80. Building Your Career Transition Dream Team with Emilie Mazurek

Are your past experiences in unrelated fields actually your secret weapon for a successful UX career?

Career shifting isn’t easy.

But Emilie Mazurek may be one of the best examples of a successful career transition that I can think of. If you’re working to shift careers into UX design, Emilie Mazurek is someone you should be following.

Emilie Mazurek was pre-med, studying biochemistry with plans to become a doctor. But a nagging feeling that she was headed down the wrong path led her to explore other career options. After some self-discovery, she stumbled onto UX design and it was a perfect fit—marrying her analytical skills with creative problem-solving.

Despite initially feeling outmatched by her bootcamp peers with stronger visual design chops, Emilie landed her first UX role in under 3 months after graduating by leaning into her strengths as a scientist running experiments.

A big part of Emilie’s success came from intentionally crafting her narrative – leveraging her unique set of experiences in biochemistry, hospitality, and travel. It’s all about making yourself unforgettable by telling your special story.

Topics:
• 05:16 – Emilie’s origin story
• 07:19 – Did Emilie make the connection between her background and UX early?
• 09:13 – The confidence gap for careers shifters
• 10:49 – The importance of mentors
• 13:07 – The importance of cheerleaders
• 16:14 – Dealing with imposter syndrome
• 25:59 – The skills gap
• 29:51 – Improving your UI skills
• 32:46 – Learning critique
• 38:57 – Telling your story
• 46:51 – Networking through LinkedIn
• 52:17 – Building your support network

Helpful Links:
• Emilie on Linkedin
• Dandy Design
• Sign up for Emilie’s newsletter

Emilie Mazurek
Design Mentor | Speaker & Storyteller

About Emilie

Emilie is a Senior UX Designer with a background in biochemistry and hospitality. After graduating bootcamp she landed a full-time, remote role in less than 3 months and was promoted to senior designer in just over a year. Now she’s helping others to do the same. When she’s not working you can find her arguing with her parrot Cheeto, giving unsolicited hot chocolate reviews or finding any excuse possible to book another vacation.

Connect with Emilie on LinkedIn

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