Hi Core77 Family: I am revisiting this old post of mine from over 5 years ago because there was some great advice here about next steps after a layoff (and yes… I am here again!), and just wanted to say how helpful some of the advice up above is now the 2nd time around. I am now considering whether to try seeking contract work in my specialty (home goods/decor/decorative product) with my former employer (Target Corp) or other retailers in the same space OR even consider leaving the industry entirely considering I am so not into moving out of state for an “on-site” role in traditional Industrial Design.
Having designed for Target, I came to discover a passion for this space; in particular tabletop/ceramic/entertaining or even decorative product for the home. I am trying to network heavily at other competitors like Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn, or even companies in the kitchenware space like Williams Sonoma. But as usual, most are out of my home state of MN, and most roles don’t seem open to remote.
One piece of advice above recommended I see a Career Coach of sorts… I am seriously considering that because if I decide to go back to school or get any training whatsoever in another field, I’d like to make sure that it aligns with my interests and offers some longer term stability.
Keep you all posted on whatever becomes of my situation or career pivot!
OK, my 2 cents. I believe it’s much easier to relocate these days than it’s ever been; long distance calls are cheap, there is FaceTime now, and Google Maps is a very handy tool to get around new parts of the world. And if you are moving overseas there are many free language translation tools. Think about how challenging it was when your parents moved just a generation ago.
This is a tough one and it’s so different for each person in each situation.
I spent much of my adult life relocating for work opportunities. From New England, to Portland, to Boston, To SF, to San Diego. In 2019 we made the first move we actually wanted to make just for us, no job attached, back to Portland. I’d like to not move again, but would I? It really depends on the location and the opportunity (and the global situation).
Like anything there are pros and cons. You really have to do a cost/benefit analysis and only you can determine where that answer lies for yourself at that moment. About six months after we moved back to Portland a recruiter reached out to see if I would like to be put forward for a VP of design role at Herman Miller…. obviously that was very tempting. My partner said “that is awesome, you can print that email out and frame it, but we aren’t moving to Michigan”… cost/benefit analysis complete.
If family or kids or partner aren’t holding you back and if you’re curious about the world definitely move around. I’ve now lived the longest of anyplace I’ve lived and it’s like an old sweatshirt that’s slowly becoming too ratty to wear. And I have to wear it for at least a few more years.
Thanks everyone above the supportive comments and recommendations. I am going to try my best to stay put in MN and see if I can make this work either through contracting or maybe even venturing into other ID-adjacent areas (I may even give retail/fixtures design a look into as there seems to be much of it here in the Twin Cities). I just don’t have the energy anymore for uprooting myself, and selling property. No kids here, so that helps; but I am getting way too damn old for this back and forth. And if things get really bad in this economy, I may end up taking a break from design and completely pivot into another area I’ve been considering (had I not been a designer) - the “helping careers”. Not sure what that would entail yet, but keep you all posted!
Old thread, but I’m dealing with this and the job search right now.
I’m single and really wanting to find someone special to settle down with while searching for ID / physical product development work in North America.
Seems simple enough but combining the two things together along with a few other details and my options for places to even bother looking to get back on my feet have gotten pretty lean.
Well, I try to keep an open mind and remain somewhat flexible, though my 19 years of experience & expertise (both in-house and as a contract designer) has historically been in consumer products: MI & MI accessories, hardgoods, electromechanical devices, transportation design (as many of us ID’ers aspired to), and by way of working in smallish NPD departments: packaging design and POP/trade displays. Also, a good amount of research, testing, and coordination with engineering and marketing. Hats I think most of us in-house cats are used to wearing.
I’m in Denver now, and while I like a lot about it, I’m not sure it’s going to work out in the long run for a variety of reasons. My focus has been on looking in Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, and Toronto, in that order. NYC is supposed to be a great singles “market”, but from I can glean, the job opportunities are surprisingly scarce for a metro that large and the advertised pay would be literally impossible to get approved for basic rent with.
