This June it has been five years since I graduated from college. Since then I’ve been working as a UX designer for a lot of different companies, including a start-up, an application developer, and two consultancy firms.

我从大学毕业已经五年了，今年六月。 从那时起，我一直在许多不同的公司担任UX设计师，包括一家初创公司，一个应用程序开发人员和两家咨询公司。

That’s quite a lot of different companies considering that it’s been only five years since I’ve left school.

有很多不同的公司考虑到我离开学校只有五年的时间。

On average, I’ve been at the same company for just over a year and only one out of those four has been more than one year.

平均而言，我在同一家公司工作了一年多，而这四家公司中只有一家已经超过一年。

This happened for a number of reasons. I will not go in detail about these reasons as I’ve done that in other posts on medium already.

发生这种情况有多种原因。 我将不再详细介绍这些原因，因为我已经在媒体上的其他帖子中做了这些。

The good thing is that because of the ‘job-hopping’ I’ve been doing, I’ve seen quite a few different types of companies as well as different recruiters, design requirements, and designer roles.

好消息是，由于我一直在进行“跳槽”，因此我看到了许多不同类型的公司以及不同的招聘人员，设计要求和设计师角色。

Skip to today

跳到今天

As of this writing, I’ve been at the same company for well over a year. This is going to improve my current average, which is good of course. I’ve been able to improve my way of working based on the experience I’ve gained throughout the years.

在撰写本文时，我已经在同一家公司工作了一年多。 这将提高我目前的平均水平，这当然是好的。 根据我多年来的经验，我已经能够改善自己的工作方式。

If you’re a designer or thinking about becoming one this post will hopefully help you answer some of the bigger questions you might have, like the following.

如果您是设计师或正在考虑成为一名设计师，则本篇文章有望帮助您回答一些可能遇到的较大问题，例如以下内容。

• Do I need a portfolio to land a job in design?
  我是否需要投资组合才能从事设计工作？
• What are the pros and cons of different types of design companies?
  不同类型的设计公司的优缺点是什么？
• …and more.
  …和更多。

Let’s get started.

让我们开始吧。

关于投资组合 (About portfolios)

Design is a very portfolio-driven field. It has been my experience that it is very important to have an up-to-date portfolio available when you’re looking for a new job.

设计是一个非常受项目组合驱动的领域。 根据我的经验，当您寻找新工作时，拥有最新的投资组合非常重要。

How your portfolio is going to look is up to you. This is your chance to show the world who you are. By developing a creative portfolio that stands out you’re going to better position yourself to your potential clients and employers.

您的投资组合的外观取决于您。 这是您向世界展示自己的机会。 通过开发出杰出的创意作品集，您将可以更好地为潜在客户和雇主定位。

I often see designers that are just starting that are struggling to create a portfolio. This is because they do not have any working experience yet.

我经常看到刚刚起步的设计师都在努力创建作品集。 这是因为他们还没有任何工作经验。

I’ve been there as well. It took me about six months to get my first real design job after graduating from college. I had a bit of luck. The person that interviewed me wanted to give me a chance to prove myself even though there were more experienced candidates.

我也去过那里。 大学毕业后，我花了大约六个月的时间才完成了第一份真正的设计工作。 我有点运气。 即使有更多有经验的候选人，面试我的人也想给我机会证明自己。

In many cases, you’re going to need a bit of luck to find such a person. I know this is bad news but that is how it is going to go. However, that doesn’t mean however that this is the only way to get your first job in the field of design. Having a portfolio is also going to help.

在很多情况下，您需要一些运气才能找到这样的人。 我知道这是个坏消息，但事实就是如此。 但是，这并不意味着这是在设计领域获得第一份工作的唯一途径。 拥有投资组合也将有所帮助。

Here are several ways you can create a portfolio even though you do not have any experience just yet.

即使您还没有任何经验，也可以通过以下几种方法创建投资组合。

• Create your own projects from scratch. This could be anything from improving a design used by a company you know, or a brand you like. It shows your potential employer that you are passionate about design, that you have your own view on design, and that you’re willing to put in the extra work to create your portfolio.

  从头开始创建自己的项目。 这可以是改善您知道的公司或您喜欢的品牌所使用的设计的任何事情。 它向您的潜在雇主表明您对设计充满热情，对设计有自己的见解，并且愿意付出额外的工作来创建自己的投资组合。

• Use case studies and projects from school. Now, if you were lucky enough to have followed an education where design was a big subject, you most probably are gonna have some sort of school project or internship that you can use in your portfolio. About 80% of the contents of my first portfolio were school projects. Your potential employers do not need to know that your project was something you did in school. You have to be smart in the way you formulate your case study regarding these projects.

  使用学校的案例研究和项目。 现在，如果您很幸运地接受了设计是一门重要主题的教育，那么您很可能会拥有某种学校项目或实习机会，可以在您的投资组合中使用。 我的第一批投资组合中大约80％的内容是学校项目。 您的潜在雇主不必知道您的项目是您在学校所做的。 在制定有关这些项目的案例研究时，您必须保持聪明。

• Find your own clients. When I was in school, people knew that I was the design guy. A lot of my classmates were in bands, founded their own companies, or were a part of clubs. All these people needed a website, an application, or a logo at some point. Because I was the guy that knew how to design, they came to me for help. I’ve managed to do a few projects because of this, which helped me get real-life experience doing design projects. The projects were very small and I made many mistakes but it has been a great learning experience regardless. That I made a few extra bucks on the side has been a nice plus as well.

  寻找自己的客户。 当我在学校的时候，人们知道我是设计师。 我的很多同学都是乐队成员，创立了自己的公司，或者是俱乐部的一部分。 这些人有时都需要一个网站，一个应用程序或一个徽标。 因为我是知道如何设计的人，所以他们来找我。 因此，我设法完成了一些项目，这帮助我获得了进行设计项目的真实经验。 这些项目很小，我犯了很多错误，但是无论如何，这都是一次很棒的学习经历。 我在侧面赚了一些额外的钱也很不错。

When I left school back in 2015, I had a degree, a small portfolio containing a few projects, and a small network of people I knew from school. Even though this has been great preparation for getting my first job, it still took me close to six months to get my first job.

当我2015年退学时，我拥有一个学位，一个包含几个项目的小型档案袋，以及一个我从学校认识的人脉。 尽管这为获得第一份工作做好了充分的准备，但我仍然花了将近六个月的时间才找到第一份工作。

Even though your preparation has been excellent in theory, it still is hard to find a job.

尽管您的准备工作在理论上非常出色，但仍然很难找到工作。

Don’t think that it is going to be easy. In addition to having the hard skills (of creating a portfolio and doing projects) down, you need soft skills as well. I even think that soft skills are more important than hard skills. Which brings me to my next point…

不要以为这会很容易。 除了降低硬技能(创建投资组合和执行项目)之外，您还需要软技能。 我什至认为，软技能比硬技能更重要。 这使我想到了下一个……

硬技能与软技能 (Hard skills versus soft skills)

Skills are most commonly divided into two categories. The first one is hard skills. These are about the things you can do with your hands, for a lack of better terms. The other category is called soft skills. These are also known as people skills. They are mostly based around stuff like communication, negotiation, and consultancy.

技能通常分为两类。 第一个是硬技能。 这些都是关于您可以用手做的事情，缺少更好的条件。 另一类称为软技能。 这些也称为人际交往能力。 它们主要基于沟通，协商和咨询之类的内容。

There’s an ongoing discussion in the field of design about which of the two is more important. This of course depends on the situation but I’m going to focus on the situation of getting a job.

在设计领域中，有关两者中哪个更重要的讨论正在进行中。 这当然取决于情况，但我将重点关注找工作的情况。

In that situation, I believe that soft skills are more important than hard skills. Yet, you’re going to need the hard skills to create a portfolio that shows both your soft and your hard skills. I hope you can still follow me.

在那种情况下，我认为软技能比硬技能更重要。 但是，您将需要使用硬技能来创建既显示软技能又显示硬技能的投资组合。 我希望你仍然可以跟随我。

Here’s why I believe this is the case. There are always a few people looking at the same job opening as you. Most of the time, that is even more than just a few. It could be tens or hundreds of people. Do you think you’re going to stand out based on the user interfaces you can design? Probably not. There is always someone quicker, better, or cheaper than you.

这就是我认为情况如此的原因。 总有一些人和您一样在找工作。 在大多数情况下，这还不止几个。 可能是数十人或数百人。 您认为您将基于可以设计的用户界面脱颖而出吗？ 可能不是。 总有人会比您更快，更好或更便宜。

What that person doesn’t have is your combination of hard skills, soft skills, and personal traits.

这个人没有的是硬技能，软技能和个人特质的组合。

When you’re looking for a job you have to sell the complete package and to be able to do so you’re going to need a great set of soft skills.

当您寻找工作时，必须出售整套产品，并能够做到这一点，您将需要大量的软技能。

Lessons learned

得到教训

To make a long story short, you’re going to need both soft and hard skills but emphasize your soft skills. You’re going to need those to convince the interviewer of your hard skills.

简而言之，您将需要软技能和硬技能，但需要强调软技能。 您将需要那些来说服面试官您的硬技能。

关于不同的设计角色 (About different design roles)

There are several different types of companies you can work at as a designer. These companies all have their own pros and cons. I have worked at all of the types of companies I’m going to describe so I have a bit of experience there.

您可以作为设计师在几种不同类型的公司工作。 这些公司都有各自的优缺点。 我曾在所有将要描述的公司类型中工作，所以我在那儿有一些经验。

I’d like to divide companies into consultancy firms, agencies, and client-side companies. Then there’s also the category of start-ups but these most often fall within one of the previously mentioned categories.

我想将公司分为咨询公司，代理商和客户端公司。 然后还有初创企业的类别，但这些企业通常属于上述类别之一。

Let’s take a look at the different companies individually to see what they are all about.

让我们分别查看不同的公司，以了解它们的全部含义。

Consultancy firms

咨询公司

As the name suggests, consultancy firms are about consulting. As a designer, you’re going to be a design consultant.

顾名思义，咨询公司与咨询有关。 作为设计师，您将成为设计顾问。

In other words, you are the expert regarding anything that is design related. Clients pay the firm a lot of money to have a design expert find a solution to their problem.

换句话说，您是任何与设计相关的专家。 客户向公司支付了很多钱，以让设计专家找到解决他们问题的方法。

In practice, this means that you’re going to be on the road a lot providing insights and advice regarding design issues. In most consulting firms, there’s also the possibility for you to be loaned to a client on a contract. You are going to get a salary and the client pays a big hourly fee to your consultancy firm.

在实践中，这意味着您将经常在旅途中提供有关设计问题的见解和建议。 在大多数咨询公司中，您也有可能通过合同借给客户。 您将获得薪水，客户将向您的咨询公司支付大笔的小时费。

This is a ‘safe’ way of doing freelance work. You get most of the freelancing benefits without having to be afraid to be without a paying project since you are going to get a salary from your boss either way.

这是做自由职业的“安全”方法。 您将获得大部分的自由职业福利，而不必担心没有付费项目，因为您将通过任何一种方式从老板那里获得薪水。

Agencies

代理商

Then there are the design agencies. These form the beating heart of the design world.

然后是设计机构。 这些构成了设计界的跳动之心。

Agencies are a lot like consultancy firms in the sense that they provide design solutions for their clients. The difference is that you will be on the road less since most work at agencies is done as a project at the agency itself.

在为客户提供设计解决方案的意义上，代理商很像咨询公司。 所不同的是，由于代理商的大多数工作都是在代理商本身的项目中完成的，因此您走上的路就更少了。

This is suitable for you if you do not like to travel that much and just want to do great design work within your project team. The cons of agencies are that the pay is generally just a little bit less than at a consultancy firm and that there are less often mobility perks like a company car and cell phone.

如果您不喜欢旅行那么多，只想在项目团队中进行出色的设计工作，则此方法非常适合您。 代理机构的弊端是，薪水通常仅比咨询公司少一点，而且公司汽车和手机等流动性津贴较少。

Client-side companies

客户端公司

Finally, we’re going to look at clients-side companies. These could be the more famous brands, like Coca-Cola or Nike.

最后，我们将研究客户端公司。 这些可能是更知名的品牌，例如可口可乐或耐克。

Companies like these are the companies you can brag about at parties when someone asks you what you do for a living.

像这样的公司是当有人问你以谋生为目的时可以在聚会上吹嘘的公司。

Designing for McDonald’s. Isn’t that what everybody dreams of?

为麦当劳设计。 这不是每个人都梦想的吗？

Most of the bigger client-side companies pay the best salaries. This is a big plus, of course. Yet, there’s a big con as well. You’re going to work on the same project each and every day. You’re going to need to be passionate about that company if you want to make it.

大多数较大的客户端公司支付的薪水最高。 当然，这是一大优势。 但是，这也有很大的弊端。 您将每天都在同一个项目上工作。 如果您想成为一家公司，就需要对它充满热情。

I worked client-side once. It wasn’t for me. After some time, I’ve lost a big part of my motivation and my energy coming into work each day. So keep that in mind when deciding where you’re going to go.

我曾经在客户端工作过一次。 不是给我的 一段时间后，我失去了很大一部分动力，每天精力投入工作。 因此，在决定要去哪里时，请记住这一点。

全部放在一起 (Putting it all together)

There you have it. Looking back at five years of working design experience, four types of different companies, and many difficult situations, these were the things that I’ve learned.

你有它。 回顾五年的工作设计经验，四种类型的不同公司以及许多困难的情况，这些都是我学到的。

Now that the first five years have been out of the way, it’s time to look forward to the next five years where I am going to learn a lot again.

既然前五年已经不复存在，现在是时候期待下一个五年了，我将再次学习很多东西。

If you are just starting out or thinking about getting started in the world of design, you are going to have to pick a type of company you want to work at.

如果您只是刚开始或正在考虑进入设计领域，那么您将不得不选择一种您想要工作的公司。

Each type of company has its own pros and cons, so looking at the list above might help you decide what is best for you. My advice would be to try and see if a company is good for you. If that is the case, great! In any other case, try again somewhere else. There is no shame in trying again as I have witnessed firsthand more than once. You will learn from the experience which is always a good thing.

每种类型的公司都有其优点和缺点，因此查看上面的列表可能会帮助您确定最适合您的公司。 我的建议是尝试看看一家公司是否对您有利。 如果是这样，那就太好了！ 在任何其他情况下，请在其他地方重试。 再次尝试无可厚非，因为我亲眼目睹了不止一次。 您将从经验中学习，这永远是一件好事。

To land a job you are going to need a complete set of skills and traits. As I mentioned before these will include both soft skills and heart skills as well as a personal portfolio. There are ways to create a portfolio even when you do not have any experience prior to this moment. Use your school projects or projects you’ve made for yourself.

要找到一份工作，您将需要一套完整的技能和特质。 正如我之前提到的，这些内容既包括软技能和心脏技能，也包括个人档案。 即使您之前没有任何经验，也可以通过多种方法来创建投资组合。 使用您的学校项目或您自己创建的项目。

By combining the previous points you will be able to move closer to your new design job. I hope this helps. Good luck!

通过结合之前的观点，您将可以更接近于新的设计工作。 我希望这有帮助。 祝好运！