Summary
I very quickly noticed how my entire professional journey had molded me into a UX Researcher that had a broader reach with teams, people, customers/users, and industry knowledge. In the Enterprise space I was/am able to successfully leverage so many of my other skills obtained in my other positions to make me a dynamic well-rounded researcher outside of just knowing principles, cognitive behaviors, data synthesis, and writing reports. It was the culmination of all of me, owning and leveraging ALL of my experiences that allowed me to connect the UX dots to my previous 15 years of experience. Eventually, I was doing onsite interviews with various Silicon Valley companies and then landed at LinkedIn. I am a ResearchH.E.R – Highly Enterprise Ready.
Key Insights
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The design squiggle metaphor perfectly illustrates both the design process and Renee’s nonlinear career path to UX.
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Renee’s journey shows that diverse roles like sales, project management, and customer success form valuable skills for UX research.
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Economic setbacks and layoffs challenged Renee but did not diminish her hope or drive to find meaningful work.
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Working multiple jobs outside her field taught Renee resilience and humility essential for career pivots.
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A conversation with a colleague—to run towards something versus away from something—profoundly shifted Renee’s career mindset.
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Self-directed learning and applying UX principles in current roles can open doors in the absence of formal UX degrees.
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Organizations often miss opportunities by not hiring more internal candidates with deep product knowledge for UX roles.
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Internal hires can bridge gaps between UX, sales, and customer success, fostering stronger cross-functional collaboration.
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Renee’s ‘Voltron’ approach of combining multiple career experiences provides a competitive edge in UX.
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Expertise earned from enterprise experience empowers confidence and authoritative presence in UX research conversations.
Notable Quotes
"The design squiggle is not just the design process; it’s literally my career path."
"I was devastated being laid off but not hopeless — and that made all the difference."
"I never thought I’d do sales, but I was really good at it and even became a sales manager."
"Don’t just run away from something. Make sure you are running towards something."
"In a web dev class I learned that if users can’t use your page, you just have a pretty page."
"I realized my years of experience weren’t liabilities but my superpower in UX."
"I became the first and only internal hire on my company’s UX team, which was a huge misopportunity."
"Internal folks bring zero ramp time because they already know the products inside out."
"I want people to ask why I’m not in the room when important UX conversations happen."
"Enterprise experience taught me to have tough conversations with execs that no certification could train me to handle."
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