Mentor
CareerFoundry
Role: UX Design mentor
Description:
CareerFoundry is an online learning platform that offers a course for people wishing to switch careers or start out as a UX designer. The course duration is flexible but most students take around 10 months to complete the course. Each student gets a UX design tutor and a UX design mentor
As a mentor I provide UX design students with a point of entry into the world of UX design as well as reviewing their work with a view to help them create an industry ready portfolio.
Building relationships with the students over time and seeing them grow from complete novice into someone who is ready to work as a UX designer is the best part of this job.
Main responsibilities
Role: UX Design mentor
Description:
CareerFoundry is an online learning platform that offers a course for people wishing to switch careers or start out as a UX designer. The course duration is flexible but most students take around 10 months to complete the course. Each student gets a UX design tutor and a UX design mentor
As a mentor I provide UX design students with a point of entry into the world of UX design as well as reviewing their work with a view to help them create an industry ready portfolio.
Building relationships with the students over time and seeing them grow from complete novice into someone who is ready to work as a UX designer is the best part of this job.
Main responsibilities
- One to one video calls with students
- Video reviews providing feedback for students UX design portfolios
- Support and feedback during the UX design course
- Insight into the day to day working life of a UX designer
- Highlighting challenges UX designers may face
- Interview questions feedback and practice
Telegraaf Media Groep (Now Mediahuis)
Role: Design team leader / manager
Description:
As a team leader and manager it was part of my responsibility to understand how each team member wanted to develop while part of the team. Not everyone wants to follow the same career path especially in a mixed team of UX and UI designers so it’s important to understand the individual needs of each team member
Regular team meetings where we could share ideas and collaborate on design work allowed us to build a good working relationship with each other where sharing ideas and individual problems was normalised.
A large part of the role was of course supporting team members in their design work but I also wanted to make sure that everyone felt comfortable pushing themselves and also challenging the way we worked as a team.
Each team member had a specific goal to change something about the way that we worked as a team. This encouraged them to challenge and strive to improve our process constantly.
Main accomplishments:
One of the things I am most proud of is what team members did after they left our team. One UI designer went on to lead the UX design team in a major Dutch bank, another designer became head of product design at a well known e-commerce company and another went on to start her own UX consultancy.
When team members leave as better designers than they started then I consider that a success.
Role: Design team leader / manager
Description:
As a team leader and manager it was part of my responsibility to understand how each team member wanted to develop while part of the team. Not everyone wants to follow the same career path especially in a mixed team of UX and UI designers so it’s important to understand the individual needs of each team member
Regular team meetings where we could share ideas and collaborate on design work allowed us to build a good working relationship with each other where sharing ideas and individual problems was normalised.
A large part of the role was of course supporting team members in their design work but I also wanted to make sure that everyone felt comfortable pushing themselves and also challenging the way we worked as a team.
Each team member had a specific goal to change something about the way that we worked as a team. This encouraged them to challenge and strive to improve our process constantly.
Main accomplishments:
One of the things I am most proud of is what team members did after they left our team. One UI designer went on to lead the UX design team in a major Dutch bank, another designer became head of product design at a well known e-commerce company and another went on to start her own UX consultancy.
When team members leave as better designers than they started then I consider that a success.
