Years of Experience Don't Matter.
How to Leverage this Fact to "Skip The Queue" With Your Product Career
My career was kick-started when I launched my first startup.
As I navigated this venture, I taught myself the fundamentals of product & UX/UI.
2 years later, that business failed, & I found myself stepping into the job market with the only marketable skills I seemed to have:
UX/UI design.
But as soon as I started browsing jobs on LinkedIn, imposter syndrome hit me:
“This role requires 2-3 years of UI experience in fast-paced environment.”
“Candidates must have 5 years experience working with Adobe design tools…”
“We require a proven track record of delivering results…”
I found myself wondering,
“Well, have I worked in a fast-paced environment? Does my own startup count? Worked with Adobe? Sure, I’ve tried it. But Sketch seems a lot better… And what kind of results would I need?”
Add to that the fact I had never actually been employed as a UX/UI Designer? You can understand why I didn’t feel I had a realistic chance of getting any UX/UI role, let alone one I would be really happy with.
However, as I started to get a few interviews & put a portfolio together, I had a realisation:
Nobody really cares about years of experience on your CV.
They care about experience itself.
Years of experience, therefore, is simply a proxy for real experience.
Sure, I didn’t have 2-3 years as an employed UX/UI Designer, but I had packed in 10 years of experience into 2 running a startup because of the intense focus of the work, the mentorship we had from investors/advisors, as well as the speed of iteration that led to such a steep learning curve.
I wasn’t particularly competent with Adobe, but it was already an out-dated tool! In fact, in many interviews, companies were pleasantly surprised to learn about a faster, cheaper, more collaborative alternative in Sketch.
And, although the business had failed, I had proven results of taking products to market, whether that be creating an App Store listing that was featured under “Hot New Apps”, or launching a new feature that moved the needle in terms of first session usage & retention.
And, perhaps even more importantly, I realised that this was all a game.
That you could “skip the queue” if you were smart about it.
If I built a focused, clear CV.
If I practiced my introduction & personal story to “wow” the interviewer in the first 1-2 minutes.
If I put work into building a slick, compelling portfolio.
Within 2 weeks, I had a job.
And I’ve been applying that approach ever since, skipping the queue into product management, into Head of Product, and into running a successful, bootstrapped business as a solo founder at the age of 28 (Prod MBA, which launched in 2020).
How You Can Skip The Queue
“Skipping the queue” isn’t about lying on your CV, making up results, or just being great at selling yourself in an interview.
Ultimately it comes down to a mindset.
A mindset to do the following:
Build experience in any way possible, as quickly as possible.
For some, that might mean taking a pay cut to work at a fast-paced, early-stage startup.
For others, it might mean working on a side hustle because you’re stuck in a delivery-focused role & not improving your product sense.
For others, it might mean building network or mentoring your mate’s fledgling startup.
But, for those that want a proven, fast, effective way to fast-track their path to Head of Product? Here’s a call-to-action for you:
🚀 Our Jan 22nd Prod MBA cohort still has 4 places available. It’s now a 4-week module & 30% of the original price, but still focused on getting you to build a real product from zero to revenue.
👉 Apply Now if you’re ready to take action
👉 Learn More if you need more info