This is great - what you guys are doing particularly hits home for me.
I graduated out of UC Riverside, with a degree in Accounting, and if any of you are Asian-American in California, you'd know it's infamous nickname: University of Chinese Rejects. I'm willing to bet that my GPA was even lower than yours Jaclyn.
I managed to finagle my way into a UX/UI position at a major consulting firm and before that STRUGGLED to get nearly anybody to take me seriously. There's a lot of parallels to draw with Design to Engineering, most employers there are already making hiring decisions based on portfolio and aptitude, rather than grades. But still, the same platitudes of: great undergrad/masters, brand name companies, extroverts, etc all ring true. You're often focused on gaming the interview process and saying the right things, rather than being assessed as a measurement of your actual work output.
Anyway, the only way I got noticed was doing what you guys are offering as a much more legitimized service. I had to create major projects for myself that would demonstrate I had some literacy in how work would actually be done in the field, cold email + network with a bunch of companies just to get a foot in the door, create a portfolio without any help.
I think I'm one of the few that got extremely lucky in the end, but it really warms my heart that you guys are providing a service that really formalizes the career shifting process. I'll be rooting for your guys' success.
Thanks for sharing your story. Glad to hear you were able to overcome the traditional barriers. Great idea to explore design as an industry we can expand into in the future!
I graduated out of UC Riverside, with a degree in Accounting, and if any of you are Asian-American in California, you'd know it's infamous nickname: University of Chinese Rejects. I'm willing to bet that my GPA was even lower than yours Jaclyn.
I managed to finagle my way into a UX/UI position at a major consulting firm and before that STRUGGLED to get nearly anybody to take me seriously. There's a lot of parallels to draw with Design to Engineering, most employers there are already making hiring decisions based on portfolio and aptitude, rather than grades. But still, the same platitudes of: great undergrad/masters, brand name companies, extroverts, etc all ring true. You're often focused on gaming the interview process and saying the right things, rather than being assessed as a measurement of your actual work output.
Anyway, the only way I got noticed was doing what you guys are offering as a much more legitimized service. I had to create major projects for myself that would demonstrate I had some literacy in how work would actually be done in the field, cold email + network with a bunch of companies just to get a foot in the door, create a portfolio without any help.
I think I'm one of the few that got extremely lucky in the end, but it really warms my heart that you guys are providing a service that really formalizes the career shifting process. I'll be rooting for your guys' success.