The Jobs Issue (Growth Design Monthly)

February 2021

Hi Readers,There is a button in hiring software like Greenhouse that literally says “Create Job.” Let me tell you this: pressing that button feels so good. It’s a rare privilege to manifest new work opportunities into the world. And it usually comes after a long process of proving ROI, drafting plans, and convincing capital. As momentum builds for growth design, it becomes easier to get to that glorious button-pushing moment. And yet, growth design is the most elusive specialty role to land as a job seeker.That’s why this month we’re featuring my top tips for growth design job seekers and hiring managers. Investors are saying that 2021 is THE year for product-led growth. And growth designers are key players in this revolution.~ Molly Norris WalkerNewsletter EditorGrowth Designers

For Job Seekers

I’m a job hopper at heart. I get the “one year itch.” This is where I start interviewing for other jobs on my first anniversary to make sure I like the one I have. I average about two years in a company with my all-time record being three years. So, I’ve developed a few job search rules of my own: how to pass the first filter, use the tools of the trade, pursue a targeted strategy, and always shape the job to be the I one want.

Pass the first filter.The first filter for design hiring is visual aesthetic. This is still true for growth design even with its greater focus on business skills. It’s hard to teach. I can help someone learn the theory of why something looks good and how to elevate their own work accordingly, but this is the reason for rejecting someone. As such, every part of my application has to reflect my visual sensibility: portfolio, resume, GitHub project descriptions, etc. Like drag, there is a certain taste level required to do this work. I can hear RuPaul at the judge’s panel: shanté you stay. 

Use the tools of the trade. As growth designers, we write hypotheses and create experiments to validate strategy. We optimize. How can we use these tools of the trade to achieve our own career objectives? Some growth designers have planned their job hunts as a series of experiments. I’ve scrapped data from 4,000 design job posts to understand the market. Others have gone full agile and created Trello kanban boards to track application flow.

Adopt a targeted strategy. 

Many years ago, I did a research project with IDEO about long-term unemployment. We discovered that there’s a two-sided problem with the post-internet job market. Hiring managers are dealing with a huge scale of applicants and must turn to draconian filters to manage the influx. At the same time, applicants send a scattershot of low-quality applications thinking job searching is a numbers game that they can win if they just send out enough applications.

One solution for job seekers is to do a highly targeted job search resulting in applications tailored to the company. Candidates go the extra distance to support their applications with outreach to current employees and even take on pro bono demo projects for the company to demonstrate their skills and dedication. A few examples? Contribute a component to their design system. Make a specialized portfolio for them (like Francine for Spotify.) 

Make the job you want. 

The design industry is skewed to senior roles. Let me say this unequivocally, it’s really, really hard to break into design. For product design, it’s common to see ratios of 29:1 senior to junior roles.

No matter your job title, just start doing growth design. Then ask that your job description be adjusted through your manager and HR. Unblock what’s stopping you from running your first experiment and get going. 

As a people manager, I’m thirsty for my direct reports to tell me what direction they want their creative career to take. This advice boils down to just do it. Ask forgiveness, not permission. And then let the organization catch up to you with a formal job description and title changes later even if you're working in a more traditional role like graphic design.

For Hiring Managers

As a team leader, I’ve hired dozens of designers, product managers, and developers across Europe and North America. Something that goes unsaid in building teams is the emotional labor in selling your company, team, and candidates. Being a hiring manager is like being a gambler and a sales rep mixed into one. Here are a few things I keep in mind with this terrible/amazing responsibility.

Set long-term healthy ratios. 

Headcount is usually created through an annual budget cycle which is a punishing constraint. Ask for more than you need. Anticipate cuts to your plan, but know that you can ask for board-level exceptions to be granted later to let you hire off-plan. Get the engineering team’s hiring plans to make sure you have an 8:1 engineering to design ratio (my ideal.)

Hire for trajectory. 

When you’re evaluating a candidate, you’re reviewing a snapshot in time for that person’s career. Positioning matters and that person may not have been afforded the opportunity to develop a track record of business impact yet. But, have they put themselves on a launchpad? I look at education, freelance client work, past careers, business acumen, leadership and team building experience more than I look at whether they've done the job before. 

Years of experience are stupid.Years of experience are a blunt instrument and meaningless in emerging specialties like growth design. I never include them in job descriptions. Never ever. Instead, I always focus on the quality of that person’s experience. Was their experience in top-tier companies or markets? A year at Pinterest is better than five in a regional marketing agency. I go back to the previous point. What is this person’s trajectory? Are they capable of marrying their raw talent with complex user problems? 

🔥 Hot Jobs

From the Growth Designers community—you can DM the job posters in the Slack community for more information!

Early Career 

Growth Designer Masters Summer InternshipInfluxData, US, Canada, UK, Italy, Germany - Remote.

Mid-Career 

Product Designer - Revenue GrowthAsana, Vancouver.Growth DesignerProdigy Games, Canada - Remote.

Senior Roles

Senior Product Designer - Restaurant ToolsSenior Product Designer - IntegrationsOpenTable, LA, DC or NYC.Senior Product Designer - Growth TeamBestow, Dallas, Austin or Remote US.Senior Product DesignerReforge, California or Remote US.Senior Product Designer, Growth TeamVimeo, NYC.

About the author

Molly Norris Walker is a serial head of design at high-growth startups and author of Design-Driven Growth. Currently, she leads design and user research at InfluxData. Molly is most passionate about elevating tech successes outside of Silicon Valley. She is the editor for the monthly-ish newsletter. Write to [email protected] if you’d like to guest edit a monthly edition of our newsletter.

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