Flatiron School Product Design graduate Sabrina Hernandez recently chatted with Joshua Robinson (Product Design Director) and Ash Navarro (Product Design admissions rep). Sabrina shared her career transition journey as well as her experiences as a Product Design student at Flatiron School.
Tell us a little about your background and talk about how you went from healthcare to Product Design.
This is my second career, it was a really cool experience for me to transition into a new field. I came from healthcare as a radiology technician. It took a lot of preparation, time and strategy to land myself here. It’s such a great journey.
What were some of the challenges you faced when transitioning from healthcare to Product Design, and how did Flatiron School help you face those challenges?
My biggest challenge when changing careers from healthcare to Product Design was getting my head around a new skill set and believing in yourself. You really just have to believe that you can expand your mind to learn more and become a new version of yourself. And then one day you will realize that everything you learned in your past will help you be a Product Designer. It’s just a diverse field and every experience you have will help you become more empathetic with people in general. So don’t worry, everything you’ve done [in your previous career] isn’t a waste of time, at least not in Product Design.
Can you talk about the different guest speakers that came to visit during your course?
We had a great bunch of folks that came to speak to us, all who worked in different companies. We had one that really stuck out to me, Natalie. She was an artist. She was a great connection for me because she helped me with my resume and she took a look at my portfolio. I made some really great, solid connections that I can lean on.
Was there anything about Flatiron School that was a pleasant surprise to you?
For me, a pleasant surprise was the sense of community. When we started we had set the tone that this is a safe community to share ideas and we can definitely lean on each other through class. Even outside of class I made some friends that I can count on, we have a really strong network. I thought I’d be trucking along all by myself and working on my own but this is definitely not that kind of environment. You learn a lot about other people and collaboration, so that was a pleasant surprise for me.”
