Siobhán started her career as a software engineer. After seven years at her current company, she had the opportunity to move into a UX designer role. Looking to advance her skills in her new position, she tried a handful of online courses but found that she needed more structure and human interaction to keep her on track.

That’s when she discovered the King’s UX & UI Product Design Career Accelerator.

“I found that I didn’t have the discipline, honestly, to be able to work through these things by myself. I was looking for something where I could actually talk with other people and get more guidance to get through it and come out the other side with something valuable, which to me, is both the certificate and the knowledge I’ve gained. When I came across this programme, it ticked all the boxes for me. It had everything that I needed.”

The programme is really people-focused

“During one of my initial calls with my Enrolment Advisor, she told me about the support network I’d have. I hadn’t really thought much about career coaching. And I didn’t really know what a success manager was. But once they were explained to me, I really liked that they could help me with the course content and how to improve my career overall. Having someone to ask questions and help throughout the process is what clinched it for me, really. I’m really human-focused, so having that extra kind of personal touch was immensely helpful for me.”

You’ll be able to use your new skills fast

“I really had no clue when I started how to conduct UX research. Within the first six weeks, we were actually doing exactly that. I went from knowing nothing to carrying out my own research initiative in my company, which went really, really well. It ended up giving me a really good opportunity to move into a lead role because I had learned so much, and I had proven the value straight away. So really, it was immensely helpful straightaway for me.”

My Career Coach provided the right support for me

“My Career Coach was brilliant. For me, I needed to focus on soft skills, like how to stand up and present with confidence. Impostor Syndrome was a big thing for me, particularly at the very start of my career, because I was never really sure whether I was doing the right thing. I didn’t have the confidence to explain myself properly. Working with my coach helped me build up those skills in a way I couldn’t have imagined. It was very much tailored to me.”

Iryna, one of our learners on the King’s Product Management Career Accelerator, thought that she would have to start her career from scratch after closing her business and exploring a new path. Her Career Coach helped her see the value of her past experience and gave her the confidence boost she needed to apply for her dream position. Read her story here. 

You get a real sense of the job while working on the Employer Project

“We were responsible for designing a mobile app for one of Creative Navy’s clients. In the first week, we met the team and carried out some quick user research to understand who we were designing for and identify their problems. Then we moved onto mid-fidelity wireframes, which involved taking all the insights we got from our user research and putting together a few screens to demonstrate how we could solve the user’s problems. This project was then graded both by the client and Creative Navy. We got some amazing feedback from them about how we approached it, and they gave helpful advice on the changes we needed to make. The final result was a fully-fledged prototype and a full demonstration to Creative Navy at the end of the course, which went really well. It was a great experience.”

“Throughout the programme, we were given a huge amount of feedback from people in the industry to show exactly where we’re doing well and what we can improve on.”

My Success Manager kept me on track 

“I had a one-on-one call with my Success Manager every week. It was like having my own support network all in one. Once, I was having a really hard time at work with a lot going on, which meant I wasn’t doing as much as I should have. She reached out to me saying, “Siobhan, are you okay? Is there anything we can do? How can we help you get through this and minimise your stress?” It was nice to have someone there to check in and make sure everything was okay. That was really helpful for me to keep me on track.”

UX is accessible to anyone

“All of the people in my group working on the Employer Project came from different backgrounds: We had graphic design, product management, psychology, fashion – they all had different aspects, but they approached the course the same way. They brought their previous experience in alongside everything that we’ve been doing as part of the course, which really helps to build up a portfolio – one of the most important things that you can have when you’re going into a UX career.”

This investment in my education was worth it

“With the progress I’ve made in my career over the last six months, in terms of the added responsibility and the ability to actually work properly in this industry, I think it’s going to pay for itself. At the end of the day, you get out of it what you put into it. I’ve tried to get as much out of it as I can. And I think it’s gone really well for me.”

We’re proud to have watched Siobhán’s confidence grow and the positive results this has had for her career. If you’d like to get a better idea of some of the practical work Siobhán did on the programme, take a look at this case study. 

You can also watch her Q&A with our Head of Enrolments here:

If you’re interested in exploring how the King’s UX & UI Product Design Career Accelerator can help take you further in your career, take a look at the programme page.