When I'm hiring, I don't look for credentials, I look for knowledge.
Design is the beauty of turning constraints into advantages.
When you are solving a difficult problem re-ask the problem so that your solution helps you learn faster. Find a faster way to fail, recover, and try again. If the problem you are trying to solve involves creating a magnum opus, you are solving the wrong problem.
Never use a warning when you mean undo.
To the user, the interface is the product.
You can never let your data dictate design. If you do, you end up following what people currently do and never innovating.