f l o u r i s h

when i decided to make the leap, i enrolled into a google ux design course on coursera and earned some certificates. after a few months, i realised that whilst i wanted to be in ux, design wasn't really my forte and i started looking more into the writing side of things - i've always loved writing and reading and so this felt like a much more natural fit. thankfully, my previous experience working in marketing came in really handy bc even though i wasn't always doing strictly ux-related work, there was a lot of crossover with the things i had worked on. for example, because i was responsible for our user-facing communications, i planned and delivered everything from our emails and in-app messages to our blog posts, social media content, website pages and more. that has a big overlap with ux writing because you have to consider similar things, like:

clarity - is the messaging and cta clear to everyone who will read it?

conciseness - is the copy as short and to the point as it can be? (people don't like to read, so this was v important especially when it came to writing out in-app messages and emails as there's limited screen space)

conversational - is the copy "natural"? is it using every day language?

so as you can see from the above, i was able to take a lot of my previous experience and apply it to a ux context. i also had a few examples of ux work from my time in the marketing role that i was able to highlight in my portfolio. this is a v important asset if you're planning to apply for a ux role. you need to have a portfolio to even be considered for a role. i recommend having at least 2-3 case studies on your portfolio to show as examples of your work.

after that, it was just a case of applying and hoping to hear back from companies. i won't lie, this was the hardest part and was often really discouraging because there were times where i wouldn't hear back at all, or i would be turned away after the first or second interview. job hunting absolutely sucks, even if you have experience, so as a junior it was really challenging. eventually though, i was lucky enough to be hired into a role that really interested me and i've been working in a ux writer ever since!