Hi all,
I’ve been searching around past messages to see how much I could find on this topic before posting-- I’ve gotten as far as I can reading those, so here’s my specific situation and questions:
I’m a print designer currently in publishing (college textbook designs). I’ve been interested in UX for a few years now, and recently I’ve decided to try for a career pivot towards UX/UI design.
I live in the NYC metro area, and commute to NYC daily. My current work situation allows for me to keep 9-5 hours, but my commute is a mess (from NJ) and is currently at 2 hrs. I have 2 small children, and as it is I only see them for about an hour every evening. I’m hoping that in addition to finding more fulfillment in my work once I transition to a job involving UX, I might also find more work/life balance-- or at least keep the current balance I’ve got. Ideally, I’d love to find something that allowed for remote work-- either full- or part-time.
I’ve been talking to people in the field who are employed in the NYC area, and so far the impression I’m getting is that many of the UX job opportunities are in ad agencies and media companies, which have notoriously long workdays and terrible work/life balance. I’m hoping to hear from some people who might give me another perspective. I’d love to know of anyone who’s working remote (I see that @HAWK does this from NZ!) or anyone in NYC/NJ with a situation that’s different from the ad agency model? Give me some hope, some tips, some reassurance… please and thanks!