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Freelancing + Balance
Hello all! I was wondering if anyone on FGB has done freelance UX work? I'm starting to focus more on freelance just because the job market is rough right now, especially with the over saturation of us junior designers. If you have freelanced, how do you balance multiple projects, or determine what your bandwidth is for taking on more than one project? Curious to hear your thoughts! Thanks!
There are a lot of things to consider in picking a bootcamp. For me it was definitely the right decision. I love creative problem solving, empathy, and research, which makes UX a great fit. What draws you to UX?
I went to Flatiron, because they had purchased the curriculum from Designation, another bootcamp. However Flatiron is no longer enrolling new students to their design program. Many people go to DesignLab, General Assembly, and a few colleges are now offering design bootcamps too.
To make a decision, I would take some of the free courses and articles that are available to get a sense of what UX is and to see if you connect with it enough to make an investment in a program. When I was trying to figure everything out, I signed up for every "free intro email course" from the different bootcamps to see if the material excited me, and to see if I liked their method of teaching.
If you decide to go the bootcamp route, there are a few things I would look for:
1) How many projects will you be completing as part of the bootcamp? These are necessary for your portfolio to be hired/pull freelance contracts, especially if you are new to UX. In general, look for 3-4 projects. Also, what kinds of projects (if you can find out) - B2B, B2C, mobile app, responsive web, etc?
2) Will you have the opportunity to do client facing work through the program? Many bootcamps repeat the same projects over and over, so there are thousands of case studies on the same project. Client facing work gives you professional experience and a unique case study to help your portfolio stand out.
3) Find the alumni from the program you're considering - where do they work? You'll need their assistance to network in the long term, and you need evidence that companies you are interested in hire bootcamp grads.
4) Look up job postings you're interested in to see what software experience is required. Then compare to the software you'll learn during bootcamp. Sketch, Figma, Adobe XD, Axure, Invision, Principle....the list goes on and on.
5) Lastly, if the bootcamp offers a tuition guarantee, make sure you go through it thoroughly.
May I ask where you went for UX certification? There so many sites/offerings/expensive courses available. I'm lost.
Thank u!
What is UX?