A university student approached me for advice on their career direction. They asked a question that reminded me of how I felt at that stage in my career. I’m sure this same advice has been given many times before.
Request for advice
I will be graduating this year with a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. I’m deciding what I should do for my Master’s degree. I have strong software knowledge and soft skills. I recently realized that I prefer the design phase of products and solutions. In particular, I am most interested in: conceptualization, idea generation, problem-solving, prototyping, and research.
With some exploration, I found three suitable domains for a Master’s degree: human-computer interaction design, product design, and interaction design. I am confused about how to proceed. Do my motives and understanding make sense? How do I choose?
My advice
It seems like you’re interested in the creative part of technology. That’s great! You should know, though, that no matter what job you do, the creative/visionary part is one of many. At the beginning of your career, it makes up a smaller portion of your time and effort. You’ll soon find that in the industry, being creative for creativity’s sake is not useful. Making a big impact under constraints usually requires creativity - and that kind is very valuable. If you focus on having a big impact and you build up expertise in an industry with hard problems worth solving, you will find yourself deep in a rewarding creative career.
What are the most useful skills and experiences you can get which are also very difficult for other people to acquire?
For you, these skills are probably applied STEM skills and experiences - like learning the fundamentals of compilers and distributed systems, then getting experience contributing to a system with an event-based architecture. You can evaluate what is “useful” by looking at job application pages or talking to recruiters/hiring managers: what skills and experiences are in the highest demand? For a junior position? For a senior position? In the distant future?
You probably have invested in some technical areas and some industries. Those are good foundations to build on. It’s easier to build new skills and experiences you are passionate about getting, so take advantage of that motivation. That said, if you’re always pursuing new passions, you may not get a return on your investment in any of them.
Go where you can make a higher impact. Take advantage of your motivation, network, skills, and experience.