Love For Tech Took Her From Side Hustles To A Full Time Design Job At Hearst

Love For Tech Took Her From Side Hustles To A Full Time Design Job At Hearst Ayana Palisuc is a motivated UI/UX planer that lives and works in the Philippines. She kicked off zu sich career as a freelance designer during her second year in college. Six years later she says that shes still passionate about her craft. Last year PowerToFly helped Ayana land her dream job as a full time UI/UX designer for Hearst. She now works for the New York based media powerhouse from the comfort of her home office in the Philippines.In celebration of her first year anniversary with Hearst, we spoke with Ayana about her typical work day, her secret to crossing everything off of her to-do list, and how PowerToFly helped her secure a salary thats 80% higher than her previous freelance pay.How would you describe a typical work day?Since Hearst is New York based, I work on east coast time, starting at 900 a.m. The first thing I do is to check my email and messages on Slack. Most of the time I talk to Theo , Hearsts Digital Studios VP of Engineering. He assigns me tasks. I also communicate with Romina, the Project Manager and Nazat, the QA Engineer. I try to schliff my tasks on the same day that theyre assigned, so that I dont cause delays with development or testing.Ayana Palisuc sitting at her desk in her home office. Courtesy of AyanaPalisucWhat advice would you give other women interested in working remotely?Dont be afraid to work remotely. It gives you mora time to spend with your family, and theres lot of other benefits. For example, you can take 510 minute breaks or naps whenever you want, to relieve stress or to refresh your mind. You can wear whatever your want, as long as its comfortable enough and not distracting to your work. You save money on transportation and food.I dont have someone checking my monitor every other minute for updates on tasks. As long as I submit the deliverables on time and dont delay the team, its fantastic. I experienced constant monitoring when I wo rked for a local software development company and it was stressful.Do you have any strategies for staying efficient outside of an office?I always write down my daily to-dos. I believe its more efficient than adding it to an Excel file, because when I write it down, it stays on my mind. For communicating with my colleagues who work remotely all over the world, we use Slack. It has great features that gives other tools a run for their money. Our team uses Jira so we arent lost whenever we have tasks.Ayana Palisuc captures her incredible meal at a restaurant in the Philippines. Courtesy of AyanaPalisuc.What are the biggest challenges about working remotely? How have you overcome them?Some of the biggest challenges with working remotely in my area is having unexpected power or WiFi interruptions. It can affect our communication and cause delays with time-sensitive tasks and deliverables. There are also times that I and other members of the team misunderstand each other. Im thankful for Skype calls that help create better communication channels.How do you spend your free time, when youre not working remotely for Hearst?Its my first time working for a huge New York based company, remotely. Most of my previous freelance assignments were short term or project based. During the weekends, I work on small design projects. I love learning design stuff, specifically UX from my fellow UI/UX designers. I always make time to watch webinars related to my niche as well as working on personal projects (like my own website). During my spare time I try to spend it with my family??thats always been my favorite past time. We usually visit malls or eat out at restaurants in our area. We try to enjoy each other as much as we can.Ayana Palisuc and her family. Courtesy of AyanaPalisuc.What did you like best about working with PowerToFly to find a remote job?From the first day that I registered with PowerToFly, I was never let down. I was always emailed potential job offers until I was h ired by Hearst. Whenever I have questions, the team, especially Deveshe, are always there to assist me.Im thankful that PowerToFly introduced me to a great opportunity at Hearst. Its been a year now, hopefully more years to come PowerToFly made my dreams a reality. You helped me secure a salary that was 80% more than my previous freelance jobs. They also gave me the opportunity to work for a huge and respected company. One of the biggest challenges in almost all industries today is achieving gender parity. Gender diversity provides huge benefits in the workplace. pWhile some industries have made significant advancements in gender diversity, some industries lag further behind... and the construction industry is well-known for being in the latter category. If someone says, construction workers, youll likely picture a group of men in yellow hard hats analyzing an architects plans or laying bricks on top of a scaffold. And men at work signs o nly help to reinforce this image.pThis stereotype is rooted in reality. When was the last time you actually spotted a woman on a construction site? Or hired a female plumber or carpenter? Your answer is most likely never. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statisticsreports that only 3.4% of the total of 8.3 million construction employees are women.pBut the construction industry has a lot more to offer than steel-toed boots and hard hats, and it needs women to help advance the industry in this era of rapid change. Here are 5 reasons why women joining the workforce or looking to make a pivot should consider a career in construction.h21. Fuel Innovation/h2pNot only is diversity the socially and morally right thing to do, but it is also actually an excellent business strategy. pResearch presented in the Harvard Business Reviewshows that diverse teams develop more innovative ideas. This is further supported by a study conducted by Gallupon the performance of gender-diverse teams versus single -gender teams, which found that the difference in backgrounds and perspectives led to better business performance and problem-solving. h22. Capitalize on Demand/h2pThe construction industry is currently experiencing a labor shortage. The industry itself is booming and projected to be one of the fastest-growing industries, with total spending projected to exceed $1.45 trillion in 2023/a. However, most construction companies are unable to meet the rising demand. pAccording to the Associated General Contractors of America/a, more than 80% of contractors are experiencing difficulties filling hourly craft positions that represent the bulk of the construction workforce.pAnd demand isnt limited to individual contributor roles. Given the industry boom, there are a number of open stable and high-paying roles (any project managers out there?) waiting for the right candidateh23. Leadership Opportunities/h2pAccording to the Bureau of Labor Statistics/a, women compose only 7.7% of the total 1 mi llion managerial positions in construction.br/pBut given the highly collaborative nature of construction work, more women in leadership roles would help drive innovation and enhance productivity.Furthermore, as a woman in construction in a leadership position, youd have the unique opportunity to drive change for the industry and make it a more attractive option for other women.h24. High-Income Potential/h2pSalaries for many skilled positions in construction are on the rise, making a construction career a prime choice for women looking for a high-paying job,pThe 2018 Construction Craft Salary Surveyconducted by the National Center for Construction Education and Research revealed that salaries for many skilled craft areas are increasing. Project managers and project supervisors topped the list at $92,523 and $88,355, respectively. The next set of highest-paying jobs include those of combo welders ($71,067), instrumentation technicians ($70,080), pipe welders ($69,222), power line work ers ($68,262) and industrial electricians ($67,269). Of the 32 categories of workers in the survey, 19 positions earned an average salary of $60,000 or higher.h25. Sense of accomplishment/h2p The construction industry can give employees a unique sense of achievement. Yes, the job is stressful and the work can be demanding, but nothing beats the feeling of being able to build something from the ground up. pHow many professionals in other industries can point at a school, a hospital, or a skyscraper and say I helped build that?pThe construction industry has a long way to go in combating gender bias and supporting women in the workforce, but given the current demand for workers, theres no better time to pick up a sledgehammer (figurative or literal) and smash the gender stereotypes plaguing the construction industry.