Student Success Story: Joe Zammit

Joe completed our 12-Week full-time UX/UI Career Development Bootcamp in April 2022. He has recently started a new role as a Junior UX Designer at Hawkeye Innovations.

We caught up with him recently to see how the course helped him achieve his goals and any pearls of wisdom for any budding product designers.

Tell us a bit more about what you were doing before you decided to pivot into design?

I have worked across many fields in design in difference roles, including industrial, interiors and transport. 

How was training at Experience Haus different from other providers?

They offered small, in-person, intimate classes in an office environment that wasn’t just centered around education, but agency life as well. 

What was the highlight of your course?

Being part of such a good group and talking to Amit about everything he gets up to outside of Experience Haus. This was helpful in understanding how you can build your own things outside of your normal work using the skills you develop as a UX Designer. Also just talking to the instructors who all have done different things and learning how they’ve all used what they’ve learnt in different ways.    

What was the most challenging part of your learning experience?

It would’ve been helpful to have a few suggested resources to learn further technical skills at my own pace.

Job Hunting & Your New Role

Where is your new job and what is your role?

I am working as a Junior UX Designer at Hawkeye Innovations.

How did you find the job search process after you finished the course?

It was definitely a bit of a struggle to begin with but I’m grateful I kept in touch with Amit and EH because it meant I was given an awesome learning opportunity in a more professional environment. Pretty certain it helped me get my foot in the door!

What did a typical working day look like for you 2 years ago?

I was working as a researcher I think. I didn’t enjoy the pace of work and the fact it was 100% remote. I wanted to find an environment where I could learn in-person and feel pushed by my colleagues.

What does a typical working day look like for you now?

Typically I’m in the office working within a UX team of 5. It’s quite similar to the bootcamp, and I have lots of autonomy and responsibility to steer the direction of projects. I also work closely with lots of different people across different products.

What are your top 3 tips for preparing for a design interview?

  1. Think of question worth asking the interviewer eg. what’s your biggest challenge for the design team over the next 6 months. Also, it’s especially worth asking questions in screener interviews so you can understand what it is they’re actually looking for.
  2. Have a portfolio in PDF format for interviews. Scrolling through a website can be challenging if it’s on an infinite scroll and especially when navigating between projects.
  3. Despite the outcome, remember every interview is a learning opportunity!

What advice do you have for anyone breaking into the industry? Is there anything you wish you’d known when you were first starting out?

Be prepared to wait. It’s not going to happen overnight.

Get in touch with Joe

linkedin.com/in/joseph-zammit

Posted on : Thursday July 13, 2023