like you're getting that with where you're at at right point so it's really great definitely yeah okay well let's uh I want to talk more about you know your experience as a student being in the boot camp and like you know uh the springboard boot campus specifically because a lot of student or a lot of people listening to this podcast are are people who are considering a career in design and trying to figure out like what makes sense for them so kind of like putting yourself back in that point in time how were you feeling before you started the program like what sort of questions do you remember having that you like before uh you know that like first day starting starting the program so before that first day I know that I was quite excited when and this is going to like sound like a little cliche but um let's hear it when when I was just like okay like I'm I'm done with Premed like I'm not going to apply to medical school that was like all the way like reg like I took the amcat I had like my volunteer hour like everything um so I decided not to and ended up signing up for Bray board like the sun shown a little brighter the colors were a little bit more vibrant out I meant to be exactly y y exactly so yeah I was really you're looking forward to it yeah all Good Vibes were were you did you have any questions like or were you Mo like or were you mostly just like all right I'm like ready to can start this like let's get going yeah pretty much the second one I was very very start I knew that I was going to have questions once it started but yeah stting like you're just like I'm going to be a sponge okay so what do you remember about your first day then like what was that like who did you talk to what did you do I know like the springboard course is self-paced as well right so maybe it could look a little different for different people but I I I would assume like the first day there's some sort of like onboarding maybe so what was that all like there wasn't onboarding it was kind of like a like a syllabus say almost so like a lot of um setting up different things getting like introduced to the slack Channel taking a look at like your curriculum and then there was also like some introductory articles to like go through so there was yeah so the introductory articles is that was that like actually a part of the class already I think it might have been like the first I think like the first module so it was just like a little a little sneak peek into like what we doing we're going to ease you into this yeah okay but like you know springboard's course is self-paced right so you have to from my understanding you have to um sort of set up what your what your days your weeks will look like around how much you're going to get done within a certain amount of time is that right oh yeah okay so I guess like yeah how did you go about managing your time and like did you even think about that on day one or was it something that like came a little bit later uh maybe like later on that week or something at this time I was um still working at the neurology office uh so I really had to like manage my time because I was still working like fulltime as medical posant and uh then I was also like doing springboard when I got off work so I did like have some hours set up for w way to accomplish each day and each week and that was also something that I talked about with my mentor cool okay so did you take the whole course while you were still doing being a student during the day for the most part yes but then I ended up leaving my job in August all right so the last few months I was like full on springboard and how did you make that decision to to quit the other thing or to stop the other thing so I had a friend who was just like hey I want to live in New York for a month and I was like okay I'm down and like my job with you had to be in the office and I was just like um yeah I'm just gonna I'm gonna go so I love it very spontaneous and especially if you were already like planning to to switch into this new thing so you mentioned like getting on the slack that first day what is the community like when you get in there and what you know for my understanding too like with springboard you're in a cohort of students so a bunch of people start at the same time did you start to meet some of them did you interact with the students much like what did that look like I would say that personally I interacted with the students a little bit more like at the very beginning we were all like doing introductions and also like after going through the boot camp there's like moments where you have to like respond to something or post something on slack and like respond to someone else where Mark something complete so if I'm being completely honest that was probably big extent of my um black you while I was in the program projects are very important to you know Landing a job quite frankly in design I think it's great because with the portfolio of design projects it's one of the best like objective ways that really we can evaluate uh candidates for a role like a company's hiring for uh but you know yeah projects are really important so like when it comes to like a boot camp or some sort of design program that you're going to take like it's important to consider like what kind of what kind of portfolio pieces you're going to get out of that program so I was kind of curious to just learn from you like what was one of your favorite projects that you worked on from the course and how did it go how did that project go for you okay so my favorite project kind of changing immediately out of the pro out of the program I would just show my favorite project with like the first capson that we did which was like a little bit more ined out a little bit more like encompassing of like everything that we've learned from like research to like actually delivering like the MVP like the Prototype at the end of like our entire design with like USIC Flo and everything but thinking about it now I'm thinking that my favorite might have actually been the Sprint Project it lasted for a week I believe yeah cool yeah I think I think that's probably my favorite lasted for about a week and maybe because like that's how I kind of work now like on Sprint and that's why it's my favorite but yeah that's what that's what I was going to guess actually because just for context I I work at a product company and I've only I've only really worked at startups or like a product company and although I haven't worked at an agency I like know kind of how they work like you work with clients and um you often are like handing off work to that client and they'll kind of like finish developing it whatever so I would imagine that you're doing a lot more of like facilitation and Sprint design kind of work in that sort of environment so for some reason like before you were like before you answered that second part of the question I was like Mar is going to say the Sprint Project because that's what she does now and she loves it yeah oh yeah very cool very cool how did that work then in the program um were you was it like a theoretical design Sprint did you work with a company because I know also springboard does set you up with that opportunity to like work with external uh companies to get some experience so what was the Sprint like uh so the Sprint it was from kind of like it was on your own so you were like kind of Designing more so like in a bubble and each day was like I think the first day was like catching the design like you got the the design brief and everything so you would like gu and then like do user flow and then I think a bit of competitive analysis and then wire frames mid Fidelity High Fidelity and prototype and so you had to do that like within a week and then they also like space it out for you for like what exactly you needed to accomplish each day I don't remember exactly what the order was what day but it was interesting it was F I think it would have been really interesting to get like I don't know like how feasible this but uh to get like more people involved like uh I don't know not necessarily have like a Dev involved with with it to like actually like build it out but like have like um something that like lets you practice like design de uh hand off which is something that like I didn't really know about until actually like entering like the job field like that right point so that was definitely like a skill that I had to like build up like being able to like communicate the designs to like Dev and like hand it off that way and say yeah yeah yeah I mean it it that's the challenge I think of like like education it's like there's so much to learn and there's also only so much you can kind of fit into I don't know a program that's like 9 months long and so even for myself like I said I went to design school and I I got to be a fan graph design actually so that's a little bit of a different story but you know back then we we weren't even I didn't have any projects where I was working with any sort of like clients or companies I didn't until I did start um sorry until I did internships I didn't work with like Engineers or product managers or anything like that so it's like that is some of the best experience like once you actually like get a job or an internship um sort of role so I definitely resonate with you on that it sounds like the the uh Sprints or sort of the projects that you work on at right point they they might operate a little bit differently than like the framework you used when you were at doing springboard so and and that that's I'm not surprised about that either because this stuff although it has like a pattern to it it also does differ depending on like the company that you'd work for so I don't know just I'd love to hear a little bit more about what does that look like now like how do you run or facilitate a design Sprint with right point so it really depends on what exactly the uh the project well like the project within the project okay so if it's just like yeah if it's just like a small like um component update then uh that won't take like an entire Sprint we have like um two week long Sprint so that'll take like maybe like a couple of days but then also you have to like get like approvals from like the rest of the design team so it's like a small involved smaller project still could take about two weeks time it's not like yeah right yeah it it could take two week time depending on like how how many revisions need to be done and stuff like that but if it's like something a little bit bigger like a page redesign or something like that then we it'll start off with like some some research some competitive analysis think we can like get like the research team involved to like kind of dig in a little bit deeper about like what exactly users want and we do that let see in a little bit of like sketching some wireframes like it moves a little bit faster than what was like kind of shown in the boot can so are you comparing that to like maybe the Capstone project though where you're like from my understanding that that project is one where you're like starting completely from scratch you're like kind of even starting from a place where it's like how might we solve this like larger Wicked problem then to defining a more specific problem with the design Sprint that's like typically a weekl long week- long project where like you go from like essentially nothing to an idea at the end of it so are you running any sort of sessions like that at right point or does it tend to be more of Le a little bit bit more drawn out projects where it'll take at least like a minimum of two weeks to um to work through something still it changes it varies it depends on like what exactly the ticket is asking for so some of them can be like very small like just simply updating a component yeah which won't take long at all and then some of them are like larger like a page redesign which could take like a couple of weeks which is like the length of our Sprints and then others can be like way longer than that which will take like multiple Sprint but that's all like planned for gotcha gotcha okay back to the boot camp what was one of the biggest challenges you weren't expecting going into the program how did you navigate this challenge not sure if this necessarily challenge um but there was like at one point in the course like I know see like my me my M mentioned that I was kind of behind timing wise but I think I ended up actually like finishing about two months early so I wow I think it might have been like a a pacing for like some of the capson maybe maybe that's what it was but um okay yeah and why do you think that that was a challenge for you the timing because well I don't even know if it was necessarily a challenge mhm um it was just like one of those things where I was like oh am I falling behind but even my mentor she was just like um she was like no don't worry about that like it like most people say that they're like falling behind at this point um just because some I think it was like maybe Capstone 2 takes like longer than what wasn't originally planned but yeah once you like get past that then everything starts roughing up like really fast and like you end up like catching up or even like finishing early yeah well that's good that you even just had like the your mentor to kind of like bounce those sorts of conversations off of to like make kind of like make sure to like check in with you and say like hey just want to make sure you're like you're on track here to to finish the class or to finish yeah well The MENTOR relationship is really important I think when it comes to boot camps and I think just like who like a design educator is important to like any program like whether you're going to a college uh like traditional college program or otherwise so would love to just learn a little bit more about what your experience is like working with your Mentor during the program uh what was your first interaction with them and do you remember how you were paired together around actually I don't know how they pair the mentors the and yeah she uh she just got a sign to me nice was it a was it a good match it was I love her okay good I think they're I think there is some logic to it did you feel like a survey or anything or no oh my goodness I don't even remember if I did or not nice worri yeah I have I have no idea if I get or not okay well we'll skip that part what was your first interaction like with your springboard Mentor I believe it was video call said a video call um once a week I believe where we just kind of like got to know each other yeah like conversation was a little bit ago I don't remember exactly what we talked about but I think it was more so like an introductory like get to know each other like what brought me to springboard what she's currently doing well what she was doing at the time and yeah you were just so excited and like hyped on adrenaline that first day that none of this is quite coming back also I I know it was a bit ago so obviously it's a little hard to remember but um it's good that you had such a good relationship with with her yeah uh so I mean can you just talk a little bit more about like how would you describe your Rel relationship with with your Mentor it sounds like you met once a week what sort of uh you know what what did she offer you during the program that was so valuable honestly I was just able to talk to her about everything like we could talk about stuff like outside of the program talk about stuff within the program like she gave amazing constructive criticism um and like really helps me in the program and kind of prepare for like what to expect as an vinor as well as answering any you talk more about that talk more about like what do you have an example she would kind tell me like what all she was doing as a designer because at the time she was actually working at an agency um which um not the same agency but uh yeah she was working in an agency at the time and she's actually the one that kind of like got agencies on my on my like radar and just kind of like letting me know like the benefits of like working at an agency versus like the benefits or could she worked she worked at a chief places um before as well she gave me like kind of like her own like Insider knowledge on like agencies startups and uh she also would like kind of walk me through what her day was like as a designer like what all she would do that day or that week whenever we chatted and any like ups and downs that she also faced so it um kind of like put everything into like perspective which I really appreciated yeah yeah even for myself like in design school like I had great relationships with my teachers and a lot of my teachers were were working professionals too which was like uh really helpful but you know I was one of many students that they were teaching at the time and so I definitely had people in my life who back then I like SE support from and felt like I had somewhat of like a mentor relationship with and it really does go a long way being able to provide those like extra insights into what a day in the life is like or like understanding terms or okay you learned this framework you know this is how this is how we do it from kind of like a learning perspective and this is like 101 but but it might look a little bit different might have a little bit different um might shape out a little bit differently in like a real life context and this is kind of what that looks like like that is invaluable so uh being able to like have someone to connect with and talk about those things is so important definitely are you still friends are you still in contact now that you're outside of the program so I haven't talked to her than last year I want to say um but she is in new yor so um I am planing to visit her um actually next month so so fun so fun yeah sounds like you're New York bound that might be in the cards for you yeah I love that yeah yeah okay yeah that's that's great I definitely and I feel like uh yeah it's just great to to hear that you still have a connection with her and I think a lot of career related challenges um can be solved by a really good friend and someone you can just like kind of go to and be able to to ask questions to or vent or even just to catch up with to yeah to to work through something okay so I also noticed that you a peer mentor for springboard now what exactly do you do in this role and why did you decide to take it on so it's changed a little bit since I started before we ended up having like a like kind of quota of interactions that we had like meet each week but not anym which I I kind of like so now a lot of of my interactions are more like one-on-one or like a student will like message me on slack and just like ask like whatever question that they have like whether it be a specific project that they're working on or talking oneon-one like on like a video chat where they want me to take a look at or hear their ideas for their Capstone project want any like job advice for like applying to places or like just looking around and also just like any advice that they yeah sometimes they like one advice about just like navigating the program while also like juggling other things like working or like school or like something like that so it's so great that you're offering support in that way like why yeah why did why are you doing that like why do you care so I kind of took the role just to kind of like help other people like in their transition from like another field to uiux like I was so so lucky in getting a mentor well in getting the mentor that I did because she had like such a hug impact on me and my experience with springboard and so I want like people to have like a positive experience as well that such a gift Mar I'm so glad to hear that you're uh you feel that way I feel similarly I think like I had so many people when I was learning design just like show up and help me along the way that like that I just get so much energy myself from like starting a podcast and like talking about design or like making videos on YouTube and that like I just want to create more connections with people and like help other people feel that same way because made such a big difference for me so definitely such a gift that you're giving back that's so cool um so I want to talk a little about interviewing for jobs because Design Careers in in ux and product design they're they're really competitive uh that's the truth of it and getting that first job can be really challenging but I think what's really cool for people especially for people who transition into uh ux design is that often that means that they come from some sort of other career or some have some sort of like background in an education that's like separate from design and that they can use that experience and like Leverage it when they're interviewing so I was wondering you know with leveraging your background in cell and molecular biology and Neuroscience right I was wondering how you use that to help you when interviewing for roles so it was kind of like a mixture of responses that I received um from that interview quite honest I'm not going to includ like any conversations that I have with like work careers like the initial type of thing there were some interviewers who like were really fascinated um with me like having a degree that was like outside of um design or interaction like anything like that so there were some that were just like oh this is really cool and they like really value like experience outside of like what I guess would be considered like a traditional path design and there were others that were just like okay so what experience do you have I guess how did how did how did you let because like with neuros science specifically or even like you talked about like when you were uh Premed that you you you know you had like all these like really um analytical you used like your analytical brain a lot and had like analytical skills were any were there any skills that did overlap like when it came to what you learned in the the program and do you apply those skills still now like as a designer I would say and if it's no that's totally fine too yeah I would say mainly with research I'm conducting my G survey or just like Gathering like data like survey data from like responses maybe not as much aside from like Divine system work like building components and like making sure like everything is like like works is clean like the naming makes sense the grouping makes sense like I feel like that was where like the analytics would come in a little bit but um outside of that yeah yeah so mostly like when it came to like research those research skills there was more overlap yeah gotcha and how did interviewing go for full-time roles were there any challenges are Lessons Learned so I think overall went pretty well were you set on going to an agency because your Mentor had such a good experience I was not I would no I I would not set on it at the time like whatever job I got I was just going to go there um but I was I was really lucky in that I getting I had five interviews and two job offers at the end of it and one of them was the agency another one was like a I think it was edtech and so I ended up phone with the agency and why is that I partly because of like my mentor and like what she was telling me about like just how in an agency like as a early designer like you just have like so many opportunities to grow within like working with like different people and experien in like different Industries and so like that was kind of like top of mind when I was like making that decision because I was like okay I do want to get a lot of exposure I want to learn as much as possible and I was like I think the agency is the way to go long as well as the fact that like I need to I me like five I think people from the company and they were all like terrific so I was like okay I really like yall so yeah I mean that's a lot of it comes down to like who are the people that you're going to work with and that's super important and like how you can grow and learn like in that role yeah um how did interviewing go though were there any challenges that that came up or did you feel like it was kind of like a breeze like I was set up for Success from the beginning oh my goodness no so I uh it was super like oh my goodness looking at some of the like linked and like quick apply things and being like Oh 200 other people have applied to this job already like oh the application were super saturated so I think I actually ended up applying to like and I kept an Eggo spreadsheet so I ended up applying to like 200 places in the span of like a month and a half and uh you know like objections it's like it's a part of it but yeah it was just like ah this I just want to like work so that would like maybe like one of the challenges um a knober how did you persever how did you persevere through that though I think this is actually something that my uh my background kind of set me up well for so yeah I with the rejecting I was just like okay like that's fine on to like the next application so um I I didn't realize like take it personally or anything it was just like it's a part of the application process like you're going to get rejected from some places so yeah it was just kept moving yeah you're just like got to brush this off move on to the next ex grow exactly okay and then like once you were like yeah once you did start talking to like recruiters or hiring managers was there anything that you felt like was challenging a part of that process is there anything you can like share with a potential design student now that could like help them uh Max maximize their potential if you like anyone is like um not super comfortable speaking practice them because it is a lot of talking a lot of like presenting your uh like projects within your portfolio there was like one like white boarding challenge that I had to do so I like practiced that for like two days like I was just like presenting the White Challenge to like anybody that with nice were you presenting it to was it were you like presenting it to your parents or something yeah I present it to my parents I would like call my friends I would like present it to them I would present it to my brother like literally anyone I would like set up like I'm an imaginary audience and I would like present it as well like oh good question okay I love that okay actually though was the interview was the Whiteboard challenge virtual yeah yeah okay I actually that is like great advice because I think it's super important to practice the like facilitating the the the thing if it's a presentation if it's a whiteboard challenge whatever it is practice like opening up a zoom call or some sort of like video call platform and like figure out how technically it's going to work before going into it because then you're it's like it's kind of like going on stage for performance like you have to like get a sense of the the stage the environment where the exits are and like how to turn on the audio you know just like it's that's like actually a really good lesson I think it's like put yourself in that moment as in a as a realistic way as possible so that when you are in that moment and people are looking at you you've like I've been here before it's okay how about portfolio review stuff so for anyone who's like not familiar with this one of the big uh challenges I think with like you know getting that first job is presenting your portfolio so there's the presentation aspect of it but I guess like how did you feel about your projects did you end up ever having to like kind of go back and edit them getting feedback from any companies that like didn't decide to go with you as a candidate was there any sort of like insight there that you feel like you could chair uh with the audience I would say that I did most of my portfolio edits after reaching out and like kind of making connections on Linkin with like other designers who would like um everyone everyone I spoke to was like super nice super helpful so they would be like yeah like been over your for link I'll take a look I didn't leave any not that are me perfect so I got all of that done before I started um doing the interviews and within the interviews like I had a goto um where what project I was going to place and for me it was the IDP I wanted a project that was essentially like a like quote unquote like real life Project M for anyone who doesn't know IDP stands for industry design project that's what IDP stands for perfect okay so that was the one that you felt like was the most realistic because you were working with the actual company on it yeah yeah so that cool yeah and I also worked like a couple of other designers as well um I felt like it was like the most kind flushed out like best one to present yeah and like realistic and a sense because you were working with a client and you worked with other designers yeah I think like as a student it's totally fine to share personal projects or like work that's not necessarily like client facing in your portfolio to get interviews of course it's going to be a a a really it'll be a really interesting story to tell if you're if you do have client projects and work like that so that work would definitely be um a good portfolio piece if you are if you have that opportunity which it's great to hear that you did um Mara thank you so much this is so interesting to learn about you and your background and talk about tech agencies and uh all the things so I just am super appreciative that you came on the podcast today to share your story is there anything else you wanted to share uh before we totally wrap things up all right maybe one thing let's hear it so I know that like a lot of weight is like put on on making this connection and like getting your a job I guess through those corruption that you make like just some networking uh which is like super super super beneficial like most people that you reach out to within like the design Community are going to be like super helpful like they're going to be very open but also like don't be afraid to like just quote apply to play F I know like the numbers can be scary like seeing that like 300 other people have applied but like you never know so definitely apply to those as well yeah I like to say success comes from a combination of hard work and getting lucky and and the hard work part is like putting in the time learning the technical design skills you need to do to get the job and then the getting lucky part is like the serendipitous moments you have to put yourself into like serend serendipitous moments that means like applying to that job um that you know you're you're not sure if you totally qualify for but you think it's possible and you're excited about it and uh times that by two or 300 because that is that is often how how much it takes so it's um I'm glad you sh that because that is that is realistic quite frankly yeah of course okay Mara if anyone wanted to connect with you after uh listening to this episode or learn more about you online where can they go you can go to my Instagram _ Alandra you can also go to my website meab bradley. .c cargo. site perfect and we'll make sure those links are in the uh the notes the show notes for this video I'm personally going to go follow you on Instagram right after this because I an Instagram girly um but Mara thank you again so much this was so much fun so great getting to know you and we will definitely talk again soon thank you for this wonderful great meeting you well I for one am so glad to hear mera's design Mentor had such a positive impact on her experience transitioning into her career and interaction design big thanks again to Mara for sharing her story and giving us some insights into what her uiux design boot camp experience was like if you're ready to make the next big step with your career and design springo offers a 9month UI ux design boot camp with 10one mentorship real world design projects and personalized career coaching and it comes with a job guarantee use the code adapt div by Design to get $1,000 off enrollment for design boot camps with springboard you can find more information in the description below thank you so much for listening if you enjoyed this episode make sure to subscribe so you can stay up to date as new episodes drop again my name is Alexa and you've been listening to adapted by Design living the ux life I'll see you next time\n"