What happens when decades of experience, continuous learning, and more than 900 job applications produce only 13 callbacks? In this episode of Deprecated Human, Jess speaks with multidisciplinary designer, developer, and educator Nic Schroeder about how dramatically the path to paid work has changed, and why slowing down our thinking is a human superpower. Earlier in Nic’s career, opportunities frequently emerged through relationships. He could speak with someone about a problem, demonstrate what he understood, and help shape a role around the value he could provide. Their conversation examines why a low response rate is no longer meaningful evidence of someone’s ability or employability. They discuss the limitations of automated hiring, the pressure facing new graduates and international students, and why securing income may require looking beyond traditional employment. Nic’s career began in fine art before moving through graphic design, web development, user experience, automotive, and digital marketing. Today, he works independently with small businesses and mentors graduate students preparing to enter an unstable labor market. Jess and Nic also explore what design contributes beyond visual execution: understanding behavior, interpreting complexity, and asking whether technology should be created—not merely whether it can be. Drawing on Daniel Kahneman’s distinction between fast and slow thinking, they consider how AI accelerates pattern recognition while increasing the importance of human judgment, context and meaning-making. The episode offers a practical invitation to job seekers: look beneath your previous title, identify the problems people trust you to solve, and consider more than one route to turn those capabilities into income. A job is one way to be paid for your experience. It is not the only one. Podcast Guest: Nic Schroeder Nic has been designing meaningful and memorable experiences for 20 years — on the web and on the ground. He cares about humanity- centered design (HCD+), sustainability, and privacy. Years in commercial design across the public and private sectors taught him many things. Now he's applying my experience to help students and small businesses owned by friends, friends of friends, and family. Connect with Nic: Nic Schroeder on LinkedIn Check out Nic’s work: Design Portfolio: https://njschro.github.io Podcast Host: Jess Lowry Jessica Lowry is the founder and Sociotechnical Systems Designer at ENID Studio, a collective of practitioners who help changing businesses redesign how people, work, and technology fit together. Drawing on more than 20 years of experience in research, design, and strategy, she uses participatory methods to improve services, operations, and governance while helping organizations adopt AI responsibly. Austin Women in Technology (AWT) mentor. Jess is also a founding member of Referral Reef, a community of consultants who trade warm referrals, provide support, and get paid to do it. Connect with Jess: Jess Lowry LinkedIn Continue the Investigation Become a member at DeprecatedHumanPodcast.com Deprecated Human investigates how layoffs, AI, hiring technology, and changing workplace systems are redefining expertise, security, and human value. Subscribe to the Deprecated Human Newsletter on LinkedIn Each edition connects the personal stories shared on the podcast with the larger forces changing how we work. This isn’t another hustle-culture newsletter about optimizing yourself for a broken system. Become a Sponsor Partnership can go beyond conventional advertising. Sponsors can support independent research, public podcast episodes, community programming, exclusive member experiences, useful resources, and offers that provide tangible value to members.
