Dribbble

I have taken two excellent courses from Dribbble, the UI design course and the career prep course. This review is for the career prep course in particular. First of all, my mentor, Mariana, was absolutely amazing. I leveled up my design skills tenfold through this course, and a lot of this came through Mariana's guidance. The course itself is also great, and I think solves a particular problem in the product design industry, which is that it can be hard to know exactly what companies are looking for and how to prepare your portfolio/interview materials. Although I've had some experiences with design courses in the past, I would have absolutely been under prepared had I not taken this course.  

My critical feedback  has to do with course pacing. Some of the deadlines felt rushed, even though I had some material prepared beforehand. If you take this course, I definitely recommend having at least 2-3 finished projects under your belt, and a rudimentary portfolio established. The course will help you construct and refine your portfolio and case studies, but it's not a course for building those out. Overall, I definitely recommend. The education and quality of mentors are top notch. Thank you Dribbble! 

Overall I thought this class was super helpful in helping me fine tune my job searching skills. I think the curriculum was set up in a way that was easy to follow and easy to understand. I do think they could've spent more time on portfolio building before jumping into the interview stage. As someone who doesn't like to apply until everything looks completed, I could've used a little more time to edit. However, I have gained a lot of useful tips and resources and I'm feeling more organized now going back into the job search.

I thought my mentor did a great job, however once I fell behind it was harder to receive feedback from her. I do wish we would've done more breakout rooms to get to know the rest of the students more.  

One last thing that I would've love more of is design feedback on my portfolio and resume. I feel like I am able to speak to it confidently, however would've loved more feedback on the actual layout. I'm hoping what I've gained helps me move from applying to the interview process, so we'll see! 

I absolutely loved Dribbble's Product Design Career Preparation Course. Helen Tran's course was very informative, she's very knowledgable, and the experience was better than some of the other one's I've taken. The best part of the course came from the mentor sessions. Mariana Gomes was my mentor and I took so much away from our weekly sessions and what helped me the most was when Mariana went through my portfolio and case studies and critiqued it. Her suggestions and improvements have made me a better designer in the process.

I applied to the Dribbble Product Design course and Career Prep Course because I wanted to hone my craft as a product designer and to learn how to present myself to others in a confident way.

Pro:
Learning from others in that are active in the design field whether that be Jesse Showalter and Helen Tran or the wonderful Mentors has been game changing. It has allowed me to do hands on work and get feedback from people that I respect and truly know what they are talking about. The courses are very interactive and are packed with valuable content and lessons.

You get to work on your own projects and work on pieces that  you are passionate about and that you can also use to promote yourself. Students are very open and interactive in the courses. I have even still spoken with classmates after graduating. There is a great support system and it really help to grow you confidence.

Con:
The job guarantee needs to be worked on, currently it requires two things that I think should be updated. 

You have to attend all live sessions:
- This is difficult because you don't know the schedule before the course starts
- They are at varying time most not aligning with the time slot you provide during sign up as your dedicated course time. I understand that can't work because it is a live session but I think the requirement should be updated due to the fact that it can interfere with work hours and be impossible for some to attend.
- I believe Mentor sessions should be required but Live session you should have to prove that you watched it even if it is the recording it should count.

You have to attend one in person networking event a month:
- Many student in the course talked about how there are no in-person networking events near them even if they travel for an hour.
- There are very few in-person design focused networking options most I have found are online
- I believe this should simply be adjusted to include online events to allow for more purposeful connections

We’re halfway through the course and I have to say this is the best course I have taken so far. I have taken close to 6 now (all paid courses). This one is by far my favorite. You get right to hands on work which I love. It’s not bogged down by theory which I appreciate. 

The videos are all informative, relatable and easy to follow. 

All of the live sessions are recorded which is amazing so you can go back and reference. 

Love the weekly group mentorship. You learn so much from not only the mentor but each other and you can collaborate just like the workplace. 

Known designer guests for live sessions and Q&A’s. Jesse is an amazing teacher and inspiration.

So far I am giving Dribbbles 12 week course an A+. I’ll review again when we finish! A lot of people like to know about the job support and we are not quit there yet!

As someone who decided to embark on a career in UX, I found myself eagerly searching for resources that could help me kickstart my journey and better help me land a role. Enter the Dribbble Product Design Career Prep course, a somewhat elusive program without many reviews to rely on. Despite the lack of information, I decided to take a leap of faith and enroll. Here's my honest take on the course.
First and foremost, the course structure deserves praise. The mentor groups provided an excellent platform for learning, thanks in large part to the fellow course mates. Interacting and learning from them was invaluable, and their insights truly helped me grow as a designer. I can confidently say that I learned a great deal from my peers.
However, I must admit that my experience with the assigned mentor was a bit underwhelming. While they were decent, I discovered that reaching out to mentors from other groups proved more fruitful in terms of receiving feedback and improving my design skills. Perhaps the mentorship aspect could be more carefully curated to ensure consistency and quality across all groups.
During the enrollment process, I was under the impression that we would have the opportunity to practice interviewing, but that turned out to be a miscommunication. Instead, we received tips and pointers on interviewing techniques, but no mock interviews were conducted. This was a bit disappointing, as practical experience and guidance during interviews can be crucial in transitioning to a new career.
The initial three weeks of my mentor group were dedicated to analyzing case studies within the group. While this exercise allowed us to gain insights into what hiring managers consider a strong case study, it ran its course, delaying updating case studies for some. Although informative, I felt that this segment could have been more efficiently organized to avoid unnecessary delays.
On the content side, the videos presented by the course creator, Helen, were concise and easy to digest. I appreciated her effort in making herself available through the Slack channels, where we could reach out with questions and concerns. However, beyond the portfolio presentations and Slack interactions, I found it challenging to access additional guidance from Helen herself, as she advised that all feedback should come from the mentors. A more direct line of communication with the course creator could have been beneficial, especially for addressing specific queries or seeking clarification.
Overall, I would rate the Dribbble Career Prep course a 6/10. While it provided a solid foundation for aspiring product designers, there are areas that require improvement and updating. Enhancements in mentorship consistency, practical interview practice, and optimizing the course's timeline could make it a more comprehensive and effective learning experience.