What I Learned and What I Didn’t at Grad School
I just graduated from New York University with a master’s degree in Integrated Design and Media (IDM). I spent most of my school life online due to this pandemic and faced many challenges, but I could have great learning experiences thanks to all faculties and the school.
While I am looking for a job, I have some thoughts I want to share with incoming grad students. This probably doesn’t apply to all, but I hope some of you find it useful.
1. Grad school doesn’t teach you how to get a job
When I enrolled at NYU, I thought I could find a job when graduating. Now, I know this is such a stupid thought.
We cannot find a job only by taking classes, doing assignments, and getting all A at a grad school.
Each of us needs to prepare to get a job, self-learning required skills, piling up a portfolio, expanding network, asking professors for tips, and so on.
I realized it halfway to graduation and rushed to work on these.
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity — Seneca
I got this message from a fortune cookie when I ordered Chinese food and I think this is so true. I put this message on my work desk to keep preparing.
2. Networking is extremely IMPORTANT more than expected
As an international student, networking has been challenging. It may be because of both my personality and Japanese culture. However, living in New York City and going to grad school, I realized how important networking is. Friends and connections are willing to help me find a job and write referrals. Being shy is not useful at all in terms of job search. If I am polite and show gratitude, asking people for help is the best way to get interviews and does not ruin relationships.
Luckily, I realized this when two semesters were left before graduation, so I have been trying to push myself out of my comfort zone.
Here is what I did to expand my network. First, I tried to acquire more knowledge in my area by doing the following, then find attendees, speakers, and authors on LinkedIn and send messages with personalized notes.
- Attending online workshops and meetups (a11yNYC, other accessibility groups in meetup)
- Listening to podcasts (13 letters, 99% invisible)
- Reading articles in medium
- Follow people with hashtags on Twitter
I am passionate about UX research and design with a focus on accessibility and inclusive design, and I can easily find people working in the field on social media. Also, since everything is online now, it is easier to attend workshops and talks. Many peoplw accept requets if it’s with personalized notes about their work and talk, so I recommend to keep doing.
3. Follow interests and (I believe) outcome will follow
When I enrolled at NYU, I was not entirely sure what I wanted to do in the future. So, I explored new areas such as Virtual Reality, Creative, Coding, and Physical Computing. Then, I came back to accessibility research and found out that this was what I want to work for with confidence.
After that, I started working with Regine Gilbert, took a class “Developing Assistive Technology” by Amy Hurst and Anita Perr, checking relevant news, reading books, and talking to new people to better understand the field. I also contacted a start-up, WearWorks, which develops a haptic band to guide people (especially for people with visual impairments) to a destination by using only haptic. The company replied my email and now I work there as a UX researcher. All what I did was to follow and express my interests.
Besides academic interests, I have been volunteering at a Japanse pre-school in Brooklyn since 2019. I saw kids speaking Japanse on the street and I was really suprised since I rarely hear Japanese in Brooklyn. I googled “Japanese School Brooklyn”, then I found it located in 5 min walk from my place. After many twist and turns, I started volunteering as a development assistant and I really enjoy working with them by seeing kids learn Japanese and cultures. Now, they offered me some help to find a job and contacted parents who work in tech companies. These parents are really supportive and give me useful advises. I didn’t expect any return from volunteer, I just wanted to help kids learn Japanese.
Following interst and expressing it may result in somethhing unexpected, so just do whatever you want!
4. Be proactive
What I can learn depend on what I want to learn and my passion. Even taking the same class, how much I can learn depends on how much I am proactive. Be proative to do the following…preparing for classes, doing extra readings, going to office hours, talking to professors, working on assigments in a quality more than expected, showing work outside of classrooms, getting feedback from people in industry, and so on.
Don’t be shy and be proactive.
Congratualtions, class of 2021! It is now official, we are NYU graduates!
I want to thank all faculties and school staffs who have been working to provide us with education and resoueces during this unprecedented academic year.
