👋 Oi, mga repapips, Brian Dys here! I love music, photography, and creative stuff like UX design and art. This is a place where I collect my thoughts and works. Apart all these, I’m Jaycelle’s better half and Bryce’s dad. 🥰
About Snippet
👋 Hello 👋 out there, fellow Filipino UX/UI designers!
You might be in a journey of levelling up towards being a mid-level or senior designer. We’re inviting you to take this journey with us in the product design team of Avaloq.
We’re a global, cross-cultural group of designers working collaboratively on fintech products, ranging from retail to professional banking apps.
We offer competitive salaries and we are regularly addressing any potential gender pay gaps during our compensation processes.
If interested, you may apply via 👉 SmartRecruiters 👈
Become a part of Avaloq
This year is brighter at Avaloq as we’re growing within UX design team and others as well.
See if there is a good fit?
Avaloq Testimonials
I’m very grateful to be part of and work for such a wonderful company with great leaders and company culture – a company who truly listens to their employees.
Being part of a fantastically-talented team of UX Designers who are fun, friendly, supportive and full of insights that I continue to learn every day. I always brag to my UX friends all the time how much I love my job at Avaloq – not only that it is aligned with my career path, but I am also surrounded by people who also value a well-balanced life, and for that I am truly blessed. ❤
Mara Maclang, Senior UX designer (ex-Avaloq)
Since joining Avaloq, I have learned new things especially in the UX design side. I have been also fortunate to work in a positive multicultural environment, surrounded by great, talented and very supportive individuals.
The thing I appreciate the most is that you always have a voice in the team no matter who you are or where you came from, your work and efforts are always appreciated. I’m glad to be part of this organization particularly with the UX Design team.
Jon Dacasin, Senior UX designer
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The first time I’ve been at Avaloq’s office at Philam Life building was during my second interview. I was impressed by the interior design of the pantry. There by the couch were some company brochures in the style of a newspaper. I took one home to familiarize myself with the new company that I was planning to join.
Fast forward to almost a year, I was back to this office to get a Macbook device which was an official issue for UX designers.
While waiting, I hang out by the pantry and had some coffee. There were wine bottles and glasses on the wall but only as decor (they were empty, I checked).
Outside, during lunch, it was a typical workday — only that everyone’s wearing face shields and masks. There were many people lining up at Dunkin’ at Paseo Center. I went to Yellow Cab for a grub.
I was oblivious to the fact that some companies have their employees back on site until I went to the office myself. This was also evident on the road, by the number of vehicles going somewhere. Life goes on, indeed, with the pandemic still as dangerous as it started — we just managed to become familiar of how to stay safe in the outside world. I hope complacency in being careful does not get the best of anyone.
It was a Friday — a celebratory day wherein just last year when my officemates / friends would go out for dinner and some drinks, and sometimes the office turned on its party mode. Now, I had to rush home to avoid the heavy traffic in EDSA.
What permanently changed, we’ll only know as we’re putting old normal things one by one into the new normal.
Become a part of Avaloq
This year is brighter at Avaloq as we’re growing within UX design team and others as well.
See if there is a good fit?
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Last month, I’ve wrapped-up with the 4th part of a talk that I’ve shared with the UX design team: Documenting your work as a designer. This topic tackles the other side of design work (and any work, in general), which is documenting your experiences and learnings from projects.
Overview
- Part 1: The whys and hows – anchor the documentation activity on a purpose
- Part 2: The process – making sense of the documentations and keeping them meaningful
- Part 3: The case of the briefcase & showcase – curations
- Part 4: The work – getting your hands dirty
The talk goes from abstract concepts towards concrete steps in starting a portfolio curation. What each of us actually produced were our top 3 highlights of last year.
Selected thoughts
This year is brighter at Avaloq as we’re growing within UX design team and others as well. See if there is a good fit?Become a part of Avaloq
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This week at Avaloq, I officially re-wore my hiring manager cap for the UX design team, as we’ve officially published our open positions. I spent the latter part of the week reviewing applicants and determining who among them are candidates.
Appreciate all of you, designers (and you, one industrial designer, and also you, one visual merchandiser), for submitting your applications. Recruitment is still in its initial phases, so keep ’em coming!
So, what goes on in the process of having an application go from an applicant to candidate status? Let’s go over the surface of the skimming level of the recruitment process.
Skimming level
The goal of skimming is to prepare a group of applications for evaluation and deliberation. At this point, the objective aspect of it is the presence of two things: the résumé and portfolio — one cannot do without the other in order to have a balanced basis for moving forward with an application.
The objective-subjective part, on the other hand, is determining if the résumé and portfolio’s relevance and quality fit the bill. The criteria is essential to the objectivity of the process and in itself is subjective as well because it is based on our organization’s culture, team’s mandate, and my professional approach as a hiring manager, among others.
This is not a black and white approach either because even without a portfolio, if an application fits the criteria, it is put on hold pending completion of the tandem (résumé and portfolio).
Relevance
At this early stage, the relevance of the résumé and portfolio pertains to the position being applied for (or with other available design positions).
- Is the work (includes personal) experience relevant (both in the field and number of years)?
- Are the portfolio items relevant (presence of UI designs and UX case studies)?
Quality
Bear in the mind that the recruitment is specific to the UX design team. Needless to say, a basic expectation is to be impressed by résumés and portfolios that are themselves designed — both information architecturally and visually.
- Is the résumé conducive to easy-understanding of the person’s strengths?
- Is the résumé visually-pleasing?
- Is the presentation of portfolio items conducive to easy-understanding of the person’s strengths (written descriptions and background information are essential)?
- Is the presentation of portfolio items visually-pleasing?
- Is the portfolio itself visually-pleasing?
Once an application fit the criteria, it gets a candidate status. Candidates are evaluated and deliberated along with others in the same category (e.g., associate category is separate from senior category). Skimming, true to the word itself, is a quick and reliable activity; still, a thorough process ensues in the next level — starting again with the candidate’s résumé and portfolio.
Conclusion
I know, the title says, Of cover letters because that idea inspired me to write this article (although it is mostly about skimming). Cover letter, it is cherry on top — when it is intended for the specific position being applied for (in contrast with a generic one). In my experience, a particular application with a specific cover letter is like hearing the person introduce themselves — in which, I would gladly listen.
A cover letter is not part of our requirements or criteria, though. An important note is that a strong application is holistic in its approach in propositions (i.e., job applications) and that includes a specific cover letter, a well-designed resume, and a cohesive portfolio.
This year is brighter at Avaloq as we’re growing within UX design team and others as well. See if there is a good fit?Become a part of Avaloq
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This week, the UX design team is having our regular bilas (bilateral meetings) which, undoubtedly, is one of the most important part of Avaloq’s culture. Bilas serve a wide range of benefits from an unstructured kwentuhan to an avenue for the team to express what’s working and what could be better in terms of our daily work experience. This activity strengthens the bond among designers and empowers us in paving our career paths in the organization.
Feedback
It is feedback that we get the most out of during bilas. Knowing that everything is going well with a person is a welcome relief, especially during this pandemic. On the other hand, feedback on how we are with our projects and collaborations is essential to the quality of our work and its outcome.
Here’s a simple guide for a constructive 1:1 discussion of feedback inspired by Scrum’s Sprint Retrospective.
Feedback sources
Needless to say, any kind of feedback is better than no feedback at all. The source of the feedback is as important as the quality of the feedback itself.
Starting from one’s self, a self-assessment could be done then work outwards — from your own team towards cross-functional teams. The important thing to remember is relevance — the feedback must be coming from a collaborator or a person who has worked (or currently working) with you in a project.
Conclusion
Happy to be working with self-starters and a proactive UX design team. We catch and remedy difficulties and hindrances early on through our constant feedback activities and of course, through the openness of everyone.
This year is brighter at Avaloq as we’re growing within UX design team and others as well. See if there is a good fit?Become a part of Avaloq
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Woke up early morn scampering to find all the knickknacks that once filled up my backpack. I emptied it since March early this year and retired it into a forgotten corner of the house. The quarantine’s end wasn’t in sight, after all. All the things that I think I might need when in the office were all lined up on my desk — they are the following:
- water tumbler
- coffee tumbler
- laptop computer
- notebook and pen
- battery pack
- umbrella
- digital pouch
- toiletry pouch
- shades
- jacket
The bag? Yes, it’s nowhere to be found. I was about to check a mountain of luggage one by one and thankfully, Jaycelle was half-awake to tell me that it might be in a box full of bags. There it was, my old army green friend.
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A couple of weeks since lockdown (nearing April), Jaycelle and I made this major decision — for the lack of better words — to level up. It was scary, indeed, because the pandemic surprised us all. Most companies halted their hirings yet there I was with an offer on the table.
Fast forward to six months — this was an eventful week as I have passed the probationary period at Avaloq. The team’s trust and support has been tremendous. It is challenging — this role of a manager and individual contributor — nevertheless, everyone’s willingness in collaboration and their dedication to the craft made the ride rather smooth.
Here’s an excerpt from my third month evaluation, which I feel like will always ring true in my career.
What are your initial impressions of working with Avaloq? Have your expectations been fulfilled?
Challenging
3 months could very well feel like a year of working in Avaloq — probably because almost every thing was done online. It will even be more challenging if there were physical interactions with people — getting to know their ways of working, finding the right balance between personalities, all in achieving a common goal of championing UX and elevating the knowledge and skills of the Avaloq UX design team.
Exciting
Each step of the way, I would discover different kinds of terrain in Avaloq — mostly rugged hills and mountains. How to navigate it? Surely, you have to go around them or climb them. Stumbling blocks? You have to clear them for people following your lead. Some blocks can be arranged into stepping stones for us to reach higher levels.
What excites me is the big room for improvement that I am contributing to in filling. Accomplishments, they’re a bonus. There’s always what’s next.
I’m in the right place, at the right time
When I wished to transition to the next level in my career — Avaloq is the next level. It is global — I find myself collaborating with people who have widely different perspectives and knowledge which I learn from. The UX design team in Manila is solid and open for growth. It is a perfect combination of a conducive environment wherein I can grow and support others’ growth, as well.