Imposter syndrome is one of the biggest challenges for career changers. It is particularly true for people with years of experience in another field.

I have been there as well. With over 10 years of experience in another industry, changing my career is like a dying reborn process.

You need to let go of all the accumulated success and worthiness and only start from 0 again.

Even after studying design, you still consistently question, “Can I call myself a designer now?” “Can I find a design job and break into the industry?”

I didn’t stop questioning myself until I landed my first full-time product designer role and designed a new product later acquired by an industry leader. Before that, it was years of learning and pursuing my design dream on and off.

As an immigrant in the U.S., my path to design had some extra challenges. When I finished my design certificates and started looking for a job, I only found that my working visa was tied to my professional identity as a writer, which meant I couldn’t switch to design even after I put so much effort into the learning.

I struggled, doubted, and gave up. Then, something happened.

Shortly after I gave up, I had an unexpected near-death experience while sitting on a 14-hour flight. The experience only lasted for several minutes.

After regaining my senses and consciousness, I realized I had three unfulfilled wishes, one of which was to become a designer. I knew I had reached a point of no return at that moment.

The rest of the story was I participated in an open-source project to help people during the pandemic, which eventually led to my first full-time Product Designer role at a Health Tech Startup.

Of course, you don’t need to face death to overcome imposter syndrome, and please don’t. 🙂 I’m sharing this with you because I know, ultimately, it’s about how much you want it.

On the surface, you can keep learning design skills, participate in open-source projects, do pro bono projects, and volunteer for the UX community.

More importantly, you need to have the burning desire to become a designer and trust you will be. Also, trust when you look back one day, the dots will connect.