Giving people at Hutch the chance for career progression and opportunities to try new things is super important to us as a company. Whether it's helping people to develop their skills or work out what their options are for the future, we want to support Hutchies with their career progression. Here's Mark to share his story of being promoted from Senior UI Designer to Lead UI Designer - a brand new role here at Hutch.

The Basics

How long have you been at Hutch?

I've been at Hutch for almost 9 years now, not sure where that went really. Time flies when you are having fun or getting old, probably a mix of both haha.

What was your first position at Hutch?

My first position at Hutch was UI Designer on MMX Racing I think there were only 20-30 people in the company at that point.

Tell us a bit about your recent change in role…

I've been promoted to Lead UI Designer. It's the first Lead UI ( User Interface ) Designer artist position in the studio so it's a huge honour and very humbling. I've been working on F1 Clash for the last 5 years, but will now be moving off the team to look after other areas of UI design at Hutch.

Career progression

How did Hutch support you in your move?

I've had great support from my manager, Rav over the last few years. He was honest with me about what I could work on to improve both my work and my soft skills. It completely changed my outlook of what I was doing.

What are you looking forward to most in your new role?

I'm looking forward to getting stuck into something new at Hutch and learning all I can about my new responsibilities. I'm also really looking forward to looking after the junior talent on the UI team.

What’s your favourite memory from your last role?

F1 Clash has been hard work, but great - and it allowed me to grow a lot. The team has an incredible working relationship. Working with an amazing UI designer James, we would constantly redesign each other's work to make sure the game was the best it could be. There was never any hurt feelings, it was great fun.

What do you like most about working at Hutch?

Hutch offers me something that I didn’t know I was missing before I joined - a big focus on collaboration and trust. There are no egos here, an idea or discussion can come from anyone in the studio. It's the first studio I have worked at where the trust goes both ways. Everyone is trusted to get their job done in the way that they think is best. 

Mark’s Career Tips

What advice would you give people looking to progress in their career / change to a different role?

It's very easy to feel like you're stuck and that a career or role change will not happen for you. The first step is to be honest with yourself and list what you need to work on. For me I needed to work on my soft skills, I was very quiet and didn’t tell people what I wanted. 

Also, if you're at the start of your career, it's very easy to feel like it's personal if you don’t get a job. But there are thousands of variables, and many of those you just can't control. Think of yourself as a one person company, you provide a service. Don’t take rejection personally, it just didn’t fit, that’s business. Move on to the next position taking what you have learnt and keep progressing with your passion. You've got this, don’t give up!

What careers advice would you give to your younger self?

I was painfully quiet for a long time. And it took a bit of time for me to realise that people wouldn't notice my work if I didn't communicate about it. Good communication is such a big part of the design process.

It's not all about hard skills, you can work as hard and as long as you want, but if you don’t level up your soft skills at the same time you will find it hard to get more responsibility. 

If you are nervous, tell yourself it's actually just excitement. It might not always feel that way, but it really helps to call it something different!

Fancy joining the team here at Hutch? Check out our current vacancies here: https://www.hutch.io/careers/