{"id":15599,"date":"2021-12-07T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-07T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aquent.com\/?p=15599"},"modified":"2021-12-07T05:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-12-07T10:00:00","slug":"how-to-navigate-the-7-stages-of-your-design-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www-beta.aquent.io\/en-au\/blog\/how-to-navigate-the-7-stages-of-your-design-career","title":{"rendered":"How To Navigate The 7 Stages Of Your Design Career"},"content":{"rendered":"

In <\/span>my last blog for Aquent<\/span><\/a>, I talked about the many paths for designers depending on their skills and their life circumstances. For example, I was<\/a> a Head of UX and Consulting at a public service digital consultancy before my cancer diagnosis in 2008. When I returned after breast cancer and leukaemia, I did not have the energy to work more than 3 days a week, so I went back to my technical skills of being an information architect. I chose to move from Manager back to Practitioner because this is what suited my life and health at that moment.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is another way to think about your career that is not dependent on your role but the amount of experience and the lessons learnt you bring – the Design Career Map<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The career map shows stages in your career and what your experience in design and digital gives you at each moment.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Design<\/p>\n

Each stage talks about the experience and skills you have and what that means to the decisions you make about your career. The stages do not prescribe being a manager, practitioner or consultant; you can be whatever suits you, but describe the general levels of competency and mindset you should have at each level.<\/span><\/p>\n

The levels are:<\/span><\/h2>\n

Start (0 years)<\/span><\/h4>\n

This is the stage where a designer is ready to start their professional career after completing their design education. This education could be formal education at a university or a design boot camp.<\/span><\/p>\n

Change (0 years)<\/span><\/h4>\n

Many new designers are career changers. Their design career will be different to a new or young graduate. They have at least 10 years of experience in the workforce and have family and financial responsibilities that inform the decisions they make.<\/span><\/p>\n

Learn (0 – 2 years)<\/span><\/h4>\n

This stage is about becoming a professional designer, including learning and applying the craft, working with other tech disciplines under typical project conditions<\/span><\/p>\n

Build (2 – 5 years)<\/span><\/h4>\n

Designers in this stage build on what they have learnt, understanding themselves and their strengths, and doing as many projects as possible to gain experience<\/span><\/p>\n

Establish (5 – 10 years)<\/span><\/h4>\n

This stage designers are establishing themselves within their chosen part of the field, and deciding on a path (for now) as a practitioner, specialist, manager or consultant<\/span><\/p>\n

Stretch (10 – 20 years)<\/span><\/h4>\n

Designers stretch their wings in their career in this stage adapting their careers to the life that is happening around them<\/span><\/p>\n

Grown (20 plus years)<\/span><\/h4>\n

In this last stage, Designers are certain in what they have to offer, have grown in their expertise and model their values in how they work<\/span><\/p>\n

So what do these stages mean for your career? <\/span><\/h2>\n

The stages are guidance on what you will be probably be thinking, the experience you have, the life circumstances you are dealing with and the typical paths. <\/span><\/p>\n

For example, a designer in <\/span>Build<\/i><\/b> who is 3 years in their career are more likely to be thinking about do they specialise or remain a generalist. While a person in <\/span>Grown<\/i><\/b> is looking back on their career, reviewing previous roles and deciding on which one suits them better for the next stage of their career.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you want to know more about each stage and the decisions you make as a designer, you can buy the book <\/span>Career Architecture<\/span><\/i> at <\/span>https:\/\/www.magshanley.com\/career-architecture-book<\/a><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

© Mags Hanley<\/p>\n

\"Career+Architecture_Book_Mockup.jpeg\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mags Hanley explains another way to think about your design career that is not dependent on your role, but the amount of experience & lessons learnt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[835,838,842],"capabilities":[],"class_list":["post-15599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-job-seeker","category-design","category-ask-aquent"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t