What to do if the position you want doesn’t exist?
Recently, I completed the first phase of my research on typography for augmented reality interfaces and sat down to think about future possibilities. It didn’t take long to realise that I have completed a significant part of the research with the best possible resources I could manage to get as an individual. Then came the question “what’s next?” The first two things that came to my mind was: how can I apply the research in the real world? And is there a way to further expand the research? After careful consideration, I came to the conclusion that the ideal way forward is to find like-minded people and organisations who are pushing boundaries to get into the next phase of interface evolution.
Hence I started looking for jobs which can provide me with means to apply and further expand the research. To my surprise, there were no open positions which matched my criteria and the ones which came close asked for 8–10 years of experience. Voilà! that was the time when the question struck me “what to do if the position you want doesn’t exist?” So I sat down to look for an answer and the thing which kept on repeating was “all jobs are not listed on websites.” It was a relief, that the project I have spent more than one and a half year working on day and night has a way forward.
Most of the information available online suggested that you should use your network to find opportunities. However, talking to a lot of people I realised that very few people are working in this area and most projects are in the dev phase which makes it’s impossible for them to disclose information. Roadblock! I highly appreciate their loyalty to the organisation and I would have done the same.
Finally, looking at the situation I decided to jot down the key things I am looking for and continue my search further. This short article is my way to put a word out here that a person exists who is passionate about augmented reality and the future of interfaces.
Niteesh is on a mission to work on intuitive digital products which impact the lives of people and provide easy access to information. Through his background in interface design and research in typefaces for augmented reality (AR), he is trying to work on better interfaces for AR. He wants to challenge the norms and design trends that have simply crept into place and become part of the system, and could potentially be life-threatening in some cases. He spent the last three months after graduation refining his research submitted for his dissertation as part of the MA in Typeface Design at the Department of Typography and Graphic Communication, University of Reading, UK.
Click to check out the full version of how I articulated my ideal employer.
I have no definitive answer “What to do if the position you want doesn’t exist?” instead I’m reaching out to you to find an answer.
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