Early Career Strategy for UX Design Generalist
I’m looking for a new job in UX / product design. I have a bit under 2 years experience building internal fintech tools and sales dashboards that are actually pretty cool/meaningful work and a degree from a top HCI university. Looking to this community to help narrow my search as i have a few questions: -Would I get better experience (stronger learnings, skills to talk to and build upon) at an agency, a startup or large tech company? Lately i’ve been most interested in FAANG and msft and the compensation would be nice if I can land a position -I want to stay in NYC. What tech companies with good design practices have big presences here? -Are there particular companies that are best to join as a generalist? I don’t want to specialize yet in my career and still want ownership over research and design. Thank you!
Agency is going to give you the most variety, but less depth. Great way to get exposed to a bunch of different industries. Client work is a special delight/hell though.
Agency and startup experience likely won’t give you the space to go deep on problems. Most startups are just eager to grow and just do incremental features, and agencies are just churn and burn (this is a generalization, there are exceptions to this). I think early on it’s better to develop skills where you can go deep on problems and get an experienced mentor. I would recommend a place like Capital One. They have a growing design practice in NY with a thoughtful team. However, startup and agency experience show you can hustle, so it’s good to get a mix of it throughout your career. My main advise is to get a mentor early on and have fun with it. It really is a great career with the right mindset. Good luck.