Take that leap!

I’m sure you’ve seen a motivational poster or internet graphic that says:

“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.”

This is a pretty famous quote by author Neale Donald Walsch — and in 2020, a year of reflection and reinvention for a lot of people, it really resonated with me. That’s because I made the biggest (and scariest) change of my career so far, by breaking onto FanDuel’s UX & Design team.

I’ve been working at FanDuel since 2018 when I was hired as a seasonal agent on the Customer Support team. Soon I was also working on our social media, but I still felt restless and wanted to consider other career paths within the company. Then I noticed an email from a UX Researcher.

I had no idea what a UX Researcher’s day-to-day work was like, but my interest was piqued and I did some digging. In a customer support role, your job is to help customers with their questions and problems, usually in a reactive way. I loved the idea of helping users more proactively through UX research. So I jumped at the opportunity to run a session with our users and started emailing with the UX Research Director.

Lucky for me, all the UX Researchers were approachable and collaborative, and I was able to lend a hand on a few projects while we were launching our Sportsbook product in new states (a big, time-consuming undertaking). As a result, I was offered a 6-month trial period on the team. There was no guarantee of a permanent position, but the goal was for me to become a Level 1 UX Researcher.

During this trial period, I helped launch our Sportsbook product in new states and launch our updated platform in existing states. The launch process is unpredictable and moves quickly. It gave me a view into the amount of work that goes into something as monumental as a new state launch. While doing this I worked with my mentor on the team to build a foundation of skills that would propel me into my future career. As each day passed I grew more and more confident that I was in the right place.

Making the change from Customer Support to UX & Design was equal parts challenging and rewarding. I had to meet new people and basically learn a new language — but I also brought a unique customer support perspective to the team. That, combined with a desire to learn and a willingness to ask questions, made it all much less daunting than I expected.

It’s been seven months now since I started working on the UX & Design team, and I learn something new every day. I’ve built relationships with researchers, designers, and writers. Though I definitely felt in over my head at times, I can safely say that the best things in life do exist outside of your comfort zone. I’m grateful to work at a company that supported me every step of the way, and I encourage others to take that leap in their own careers!

We are currently hiring across every area in our UX & Design team, check out our careers page to see open roles and if you don’t see something you’re looking for, please get in touch.