Lost and in need of help

Hi Santiago!
I’m totally in the same boat! I graduated in 2010 and transitioned my local internship into a full-time position. My job is a packaging job for promotional gift card programs in retailers. My company loves me, but 7 years is much too long to be doing this. I was really interested in the nuances of packaging design for the first couple years, but now I’m really just not interested. I’ve gone through many phases of applying to jobs and reworking my portfolio since. I feel like I’m progressing towards my goal of getting into a more fulfilling ID position by the end of this year. I hope to make it into a large design studio where I can find some mentoring and lots of design process. For me, that can be in a large corporation with a variety of products or a fairly large consultancy. I am still updating a couple of my portfolio projects, diving deeper into research, and initiating new projects at the same time.

I just had a couple interviews, and lost. Both times they repeated to me that I have talent and enthusiasm, but not quite enough experience in either user research or working with engineering teams. I find the interviewers like to ask questions about my day job products and often dismiss my personal concept projects. The problem with that is, I have a hard time communicating the depth and value of my day job products. I design dozens of packaging products a week, we have over 4,000 SKUs that go to market each year, and there are only 2 designers here. Maybe I should have said that :confused:

I’m considering seeking internships at some consultancies to build my experience and accelerate my learning. It would be a temporary sacrifice, but worth it, and I would make some awesome connections. For now, I’m just going to do everything I can. I’ll keep trying, if you keep trying! If we can make these career transitions, then we can prove to others in the same situation that it can be done. Good luck to you!