Figma Training for Veterans

A military career provides an enriching, engaging, and exciting experience for many veterans, one that may make civilian life feel less vibrant and engaging. Unfortunately, those considerable differences in lifestyle can make it hard for many former soldiers to return home ready to tackle their lives again. Some might feel uncomfortable being off base after living there for many years, struggle in non-military positions, or lack the practical skills necessary to find civilian jobs.

These individuals should seriously consider extra skills training after leaving the military to transition into high-earning jobs that can make their lives a little easier. For example, learning Figma online can help many veterans prepare for user-interface (UI) design and user experience (UX) positions. This popular and powerful software tool is often just the first step that students take when preparing for a thrilling career in these fascinating, high-earning fields. 

In this article, vets who want to take their lives to the next level will learn about Figma and their training options. They’ll understand what this software does, why it benefits them, and how financing tools like the Post-9/11 GI Bill® (Chapter 33), the Veteran Readiness and Employment Program (Chapter 31), and the Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance (Chapter 35) can help them pay for their courses. This information gets them off on the right training foot.

Important Figma Key Insights for Veterans to Consider

Veterans who aren’t sure why they should learn Figma need to understand why it’s such a popular and effective tool for UI and UX careers. While they’ll learn more about its many benefits in a later section, the following information can help readers better understand what they’re getting into with it and why vets, in particular, may find it a beneficial topic to study. In this way, veterans looking to improve their lives can feel comfortable with their training decisions.

Real-Time Collaboration

When working with Figma, veterans can interact with their co-workers in a real-time environment because this software uses a cloud-based interface that lets collaborators see changes as they’re made. In this way, they can easily offer suggestions, tweak a UI’s look, update a product to meet new guidelines, and much more. As a result, Figma is a practical and highly beneficial tool for budding UI and UX experts to master during their intensive training.

Powerful Prototyping Tools 

Designers rarely complete a project from start to finish without making heavy changes. As a result, prototypes (particularly for UX and UI designs) help them create a workable model that they can adjust as needed to ensure everything works smoothly and efficiently. Thankfully, Figma offers prototype tools that help veterans produce better work. For newer vet designers, prototyping makes it easier to get feedback from more skilled and expert-level professionals.

Easy to Use in Any Browser 

Since Figma helps designers produce websites and pages, it includes built-in adaptability to every browser on the market. Whether veterans prefer using Chrome, Edge, or Firework, Figma offers tools that make it easy to create user interfaces, balance a user experience design, and prototype their work effectively. Even better, this adaptability makes it simpler for them to find a rewarding position by helping them produce work on whatever browsers their clients prefer.

Simple to Finance

Most Figma courses aren’t too expensive, with some running only a few hundred dollars. That said, advanced programs designed to fully prepare a learner for a UI or UX design career may cost closer to $2,000 to $5,000. While that might initially seem steep to many former soldiers, it’s important to remember the GI Bill and its many offshoots. These veteran-specific financing options help soldiers pay for their training without spending too much of their savings. 

What is Figma? A Quick Guide

By now, veterans may understand that Figma helps with UI, UX, web design, and graphic design projects. But what is Figma, really? Figma is a browser-based UI design tool that allows users to craft intricate and dynamic interfaces for websites and other digital projects. Before going further, let’s define user interfaces more fully to help confused vets know what they’re getting into here. A user interface or UI is the visual tool viewers use to interact with sites.

For example, a user interface for video websites like YouTube lets viewers search the website for their favorite productions, control a video’s sound, expand the screen as needed, and move to a specific time on the video. User interface designers produce these visual tools and make sure they not only work properly but also meet a company’s branding demands. Furthermore, the UI must be easy for all users to understand intuitively without a lot of unnecessary work. 

As the leading web-based UI and UX design tool on the market today, Figma provides veterans with a foundation for highly successful careers. Understanding this simple but powerful tool helps former soldiers succeed in more advanced UI and UX classes. These programs typically provide hands-on training that helps veterans dive deep into this subject, which includes creative portfolios that showcase a student’s abilities to make it easier to find a position.

Why Is Learning Figma Great for Veterans?

Since there are so many rewarding tech-related careers on the market today, many veterans may wonder why learning Figma and, by extension, UI and UX design is such a smart idea. After all, programming, web design, and even artificial intelligence provide plenty of great opportunities for skilled learners. Well, Figma offers skilled soldiers with a bridge into the future that can help them stand out in their market and make good money after finding a job.

Easy to Learn

Figma’s user-friendly design makes it easy for veterans to pick up and understand reasonably quickly. While they obviously won’t be an expert after a few hours, they should at least understand basic app usage and layout tools. For vets who might not have a lot of tech experience (such as those who focused primarily on combat-based fields in the military), that relatively streamlined design will make Figma easier to understand and utilize intuitively.

In-Demand in Many Industries

Figma is a specialized tool that’s most commonly used in user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) markets. These rapidly growing fields offer gratifying jobs with interesting, creative, and fascinating job duties. However, Figma also helps web developers, graphic designers, and front end developers produce intricate and visually appealing work. As a result, it’s an excellent skill for a visually oriented veteran to learn to enhance their potential design-related careers.

Creative and Unique

Veterans with creative minds might have found their time in the military stifling and frustrating. While there are obviously many opportunities to use some innovative concepts in service, they’re few and far between. Thankfully, Figma with UI and UX design can reignite their passion for creation and make it easier to transition into a rewarding position. As Figma allows them to produce outstanding visual designs, it’s definitely rewarding for the creativity-centered person.

Taps Into Skills They Know

Many veterans studying Figma alongside UI and UX design might find these skills intuitively make sense to them. For example, like any design-related tool, Figma uses specific rules and guidelines that might feel comfortable to someone who’s worked heavily in the military, as they’ll be used to working with strict regulations throughout their military careers. In this way, many vets feel comfortable transitioning into these careers and don’t need extra training to get there.

Adaptable to Military Markets 

After finishing their service duty, many vets transition into contract work with their former branch. For instance, an Army vet might find work planning logistics, designing weapons, or producing websites and user interfaces for weapon control systems. Thankfully, Figma’s powerful and easy-to-understand tools make it easier for veterans to find this contract work and help them build a stronger and more adaptable resume after completing their training experience.

What Can Veterans Do with Figma Skills?

While many former soldiers will learn Figma just to start a bold and exciting new career, some may master it for other reasons. For example, they might learn Figma to create personal projects, market themselves, and more. No matter what their inherent abilities, a Figma skills bootcamp can make this process easier and ensure that vets feel comfortable with their results. Here are a few alternative uses for Figma that might inspire students to study even harder.

Produce Personal Websites

Even vets with a financially and personally rewarding career that they don’t plan on changing could use Figma in various ways. For example, they could bolster their resume using Figma’s innovative UI-design tools to make it easier for potential employers to navigate. Just as importantly, they could produce a creative website and integrate an interactive story using Figma’s powerful tools. The possibilities are endless for skilled Figma specialists!

Prototype Projects

No matter what kind of web design projects vets want to make, they can use Figma’s powerful prototyping tools to figure out how well they work. For example, things like wireframes and mockups make it easier for them to estimate the functionality of their completed project before unveiling it to the general public. In this way, they put their best foot forward and avoid getting the kind of complaints about bugs that even major projects experience without prototyping help.

Market Their Skills

Figma’s unique browser-based approach makes it very easy to share designs with others worldwide. For example, vets could create personalized UI projects and copy the Figma link to share with others to increase their marketing presence and show off their abilities. Even better, they can use Figma to produce appropriate advertising platforms for their projects, such as integrating streamlined user interfaces that help users go where they need on their sites. 

Are Their Figma Support Options for Veterans?

While Figma classes from Noble Desktop aren’t too expensive, some vets might not have a lot of extra cash to drop on their learning. Unfortunately, that might leave them out of the loop and unable to master Figma and other related skills. However, vets have the unique opportunity to tap into powerful financing options specific to their service. These include the GI Bill, the Forever GI Bill, the Post-9/11 GI Bill, and VET TEC. Understanding them is essential for vets.

After all, only former soldiers get access to these funding options, which makes them critical to use when the time is right. Even better, Noble Desktop accepts these financing tools for their Python, Java, JavaScript, and React courses. Mastering all these concepts will help veterans walk away confident in their skills and ready to begin a new career. Here’s what they need to know about these resources and how they can use them for their education financing needs.

What Are the GI and Forever GI Bills?

The initial GI Bill was passed in 1944 following the devastation of World War II. After this conflict, there were many young men who came back to a nation that seemed as if it had moved on and left them behind and unable to get more advanced jobs and positions. To help them thrive, the GI Bill paid for, among other things, college tuition and training programs to let these individuals get back to their day-to-day lives. Since then, it’s been expanded a few times. 

For example, the Post-9/11 GI Bill was passed to support soldiers who served on or after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against The World Trade Center in New York City. This new law extended GI Bill benefits to the families of service people. For example, if a woman in the Army didn’t want to use her GI Bill cash to pay for training, her partner or children could use it instead. In this way, a larger number of people can get Figma training for next to nothing.

Most recently, the 2017 Forever GI Bill extended benefits beyond their initial 15-year period. Previously, veterans who didn’t use their cash before that time passed lost it, so even their children or partners couldn’t benefit from it. However, the Forever GI Bill ensures this money is always available for learners! As a result, a vet who served after 2017 can wait until their children are ready to start a career and use that GI Bill cash to pay for their Figma courses. 

How Does VET TEC Help Veterans?

The Veteran Employment Through Technology Education Courses (VET TEC) program was designed to help vets find high-quality training teams that can teach them multiple high-tech skills. This program works alongside tech schools, universities, and private trainers to help vets not only find fantastic learning opportunities for Figma and related skills but pay for them as well. For example, the GI, Forever GI, and Post-9/11 GI Bills are all compatible with VET TEC.

Beyond Figma, former soldiers can also use VET TECH to find classes covering data processing, coding, software development, media production, and information science. These advanced skills help prepare them for exciting and rewarding careers in many fields. Furthermore, Figma and UI design fall under the aegis of this program, so it shouldn’t be hard to find schools (like Noble Desktop) that offer sessions that feel right for their learning needs.

What Are the Benefits of Learning Figma?

Veterans interested in learning Figma will gain a pretty broad range of benefits that can improve their lives in fun and exciting ways. These include how Figma can help them:

• Expand Job Possibilities: Jobs that use Figma include user experience designers, UI designers, UX researchers, and product designers. These fields make pretty good money overall, with most pushing towards or exceeding $100,000 annually.
• Join a Rapidly Growing Market: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, UI-related fields like web development are growing at a higher-than-average 8% and pay around $93,000 every year or about $45/hour. Not bad for a vet who wants to live comfortably.
• Jump Into a Visual Field: While artificial intelligence and other tools have cut into some graphic design markets, there’s still a huge need for the human touch. In fact, the UI and UX worlds require someone who understands how the average person uses websites.
• Improve Their Creativity: Figma provides learners with a powerful creative tool that makes it easier to produce websites, online games, and even marketing concepts. New and innovative creative ideas can help vets express themselves far more fluently.
• Enhance Their Communication: Since Figma focuses so heavily on teamwork and communication, vets who’ve lost some of their ability to work with others after finishing their military career can sharpen their skills and feel more comfortable with others.
• Perfect Transferable Concepts: Most of the things learned in a Figma bootcamp can be translated to other fields. For example, graphic designers use many of the same hard skills, while soft abilities like communication and teamwork are useful in any position.
• Transition to More Challenging Work: Those who learn Figma can also start studying Adobe software, like XD and Sketch, and even master HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Python, and other programming concepts to expand their earning potential even further.

Why Should Veterans Choose a Figma Skills Bootcamp?

A Figma skills bootcamp offers vets a streamlined, focused, and efficient training experience, including personal, group, and even corporate learning opportunities. Students will study with their professor, experience 1-on-1 support, master critical design theories, and walk away comfortable with using Figma regularly. In many ways, a bootcamp will mirror their military experience to provide the hands-on support they need to master Figma and UI concepts.

Even better, these courses don’t force veterans to study topics that might not interest them. For instance, they don’t need to learn coding languages to use Figma, though mastering things like HTML later can still improve their careers. Most importantly, they won’t have to take non-tech classes, like history or science, that waste their time and money. When they’re done with these programs, learners should feel ready to jump into the market in a variety of great fields, like:

• Jobs in User Interface (UI) Design that can make very high wages
• Careers focused on User Experience (UX) Design and related fields
• Visual Design careers, including web development and graphic design
• Full-Stack Web Development jobs that help them create comprehensive sites
• Front End Web Development markets that focus entirely on visual elements 
• Back End Web Development fields that cover databases and much more
• And more

Is Figma Hard for Veterans to Learn?

Unlike learning something advanced like Python, C++, and Java, learning Figma isn’t necessarily difficult. Its streamlined interface makes it effective for multiple projects and fairly easy for many people to quickly understand. That said, basic knowledge doesn’t equate to complete comprehension. In other words, fully mastering Figma will take a lot of hard work, especially when creating a UI and UX design portfolio of high-quality work and designs.

How Long Will It Take Veterans to Learn Figma?

During a Figma bootcamp, most vets should feel comfortable with this software’s basic operations in a few days of concentrated study. In fact, most Figma-only courses last only a few days to help prepare a learner for its unique operation. However, total mastery won’t come for a few weeks or months. Thankfully, regular practice will streamline this experience, particularly for veterans who may not have a lot of experience working in design- or tech-related fields.

What Skills Will Veterans Learn in Figma Bootcamps?

Over the days and weeks of a Figma or UI design course, veterans will learn a myriad of unique skills that can help them transition into an exciting career, such as:

• Font, shading, text, photo, and video layout skills to produce intricate UI tools
• Color theory and management to finalize well-branded work customers enjoy
• Visual design proficiency, including the ability to elegantly design every element
• Interaction design understanding to help users engage with interfaces better 
• User empathy and research skills to fine-tune areas where they might struggle
• Technical skills and tools, such as Sketch, Adobe XD, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
• Collaboration and communication, as most UI projects with Figma will involve many folks
• Front end development skills, including how to produce efficient website designs

Learn Figma at Noble Desktop

Veterans fascinated by Figma, UI design, and UX concepts may want to try one of Noble Desktop’s veteran-friendly training options to begin their careers. Noble Desktop provides top-rated classes (many of which have won awards for excellence) that can sharpen their skills and help them feel confident enough to start looking for work. Courses come with fair prices, as well as finely tuned training schedules that focus on reinforcing previously mastered skills.

Why else is Noble such a strong learning opportunity for veterans? They often have 1-on-1 sessions that reinforce skills and correct errors. Even better, people outside of New York City can take their innovative live online programs to learn with their professors in real time. Rather than following just a series of asynchronous lessons, they can reinforce their knowledge with personalized support. That said, they also get video suites to use after completing the class.

Digital Design Certificate 

Digital Design Certificate focuses on a variety of topics, including Figma, to help veterans jump into a rewarding UI design career. Throughout their class, they’ll study design concepts and theory, master various workflow types, produce elegant and modern styles, and use Figma alongside Adobe applications like Sketch XD to build their expertise. Sessions last for seven weeks full-time or five months part-time and cost just $4,500 (and take vet-based financing!).

Figma Masterclass

Figma Masterclass teaches learners all about UI and UX design by focusing specifically on this software and its many uses. Lasting just 18 hours and costing around $1,000, this program should take only a few days to complete and offer students a lot of inside information about this software. They’ll not only learn basic Figma concepts like frames and vector-based design but also master working with prototyping tools and practice producing open navigation overlays.

Figma Bootcamp

Figma Bootcamp is a strong introductory course that helps veterans who need a little support mastering this powerful design tool. During this 12-hour, $700 class, students learn how to produce user interfaces and experiences, including crafting visuals and making them logical by using a single app. Using frames, vectors, and basic design concepts, they’ll produce components, prototype their results, and create a portfolio of work to show off to potential.