Thoughts on my career goals?

Good day po! I graduated last June with a BSCS degree, and I still haven’t found a job yet. I wasn’t able to upskill right after graduation because I had to undergo surgery and I only recently recovered. While recovering, I had a lot of time to think about my career and what I really want to do. Even before college, I’ve always been passionate about design. My internship was also design related, mainly graphic design, which I really enjoyed.

Because of that, I’m currently thinking of getting a graphic design job first. Not necessarily as my final career path, but as a way to support myself while I continue building my portfolio and developing my skills in UI/UX (Currently learning figma, complete beginner pa haha). Basically, I’d be hitting two birds with one stone: earning while also gaining actual design experience and building my portfolio. I’m hoping to land a graphic design job sometime this year. Then, if I eventually need to move or relocate for a company or a better opportunity next year, at least I’ll have had some time to work, gain experience, and save up beforehand. (I heard that most companies hire from January to April?)

I’ve also been considering WordPress development since I had a short contract job doing it before (around one month). They had me use Elementor, so it wasn’t really coding heavy which I enjoyed. Yes, di masyado ako mahilig magcode haha. But still willing to learn pa naman. I think naburn out lang talaga ako after thesis so di ako masyado nakapag-code.

So my current plan is to get a graphic design job first, while learning UI/UX on the side and building my portfolio. Once I’m confident enough, I’d like to transition into a UI/UX role. After that, I’m considering learning WordPress development as an additional skill.

For those working in these fields, does this seem like a practical career progression? If I eventually move into WordPress development, would my graphic design and UI/UX background be useful or are those skills not as relevant to WordPress work?

For those currently working in WordPress dev, is it generally fresh-grad friendly? How much coding is usually expected for entry-level roles, especially now that AI tools are becoming more common?

I’d really appreciate hearing from people who are currently working in these fields or recently started their careers, especially given how much AI is changing the industry. Salamat po!!