The hiring landscape for digital design and product roles has changed. As layoffs continue, the meta for skills has also shifted. The pressures on people looking for roles have increased exponentially, leaving many feeling lost. Those lucky enough to have senior industry mentors and networks have a distinct advantage in knowing how to reframe their skills, and navigate their search - we want to offer that same advantage to all who need it.
Helping design and product practitioners navigate the new jobs landscape
How does it work?
We launched this service as a parallel to our client consultancy work. Inside companies, we design and deploy career progression and development systems for digital product and design teams - career ladders, skills frameworks, role definitions, and performance and growth systems.
We bring that insight, and our proprietary tools, to our work with individual practitioners. Helping you gain an objective view of your own skills, how best to frame your experience in context, and how to optimise your job search in the new industry-skills meta.
We bring that insight, and our proprietary tools, to our work with individual practitioners. Helping you gain an objective view of your own skills, how best to frame your experience in context, and how to optimise your job search in the new industry-skills meta.
1 Skills baseline
In a focussed one on one session, using our proprietary competency frameworks and tools, we systematically capture all of your atomic and composite skills. Covering both the chronology and context in which your skills were developed, we create a visual map of the depth and breadth of your discipline expertise. From this, we plan your future skills journey, identifying the competency gaps between where you are now, and the role or leadership archetype you’re aiming at.
2 Documentation review
With a clear picture of your current skills, and a plan for your future skills journey, we can assess how you are currently framing your experience for the audiences you want to engage with. We’ll take a look at your resume and, where relevant, your work samples or portfolio, to make sure they are communicating your experience in the most effective way. We can share examples of similar archetypes and best practice as guidance, and offer feedback and review of the changes you make.
3 Search strategy
We help you narrow the types of roles, industries, and companies that will find your current mix of skills most valuable, and that represent the opportunities to develop the most important skills for your future plans. We’ll provide salary benchmark guidance for the type and level of role you are targeting and, where appropriate, connect you to others from our network who can help you in your search, whether that’s recruiters, coaches, or senior practitioners in your field.
In a focussed one on one session, using our proprietary competency frameworks and tools, we systematically capture all of your atomic and composite skills. Covering both the chronology and context in which your skills were developed, we create a visual map of the depth and breadth of your discipline expertise. From this, we plan your future skills journey, identifying the competency gaps between where you are now, and the role or leadership archetype you’re aiming at.
2 Documentation review
With a clear picture of your current skills, and a plan for your future skills journey, we can assess how you are currently framing your experience for the audiences you want to engage with. We’ll take a look at your resume and, where relevant, your work samples or portfolio, to make sure they are communicating your experience in the most effective way. We can share examples of similar archetypes and best practice as guidance, and offer feedback and review of the changes you make.
3 Search strategy
We help you narrow the types of roles, industries, and companies that will find your current mix of skills most valuable, and that represent the opportunities to develop the most important skills for your future plans. We’ll provide salary benchmark guidance for the type and level of role you are targeting and, where appropriate, connect you to others from our network who can help you in your search, whether that’s recruiters, coaches, or senior practitioners in your field.
Who is it for?
For design and product practitioners or leaders of all types, shapes, and seniority, who are considering or actively pursuing the next chapter of their careers. Whether navigating a difficult jobs market, or secure in a role but curious about their current trajectory, we offer a space and guidance to navigate your next steps confidently.
- Product design
- UX design
- UXR / User research
- Strategy (product / design)
- UI / visual design
- Service design
- Content design
- Product management
- IA / content strategy
- Interaction / motion design
Team
- Ben TregoingBen has been designing career progression frameworks, skills development systems and tools for design and product teams for 10 years. He guides practitioners through the process, and leads the sessions and follow up.
- Prof. Kate HardyA professor of global labor and digital skills, Kate ensures our approach to skills baselining, competency frameworks and data-models are ethical, robust, and fit for purpose, as well as refining our user-centred processes.
- Justin BaumJustin brings insights from 15 years of leading design and product teams to our process with practitioners, refining our skills definitions, categories and tools to ensure they are relevant to the current industry skills-meta & archetypes.
FAQ
The initial skills baseline and exploratory conversation takes about 90 minutes, after which we will send you an artefact with your visual skills map (current and future), and some insights and recommendations, which we’ll then discuss in real time over a second 30 minute follow up session.
Our aim is to offer access, to everyone who needs it, an expert and objective analysis of your skills and specific ‘shape’. Crucially, we help place this into context of wider industry trends, archetypes, and the ‘meta’ for what those skills mean in relation to your job search and career journey.
No, this is distinct from coaching in that it is centred on quantifiable skills, and focussed on optimising your current job search strategy and tactics right now. It’s more of a ‘one shot’ process than ongoing coaching, giving you insights on the wider industry trends and landscape you’re navigating today.
Not directly no, we aren’t recruiters. Our goal is to help you align your current blend of skills to the right industry role archetypes, and give you insights into how to target your search. We do have relationships to trusted recruiters though, and can make connections if needed.
With the exception of recent graduates, or career switchers with minimal practical experience in a discipline, it’s for everyone. But we’re offering this service with those who have experienced layoffs in mind, or who are in a phase of uncertainty about their current trajectory or options.
Not exactly. This is more about gaining an objective and pragmatic perspective on what your current breadth and depth of measurable skills and competencies mean for your career options. Of course, understanding these things will help you tell a better story, and know who to tell it to.
We want this service to be as accessible as possible, and are acutely aware that some people will be under financial pressure. We are setting the cost at $300 / €270 / £250, but we don’t want cost to be a barrier to those who need help, so we will reserve a number of free slots each month for those in need.
Contact Us
Made with love in New York,
Malmö, Chișinău and London
Malmö, Chișinău and London