From Advertiser to UX Designer – Interview With Neudson Costa

Neudson, please tell us a little about your background

I'm from Fortaleza, Ceará, but I currently work in Belo Horizonte. My background is in advertising and I started my career in the industry, working in large companies.

My second step was joining digital agencies, still working as a graphic designer. At that time, I was already testing some developments for the internet and I started to get really interested in UX. I even worked on some user experience solutions for some clients, I learned a lot.

After a while of working in digital, I left and joined a traditional advertising agency, offline. I worked as an Art Director.

I was really into the digital world, so when I decided to step back from it, I started second-guessing myself. Not only that, but I felt like I was missing out on everything that was happening online.

It was from this questioning that I found the MID. This course broadened my horizons and improved my concepts, development methods, and processes.

And why did you apply for jobs outside Brazil?

According to the information I got in the Aela course itself, 85% of the openings are concentrated in the Southeast. And really, in my state, the market for UX was not really heated.

Here in Belo Horizonte, the market for UX is very good. There are a lot of content, events, and meetings. They want to develop the UX area a lot inside startups.

When I decided to move, I spent a whole Saturday sending out my resume and got 2 job offers straight away.

I believe this promptness in getting these offers was because of what I mentioned earlier. Even before taking the MID course, I was already applying UX concepts in solutions for some clients of the agency I worked for, and with that, I was already building my portfolio.

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How was this process of career change?

I researched a lot about career changes in interviews, texts, and articles provided by you guys at Aela. And I realized that there were some steps to be followed.

One important step was to learn how to use LinkedIn. Really having a good profile on the platform makes all the difference. Companies search there a lot.

And an important tip: people have to research the company that is offering the opportunity, too. And understand if it makes sense to work there or not.

I put together my portfolio and presented several cases. I chose to present the whole creation process, not only the final layout of the projects. I think it's important for the company to see all the reasoning behind it.

How does it feel to have switched to UX Design?

If it were months ago, I would be very scared. Moving to a new city, taking on a different position, and working in something entirely new, really scared me.

But today, I'm fulfilled. I work with what I like, and this is fascinating. I feel very motivated to keep learning and to be able to apply this knowledge.

In the end, having butterflies in the stomach is good. It moves you forward and makes you prepare, learn, and evolve.

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What are your plans for the future?

I want to continue the course, learn more, read a lot, and improve my English.

English can connect you with other people. I realized that this is very important. Learning and connecting with other people is beyond what any book or theory can teach.

In the long run, I want to break into the international market. I see examples from other students and know that with UX Design, this possibility is very feasible and interesting.

I'm working in a very good company and I don't plan to make this move now. But the desire to get to know other cultures and other countries exists. And this would not necessarily be a permanent movement. The market in Brazil is also very good, I can go out and get to know new solutions to bring back here.

What was the most important thing you learned in this process of career change?

Learning to focus was crucial when I stepped out of my comfort zone. It became clear that the tasks I needed to undertake, such as conducting research, reading extensively, and searching for potential companies, would be difficult to accomplish without focus.

These were all tasks I had to tackle on my own, and I realized that any transformation or progress I wanted to achieve in life ultimately depended on my efforts. Thus, cultivating focus is vital when striving for personal growth and change.