#4 - Building A Successful UX Career, with gruntmonkey LLC Founder and General Assembly Mentor Jason Early
Career Therapy Podcast e.4 - Building A Successful UX Career, with gruntmonkey LLC Founder and General Assembly Mentor Jason Early
For Career Therapy Podcast episode 4, we welcome UX expert Jason Early.
Jason is the founder, front-end developer, and UX designer at gruntmonkey, a small design practice specializing in process and development. He’s also the maker of limited edition show posters (through The Poster Works), a UX and web development instructor with General Assembly, a mentor, a coffee roaster, and a devout fan of baseball. His clients include NASA, M&M/MARS, and Boeing, and he prides himself on providing designs that maintain a balance of beauty and functionality.
Martin and Jason met when they were doing workshops on personal branding, and in this conversation, they talk about how to handle the ebbs and flows of productivity, working for yourself, and entrepreneurship in general. It’s a fascinating discussion and one that’s sure to make you rethink client meetings, how to improve your personal brand, and the best way to run your own business.
During this Episode, We Discuss:
0:00 Introducing Jason Early
0:55 the reading of the LinkedIn profile
5:14 the Yahoo and MySpace era
11:20 life between full-time, entrepreneur, contractor, etc.
12:40 freelancing and moonlighting
16:27 lessons from the trifecta of work experience
18:39 companies aren’t sitting around with piles of money
21:07 what to ask businesses in interviews and/or meetings
27:50 telling people: “I don’t know.”
38:45 being a Swiss Army knife when you own your own business
41:30 when roles disappear out from under you
43:25 “they didn’t go internal — they went under!”
51:09 looking for all the variations in the work
52:23 how to figure out what job descriptions actually mean
56:09 why you need to utilize calls to action
58:11 advice to your former self
Resources, pages, and videos mentioned in this episode:
Now Over To You!
If you know anyone who has been hustling, or started a business, during the pandemic, and has an amazing story to share, let us know who they are! Alternately, if you, or someone you know has recently gone through a layoff, or has a layoff, or any other career transition-oriented story to share, reach out. Contact Martin through his personal LinkedIn page to get in touch. We're always on the lookout for amazing guests for the cast.
As always, thanks for listening!
