Dear paintgrl99, First off all, nice you are joining at interaction08.
>>Back in the old days I was considered a thought leader. You still are. You just have to rediscover some of your best qualities which got you so far, or you have to improve them which can be a lot of fun. People who have to setup User Experience Design have to evangelise. After they have accomplished awareness for the value of UX, you're already have become a teacher in the process. However at some time when UX has budget and people think to attract some other UX people you have to become a mentor in evangelisation and a teacher troughout the company. After you have done that you may feel once you've been a thought leader, however this by far from over. The more you spend time on teaching and mentoring, the less time you had to develop yourself by doing. Now it's time to evangelise en mentor yourself, how strange it might seem. You have two routes: 1) Believe in your experience with people (communication, evangelisation, mentoring) and become a UX manager 2) Go back to university / art academy and find a specialism which could enrich your background. Get new ideas, become fresh and passionate again about the subject. >> When is it a good idea to go backwards? Never. You have a rare amount of experience, basic principles of oldschool UX are still newschool too. Backwards in the sense of getting new inspiration is always very good. >> What will the recruiters think? People think of you what you tell them how you think about yourself. If you say you're old school they will label you as such. Some recruiters might be really good, they will want to help you by saying what you have accomplished. Because you're of much value. To play safe rediscover your drive again before going to a recruiter. >> Should I take the word Sr. and Lead off of my resume? Never, you are what you are. You've got a lot of experience. How much you had to struggle to add value in the past? I bet some. Was everything for nothing? Ofcourse not. Be proud of yourself and your experience. If this is your first struggle (hard to believe), then this is one you cannot escape, even if you start doing something completely different. >> Is this career suicide? Do you think lives of users improve when doing UX? Do you keep improving those lives? Do you want to do this professionally? Follow your heart. Be proud about your experience. Make up your mind later about removing Sr etc. Add things instead. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=25636 ________________________________________________________________ *Come to IxDA Interaction08 | Savannah* February 8-10, 2008 in Savannah, GA, USA Register today: http://interaction08.ixda.org/ ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
