Landing Your Next UX Role
A UX Panel hosted by Phillychi and insights on the UX Industry from UX Managers and Recruiters
The UX Industry has been a struggle since COVID: with mass layoffs and budget cuts. While that is happening, people are still getting hired. They are passing with flying colors and getting the role you thought you were going to get. So what makes them different?
Yesterday evening I went to a UX Panel hosted by Phillychi and I was thinking:
Will this make me stand out or will it be the same BS everyone talks about on Linkedin on “How to get hired?”
I was doubtful, how can I? I have tried everything, I re-did my portfolio 50+ times, I passed interviews, but never got the job. I questioned my ability and my skills, maybe I am missing something? Maybe it’s the way I communicate? Maybe I am just not a good enough designer?
Things that probably go through your mind too when you see the rejection e-mail. Well, if you weren’t there last night, it’s okay. I wrote down every question and every answer to my best ability because it was insightful.
It made me hopeful again because it wasn’t the same stuff you hear/read on Linkedin. It was hopeful because you are in a room full of people who are also struggling. Not to say that their struggle is bigger than yours or that it’s a good thing that they are struggling; it’s because you realize you aren’t alone in this. And that is hopeful.
While my notes are pretty short and to the point, I hope you understand experiencing it last night is quite different. The answers were going really fast and I tried to get as much information as I can when writing down, but I apologize if they are short.
If you ever have the opportunity to do something like this in your community or attend one, please do so. It benefits you.
As Joe has said, “There are good people out there.”
So there are 3 categories: Job Search/Resume, Interviewing, and Portfolios.
Feel free to skip to the ones that will benefit you the most. I think the whole panel is worth the read though because these designers, managers, creatives, and recruiters had taken the time to spill the beans on how to get hired and we should honor and be thankful for that.
The panelist names were Joe Pasavage, Julie Froelich, Maria Mutia, and Andrea Sumrall.
Joe Pasavage is a Senior Manager of UX Strategy & Design at Vanguard.
Julie Froelich is a Group Product Designer at Fetch.
Maria Mutia is Accessibility Consultant.
Andrea Sumrall is Senior Technical Recruiter at Motion Recruitment.
I was in the back and I couldn’t really hear Maria so I apologize if her quotes are shorter.
Job Search/Resume
Q: What is something that can uncover opportunities within Linkedin that is not known to others?
Maria
Take up space
Connect, Connect.
Because you don’t know who knows who when job searching.
Fight people!! Everyone is struggling, but fight them anyways! 🔥👊
Joe
No Shame Posts: Hire me!
I am the best at ….
I am looking for …
Andrea
She notes that contract roles are not posted and only go to other recruiters.
Connect with recruiters
Become friends with Recruiters
Julie
Connect with Influencer recruiters
They empower each other and post a lot of jobs.
Q: How can candidates differ from each other? What do you do to stand out?
Maria
I have 3-5 resumes and then I populate them into AI until it comes up with a better resume.
Spam everyone! 🔥
Julie
Templates
As a hiring manager, we get over 100+ applications and it’s basically doom and gloom. I had to shuffle through so many applications and over a dozen who applied for the job don’t even qualify.
People are just applying for jobs because it is easy especially on Linkedin.
Gotta Look good. Invest in yourself and your resume!
Joe
Make resume polish.
Let your personality show! 🎨
Hiring is a train wreck for both Hiring Managers and Candidates.
Set up meetings everyday with people.
People give up too easily.
have a coffee chat with Creatives until you land something.
Different projects in your portfolio.
Have a Business Mindset.
Personalized Messages
For example, I (Joe) was hiring for my team through Vanguard and people would message me the same thing:
“Hi my name is John Doe and I am the perfect match for this position…”
It wasn’t personalized… it wasn’t that you wanted to work with me (Joe) and my team. It was just stating you wanted the job. Show you are interested in working with people and what kind of person you want to be when being part of the job’s team.
Andrea
1 Column resume is better. It goes through ATS a lot better than 2 Column resume.
Be Pro-active
Be Searchable on the Market.
Use Product Keywords.
For example: B2B, E-commerce, B2C, SAAS
Bring your expertise to the table
Apply in general and in everything, but be qualified.
Bullet points and Impact.
Impact on how your work affected the Product/Company/etc.
Interviewing
Q: How can interviewing be for the common UX questions and Case Studies?
Maria
Say what they want to hear.
Prep for a case study.
Julie
Practice, Practice, and Practice More.
What have they (you) done, but your story in 10 mins.
Record yourself and watch yourself.
Practice with someone.
Andrea
How you are perceived to be [influences interviewing].
Know how to tell a story: case study and yourself.
Speak with clarify.
Joe
Nail your introduction
Don’t make things up about yourself or your work.
Use AI for Interview questions.
I am an introvert so when speaking in interviews, I have practiced to be a "forced extrovert”
Q: What questions have candidates asked that wow’d you in an interview?
Maria
What Motivates you?
This question to ask during an interview is good to know because it asks what motivates you (interviewer) to go to work.
Joe
What is something you learned?
Q: What is something that you can wow in an interview?
Maria
Be Weird!! 🤪🤓
Joe
Be Open.
Julie
Know your shit.
Q: What is something that makes you seem confident or nervous in an Interview?
Andrea
Interviews are still human interactions.
Show your personality.
There are a lot of fake candidates out there, don’t be that one.
How well can you talk about the product?
Do you know what the company does? Goals? Etc.
Understand your work within the company and the impact your work does.
Hiring managers and Peers will ask themselves: “Do I want to sit next to you everyday?”
Joe
How you interact with people.
Personality is a huge thing in interviews because hiring managers need to know if you work well with their team.
Excited for the little things.
Julie
Use your background information in your next role.
Your passion? Show it! 🔥
Maria
Be willing to be open!
No one wants arrogant co-workers.
Be confident, be loud, but don’t be arrogant.
Q: How can senior designers or juniors stand out in an Interview?
Andrea
It’s a similar workflow for either.
What is your favorite role?
Grab pieces what aligns with you or the industry you are applying for.
Julie
Unfamiliar within a certain industry can stick out like a sore thumb.
Stick with what you know.
Pick your favorite works.
What are you stronger in and include strengths.
Maria
Tie the project within the interview.
“This is not the Market to change Industry. Own your niche.”
Andrea
Portfolios
Q: How do you make your portfolio bullet proof?
Julie
Templates.
Joe
Framer.
You can build straight in framer or in figma and publish it.
Quick Website Maker
Keep it simple.
No wild animations.
Mobile Friendly
Q: Does aesthetics make a portfolio bullet proof?
Julie
Yes.
Joe
Have a plan for your site.
A portfolio is like a mini advertisement on how to get people interested.
Andrea
process oriented
How do you think about (within) the design process? Is what portfolios are about.
No end to end projects. Show your work.
Show design skills and graphic design principles.
Hierarchy, Color, Type, Alignment
Q: For UX Researchers, we lack visuals, so how do we make the portfolios bullet proof?
Show team impact.
Show business impact.
Data
Be good at storytelling.
Show very little visuals to help tell the UX story.
Q: Alternatives for Portfolio: Slide Decks?
Julie
Slide decks are for interviews.
Create your case studies before hand.
Always be prepared [to showcase your work].
Andrea
Slide decks are for projects only.
Do not use slide deck for your portfolio.
Portfolio-Interviews
Q: Describe a time where a person wow’d you for a portfolio-interview?
Joe
A candidate one time drew their own visuals throughout their portfolio interview.
Custom visuals.
Julie
Before presenting your portfolio-interview, ask what you are getting into.
Sometimes side conversation can take awhile and it interrupts the port-interview and can make you frazzled, be open to the idea.
Other times people do not interrupt and you need to know what kind of vibe it is going to be before the port-interview.
Q: What do you expect in these interviews?
Julie
The basics: name, what are you doing current, what are you looking for, history, etc.
Talk about a case study.
The process is long and very degrading.
Q: How common are interview tests in the industry? Will they eventually go away?
Andrea
Senior Designers still have to do them.
Joe
Treat it like a case study.
What it meant to you.
These tests are never for a product they are currently working on.
Give it a little (dazzle) twist from you.
Q: How do you ace the interview tests?
Julie
Get really far within the research.
Use your tricks.
Get scrappy with it.
There was some open questions from the audience, but since the event was going to end, I didn’t get much out of it because people talking distracted me. The event overall was hopeful, I have been in the job hunting for a very long time and I am tired, but I am glad I went because there is still a chance for me to land something. I am not sure what it is, but I feel really good knowing this because not only it will help me, but others.
If I had to sum up what I got from this panel, it would be basically:
Know your shit. Be open. Be kind. Stick to your industry. Connect with recruiters. Connect with recruiter friends. Don’t be arrogant. Fancy up your resume. 1 Column is ATS friendly. Show your passion. Show your personality. Be the best you can. Don’t give up.
As I close this article, if any of the panelist want to add anything to this article, please let me know or even take things out. They are your words, not mine. If you are within the Philly Area, I highly recommend Phillychi, they are an organization that helps the UX community come together. They have a discord!
They have more events coming up and their biggest one is Design Slam, which I highly recommend it for people who are new to the industry and looking to get their hands a little dirty because it is during Tech Week and you work with a non-profit to help solve an issue they have!
I am not part of Phillychi’s board or team, I am just a friend of theirs. They do wonderful to try to include everyone who wants to be part of their community. I am glad I was able to find this community even if I sometimes don’t join because of my introvertism and I hate driving in Philly.
That is it! Thanks for tuning into my piece on “Landing Your Next UX Role” hosted by Phillychi. If you like this post, please subscribe and follow me to get more insights on all things design and art.