Diana Gabriela Mendoza
"What I really like about my job is that our UX team operates as a consultancy within the company, with other teams acting as clients who "hire" us to improve their tools and increase their efficiency."
As a UX designer on the Internal Platform team, I create tools that Indeed employees use to get their own jobs done. What I really like about my job is that our UX team operates as a consultancy within the company, with other teams acting as clients who "hire" us to improve their tools and increase their efficiency. So rather than working on a small element of a system (such as a dropdown menu or a modal), I get to work end-to-end on complex web applications, from the kickoff meeting with the stakeholders to the final handoff to the engineers and developers. My advice to current and future iSchoolers, especially those interested in user experience, it to branch out! The iSchool offers a really wide breadth of course offerings and many active student organizations. Taking coursework in other areas will give you experience in learning about different workflows, processes, and industries, which is crucial for UX designers as you're often placed on projects well outside your comfort zone.