How I landed my dream career in under a year!

Learning a new skill is scary. Especially online where there's so much information and overwhelm.

• Can you actually learn the skills you need for the job you want?

• What if you have zero prior experience in that role?

• Or even being able to use those tools?

That’s what one ZTM student was willing to bet on, and it paid off for him in under a year. This is his story.

Meet Aliff

Hi, my name Aliff Muzammil, and I am a final year student at UiTM Shah Alam, Malaysia. Studying in MC 249 - BACHELOR OF NEW MEDIA COMMUNICATION (HONS.)

Thanks to the courses I took here at ZTM, I’m also an intern at Hiredly as a UIUX Designer:

I’ve been here for about 3 months now and I’m loving it!

What was the goal or outcome you were hoping for from ZTM? Did you achieve it?

I was hoping to use ZTM as a stepping point into a career in UI/UX so yeah, it’s safe to say I achieved it. I was nervous at first, because I wasn’t really sure an online course could actually help me land a position since it is just online. Add in the fact that I had no coding or programming experience before that and it all results in a few doubts.

However, I had always been keen about UI/UX and didn’t want to let this stop me. Especially because I know from experience that self learning without any kind of plan can be hard, especially with the abundance of information you can find on the Internet.

I also knew that I wouldn’t have much motivation and discipline if it was free, so by spending even an affordable amount, it was enough for me to make it count.

I took Dan Schifano’s course and finished in around 6 months, alongside finishing my final year project at University.

Beginner

Complete UI/UX Product Design Bootcamp: Zero to Mastery

29 Hours •285 Lessons

Go from beginner to hired as a UI/UX Designer this year! This is the only design bootcamp you need to learn and master web design, mobile design, Figma, UI & UX, and HTML + CSS.

Andrei Neagoie&Daniel Schifano

That course taught me how to design not only for aesthetics, but to understand why I am designing it, and what problem I’m solving. All of which helped me get hired, because recruiters wanted someone that is able to sympathize and empathize with the users.

(More on that in a second).

What do you think differentiates ZTM from other resources you used?

What I really appreciate with Zero To Mastery is the community that you provide:

It’s so inspiring to see other people in Discord collectively wanting to learn something new, and wanting to improve themselves. 

Not only that, but I also really appreciated how the course was structured and how it was so concise. I actually had a lot of fun learning, because I could do it at my own pace and at any time, but I also knew I wasn’t wasting time learning the wrong things.

What has been the biggest challenge in your journey from learning to code to getting hired?

I had some issues at first with getting an interview, simply because I didn’t follow the process and make a portfolio project that was specifically around UI/UX.

So I conducted my own case study, understood the pain points and came up with the solutions. Then after the research and design process was complete, I compiled it as a case study which was easy to understand among readers. 

I did that and got a lot more interviews afterwards.

Speaking of interviews, once I got through the door, the interview went really well. I think mainly because I was able to answer questions around the design process and justify my decisions - all of which were taught in the course.

Fun fact, but I actually found my job right now because they are a local job seeking platform. I went on there looking for roles and saw they were hiring. 

Now that you have your new position, how do you feel?

Honestly my life has been greater because of this! 

I’m on the early steps of my career plan, and my life goals. My colleagues are great, the work environment is great, and I’m doing what I love, and learning more about this field every day.

What’s amazing is because of the depth of ZTM courses and what I’m learning on the job, I’m also able to teach other staff new things regarding UI/UX. And the best part is they actually do learn something from it and we even started applying it in our workflow. 

For example

We created a prototype in Gemini Studio to better communicate with developers on how the flows, states and interactions should be.

Pretty cool right!? Add in the fact that a UI/UX intern is paid higher compared to a generic intern position in the creative field and I’m already earning fairly good money.

TL;DR

I’m proud of where I am now, doing actual research and designs for real users. And ZTM played a big part in making that possible.

What advice would you give other students who are considering joining the ZTM Academy?

I would tell them to go for it and not wait for the perfect time or for everything to align!

The hardest part about learning something new is actually starting to do it. Everything else that you’re worried about is almost never an issue.

Sure, you won’t know everything right away and that’s ok. Appreciate the mistakes, and the lessons that come with it, and before you know it, you could be working in your dream career too!