When I worked at RBC, I gave a presentation on UX career paths at one of the monthly team meetings in 2013. The presentation included sample career paths and role descriptions culled from a number of online sources, discussion of different skills and the “T-shaped” skill set, and pointers to additional resources for career planning and skill development.

1. Signposts, Tips, and Tricks

3.  UX Career Paths
 Skill Sets
 Career Planning
 Development

4.  Evolve or die
 Nobody else will do it for you

5.  It never stops
 It’s a moving target

7. via http://www.challishodge.com/models_ux_careerpath.html

8. via http://www.adaptivepath.net/ideas/update-ux-leadership-model

9. via http://www.slideshare.net/kristenjohansen/creating-career-paths-for-ux-professionals

10. via http://www.slideshare.net/kristenjohansen/creating-career-paths-for-ux-professionals

13. via http://www.uxforthemasses.com/what-makes-good-ux-designer/

14.  Consider:
 What kind of work
interests me?
 What are my work
preferences?
 What am I good at?
 What gaps do I have?
 How do I fill those
gaps?
 Think of:
 Short term goals
 Long term goals
 Make it SMART:
 Specific
 Measurable
 Attainable
 Realistic
 Timely

16.  Books
 Blogs
 Social Networks
 LinkedIn Groups, Influencers
 Sig-IA Mailing List
 IxDA Mailing List
 Slideshare

17.  Local Groups
 IxDA Toronto
 TorCHI
 UX Irregulars
 UX Book Club
 Agile XD Toronto
 Conferences
 Fluxible
 UX Camp Ottawa
 Follow the UX
Leader
 Midwest UX
 Interaction (IxDA)
 IA Summit

18.  Formal
 Informal
 Peers
 Multiple Mentors

20.  Start somewhere
 No guts, no glory
 Evaluate, re-calibrate
 Think marathon, not sprint

21.  Do awesome things
 Everything is a learning experience

23.  Planning Your Future | http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/planning_your_future
 UX Circuit Training for Any Fitness Level | http://www.slideshare.net/feralprofessional/ux-circuit-training-
fluxible-2013
 Creating a Career Path for UX Professionals | http://www.slideshare.net/kristenjohansen/creating-career-
paths-for-ux-professionals
 UX Models | http://www.challishodge.com/models_ux_careerpath.html
 A Model for UX Career Growth | http://www.adaptivepath.com/ideas/a-model-for-ux-career-growth/
 Information Architecture Practitioners | http://livlab.com/thinkia/2009/04/information-architecture-
practitioners/

24.  The Five Competencies of User Experience Design | http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2007/11/the-
five-competencies-of-user-experience-design.php
 Five Indispensible Skills for UX Mastery | http://www.uie.com/articles/indispensable_skills/
 Essential and Desirable Skills for a UX Designer |
http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2010/12/essential-and-desirable-skills-for-a-ux-designer.php
 What Makes a Good UX Designer? | http://www.uxforthemasses.com/what-makes-good-ux-designer/
 Soft Skills for UX Designers | http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2012/03/soft-skills-for-ux-
designers.php
 The Hardest Soft Skills | http://www.slideshare.net/MiaNorthrop/the-hardest-soft-skills

25. Booklists
 UX Books | http://uxmastery.com/resources/books/
 Keep On Learning | http://52weeksofux.com/post/1418115765/keep-on-learning
Blogs
 InfoDesign | http://www.informationdesign.org/
 UX Magazine | http://uxmag.com/
 UX Matters | http://www.uxmatters.com/
 Smashing Magazine | http://www.smashingmagazine.com/
 Fast Company | http://www.fastcompany.com/
 Harvard Business Review | http://blogs.hbr.org/

26. Groups
 IxDA Toronto | http://www.ixda.org/local/ixda-toronto
 TorCHI | http://www.torchi.org/
 UX Irregulars | http://groups.google.com/group/uxirregulars
 UX Book Club Toronto | http://groups.google.com/group/uxbcto
 Agile XD Toronto | http://www.meetup.com/Agile-Experience-Design-Toronto/
Conferences
 Fluxible | http://www.fluxible.ca/
 UX Camp Ottawa | http://uxcampottawa.org/
 Follow the UX Leader | http://www.followtheuxleader.com/
 Midwest UX | http://midwestuxconference.com
 Interaction (IxDA) | http://www.ixda.org/conference
 IA Summit | http://iasummit.org

27. Jen Vetterli