Personal Stories - Unplanned Career Paths & Pivots

I had no idea UX research existed until I started doing it. As an undergrad student, I couldn’t have described UX research as a career even if someone had handed me the words. It took a project at Microsoft and stumbling through my first research session before something clicked, and I found the career that I didn’t know I was looking for. We talk a lot about vision and five-year goals for career planning. But some of the most defining moments aren’t planned at all. 🙃 I’m working on a piece about the role of surprise in how we find our work, and I want to hear your stories. What’s the career turn you never saw coming? What did you stumble into that ended up being your career path? Drop it in the comments. I want to hear from you. (Pic of me at Google in 2008, marveling that I get paid to do UX research.)