7 things I learned in my transition to content design

“Oh baby, baby, it’s a wild world.” ~Cat Stevens

Letting go of a safe path and betting on yourself can be tough. But in January 2021 I did just that. After many years as a writer and content marketer, I made a choice to steer my career towards product work.

About a year in, it feels like time to share some things I’ve learned along the way. Hopefully this helps others who are considering a content design career.

1. You may already be a content designer

Think about what you do today. Are you a writer or editor? Do you sit on a content marketing or technical writing team? If any of these apply, you’re probably already doing UX writing (or close).

The key is to figure out how to talk about and show any writing or editing you’ve done for products. You can take anything you’ve written for a website, desktop software, or an app and format it as a case study. Once you do that, you’ll be well on your way to showcasing content design skills.

2. You don’t need a UX bootcamp to change careers

I was a content strategist dreading the next SEO keyword optimization. How did I run far, far away? At first I thought I needed to learn UX skills from a bootcamp and become a UX designer.

I’m happy with my experience with CareerFoundry’s UX bootcamp. But, knowing what I know now means I probably wouldn’t have gone this route. That’s because there are much faster (and cheaper) ways to transition to a career in content design. Some places that have courses worth considering include SVC Seattle and the UX Content Collective.

3. The community is generally welcoming

I knew a transition was going to mean meeting people, and as an introvert that’s not always my favorite thing. But it turns out there are some seriously rad people in content design. How did I get comfortable talking to them? Baby steps.

I started by joining CareerFoundry’s Slack channel to meet fellow UX students. Then, I started following people on LinkedIn and Twitter who seemed passionate about UX and had interesting things to say. From there I found out about conferences and attended a few, like the UX Writer Conference.

As I networked, I met mostly friendly and engaged people. Many folks seem to want to share helpful resources and help each other grow. It felt like I’d finally found my crew — a feeling I never had in journalism or marketing.

4. You’ll meet a lot of career transitioners

Right now, many people are questioning all aspects of their lives — including their careers. The media is all over this “Great Resignation.” But rather than a resignation, in some cases it’s really a reprioritization. Since getting into content design, I’ve met many other former journalists, marketers, and technical writers. The commonality seems to be an interest in using their skills in research, analysis, and writing to help improve things that people actually use. So don’t be surprised if you meet others who are new to content design but have had plenty of job experience already.

5. You’ll probably need a portfolio, but don’t overthink it

Even now, the thought of pulling up my website and looking through the case studies makes me cringe. Feelings of imposter syndrome and perfectionism are hard to shake. The key is to push past that discomfort and put yourself out there anyway — getting your next job may depend on it.

Your portfolio doesn’t have to be a hand-coded masterpiece. It can be as simple as a Google Slide or Canva slide deck. Or, you can create a site pretty quickly with templates on Squarespace, Wix, or Webflow. What’s most important is describing your process . That means demonstrating how you take a user problem and work through it to find a solution.

6. Collaborating and asking questions are big parts of the job

When I got into tech a few years ago, I quickly learned that I’d signed up for days packed with meetings and little else. But what felt like meetings for meetings’ sake in some environments feels different in the world of content design. Why?

I think the difference is that in UX the focus is on building and improving things for users. These products don’t get built or improved without a team working together. And, yes, meeting with these team members and asking questions every step of the way is vital. In my experience, you’ll spend most days researching, asking questions, planning, and meeting. Writing may be only about 25% of your job — and that’s ok.

7. You may end up loving your job

Over the years I’ve been fortunate enough to have work that I could do while traveling the world, or work that seemed like it could make a difference in people’s lives. But even if I loved the flexible location or values alignment of some jobs, it always felt like some kind of spark was missing.

It’s true that work won’t love you back. But, it’s also true that finding a career that fits your skills and interests feels different.

And when you have interesting work in a supportive environment? Trust me, that’s a job worth waiting for, showing up for, and enjoying to the fullest.

Did any of these points resonate with you? What advice would you add for people looking to transition into content design? Leave your thoughts below, and thanks for reading!