You won’t succeed in a silo. Nothing happens in a vacuum. As a practice, UX is built off the premise of teamwork. Every step of the process is about understanding people and building a positive experience alongside a team.

Given that the field is so tactical and new, there’s a lot of trial by fire. There’s absolutely no means to learning all you need to know through education alone. It’s hard to get the support you need from your peers because they’re just as new and confused as you are. Your teachers are a good source of help, but many are so removed from the industry themselves their advice isn’t always relevant. Without a key support system, you’ll never be able to fix the gaps in your UX knowledge while you learn.

Most UX designers don’t realize that they’re missing a good mentor.

1) You need mentors to navigate the UX world

Mentors are an integral part of UX success. Ux is such a quickly developing industry, most UX education programs stick to many of the basics. Some of the educators, if you happen to learn UX in a traditional university or college, are quite removed from the industry. My professor in my UX program hadn’t actually worked in UX in over seven years.

While these courses do cover many of the basics and the hard skills they are very generalized. There is no universal UX Process. The process varies heavily dependent on a lot of factors that are far outside of your control. Much of the UX process is dependent on the company, stakeholders, time constraints and so much more. It’s an entirely different ball game to design in an educational context versus a work setting.

Understanding the real world of UX is why it’s so important to have a good mentor. Understanding how to navigate working environments, payment or freelance clients is difficult without the guidance of others in the industry who’ve done it before. You’ll save yourself a lot of time, and potential monetary loss having a mentor by your side.

2) You’ll need a mentor to find your first job.

My mentor taught me how to get a job in UX. I credit finding a Junior UX Design position in the midst of a pandemic to their guidance.

The idea of learning how to get a job sounds odd. Frankly, it is. The interview process was a learning curve. Throughout university, I’d interviewed for several administrative, data-entry and retail jobs. Like most of us have. I didn’t realize until getting a mentor that I had no idea how to interview for design roles, and especially corporately placed design roles. It’s not the same.

My mentor taught me how to present, layout my portfolio and resume, what to focus on while interviewing and how to prepare.

Of course, the world is full of charmers. Some of us will be able to finesse our way into good positions off just charisma alone. That’s a trait I wish I had. For the rest of us, it’s a skill we’ll have to master.

3) Mentors help you navigate toxic workplaces

The world of UX is a bit of the wild west. Because it’s so new and best practices are ever-evolving there’s a lot of gatekeeping and toxicity. New environments lend themselves to a bit of disorganization and chaos.

My mentor was how I’d found out my first work environment was toxic. She explained to me how to find red flags in management, companies and work environments. I’d not realized that being the sole designer on a team was abnormal at the time. It was my first job. She explained to me a healthy, cohesive UX process and team. She told me to be wary of the “work culture” myth.

My mentor saved me from a toxic workspace. Most of what you learn about UX is while you’re in the field. You need topical advice while you’re in the line of fire, and a mentor gives that to you.

4) You’ll need to vent

UX Design is tough. Learning about it, finding your first role and swimming through the endless sea of gatekeeper ideas online does its number on your wellbeing. UX is a big field with a lot of egos.

I don’t have many other friends who work in UX. A lot of times, I want to vent about all things going on at work, design Twitter bad-takes or other general design-related things. However, I also hate first having to explain what UX design even is before I do that. UX is so unfamiliar to people outside of tech, it’s hard to vent to most people about it. At least not without a ton of explanations to accompany your complaining. Which, also lessens the cathartic feeling of complaining, to begin with.

To anyone outside the industry, it sounds like pretentious drivel. It sounds like pretentious drivel to me a lot of the time. How am I supposed to complain about work to my friend who’s a teacher? Or a nurse? I’ll sound like a child.

When my friends outside of tech complain about work to me I try my hardest to follow along. But, I miss most of the intricacies. And I’m sure they’d also rather be venting to a mentor than to me.

Mentors are a great place to vent and come with actionable advice. As a junior, internet or student there’s nothing you’re experiencing that a mentor hasn’t.

The moral of the story, check around your school, online, ADP List, LinkedIn, Slack groups or wherever you can to find a mentor. Some may charge for their time, but many will also mentor for free. It’s an invaluable resource to all designers. Get a mentor.

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