Focus on Career Security Not Job Security with Laura Klein

Phil’s guest on this episode of the IT Career Energizer podcast is Laura Klein. Laura has been an engineer, designer and product manager helping companies of all sizes learn about their users so that they can build products people enjoy using.

She’s author of the books “Build Better Products” and “UX for Lean Startups” as well as co-host of the podcast “What Is Wrong With UX”.

In this episode, Phil and Laura talk about the differences between job security and career security. And they discuss the importance of research and preparation as well as the growing emphasis on ethics within the industry.

Laura also tells us why she is more excited about the potential of Augmented Reality than Virtual Reality.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

(2.42) TOP CAREER TIP

The thing that Laura found to be really interesting and important is that there is no job security. Your job can fire you at any time, the company can go out of business at any time and so forth. Laura talks about having career security rather than job security and how you can continue to be employable. Don’t be than reliant on one job forever.

(5.11) WORST CAREER MOMENT

Laura says that her first public talk in tech was a disaster. And this was in front of three hundred people. She had thought that giving a talk would be easy and similar to giving a high school talk but it was totally different. She hadn’t done enough research into what other conference talks were like. But Laura learnt from the experience and in particular to do research. She also started doing talks at much smaller venues such as meetups and hackathons.

(8.51) CAREER HIGHLIGHT

Laura tells Phil how excited she was at writing and publishing two books which she’s very proud of. However Laura says that, in contrast with her worst moment, she had the opportunity to give a talk to thousands of people at Davy Symphony Hall in San Francisco. This time the talk went very well.

(10.00) THE FUTURE OF CAREERS IN I.T

Laura says that she believes we’re in a bubble which is likely to deflate a bit. She thinks there will be some painful shake outs. However she is excited about technology being made easier for everybody in a more accessible way. And she’s also excited about Augmented Reality rather than Virtual Reality.

Laura is pleased that there is now a greater focus on ethics within the industry.

(12.31) THE REVEAL

What first attracted you to a career in I.T.? – Laura says it was initially simply a way to make money.

What’s the best career advice you received? – Focus on career security not job security.

What’s the worst career advice you received? – Laura was advised not to become a technology recruiter by someone who didn’t know anything about it.

What would you do if you started your career now? – Laura says that she would have stuck with engineering a little longer.

What are your current career objectives? – To figure out what she wants the next few years of her career to be. She’s reviewing her career and looking at how to switch up to something new.

What’s your number one non-technical skill? – Writing. Laura says that there is nothing she has done or learned to do that is more effective at getting me jobs and well-known, all of which happened because I wrote stuff down.

How do you keep your own career energized? – Laura has a podcast, “What is wrong with UX”. More people know Laura from the podcast than the books and the writing.

What do you do away from technology? – Laura says that she has a hobby solving extremely hard puzzles for fun and sometimes in competitions.

(18.17) FINAL CAREER TIP

Laura says that you shouldn’t take career advice from people like her. However she clarifies this by explaining that you should look to take career advice from people who have worked for the type of organisation that you’re interested in working for. Find people like you want to be in two to three years.

BEST MOMENTS

(8.42) – Laura - “All of the things we do in design and research all of the time, apply them to the rest of your career”

(13.21) – Laura - “Focus on career security not job security”

(18.48) – Laura - “Find people like you want to be in two to three years”

ABOUT THE HOST – PHIL BURGESS

Phil Burgess is an independent IT consultant who has spent the last 20 years helping organisations to design, develop and implement software solutions. Phil has always had an interest in helping others to develop and advance their careers. And in 2017 Phil started the I.T. Career Energizer podcast to try to help as many people as possible to learn from the career advice and experiences of those that have been, and still are, on that same career journey.

CONTACT THE HOST – PHIL BURGESS

Phil can be contacted through the following Social Media platforms:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/philtechcareer

LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/philburgess

Facebook: https://facebook.com/philtechcareer

Instagram: https://instagram.com/philtechcareer

Website: https://itcareerenergizer.com/contact

Phil is also reachable by email at [email protected] and via the podcast’s website, https://itcareerenergizer.com

Join the I.T. Career Energizer Community on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/ITCareerEnergizer

ABOUT THE GUEST – LAURA KLEIN

Laura Klein has been an engineer, designer and product manager helping companies of all sizes learn about their users so that they can build products people enjoy using.She’s author of the books “Build Better Products” and “UX for Lean Startups” as well as co-host of the podcast “What Is Wrong With UX”.

CONTACT THE GUEST – LAURA KLEIN

Laura Klein can be contacted through the following Social Media platforms:

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/lauraklein

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauraklein2

Website: https://usersknow.com