Let's talk about what early career UX folks should emphasize in interviews, especially when searching for the first job.
A mistake I see folks make is when they focus on the designs they've created. Often these are school or side projects. They look great. They work great.
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A mistake I see folks make is when they focus on the designs they've created. Often these are school or side projects. They look great. They work great.
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However, that's not what smart hiring managers care about.
Of course, if you produce crappy-looking stuff, they won't give you the time of day.
But you don't have crappy-looking stuff. That's not what's preventing you from getting that first dream gig.
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Of course, if you produce crappy-looking stuff, they won't give you the time of day.
But you don't have crappy-looking stuff. That's not what's preventing you from getting that first dream gig.
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What's preventing you from getting that gig is that the hiring managers can't see your vector of growth.
You see, it's likely you're not telling your story right. The hiring manager doesn't care about your designs, because, let's face it, they aren't that impressive.
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You see, it's likely you're not telling your story right. The hiring manager doesn't care about your designs, because, let's face it, they aren't that impressive.
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You're early in your career.
None of us produced impressive work when we were early in our careers.
It takes years to learn how to produce impressive work.
You haven't put in those years of hard work yet.
You will. I have every confidence that you will.
Someday.
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None of us produced impressive work when we were early in our careers.
It takes years to learn how to produce impressive work.
You haven't put in those years of hard work yet.
You will. I have every confidence that you will.
Someday.
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But, for now, you need to focus on getting you that first job.
And to do that, you'll need to impress the hiring managers.
And if you won't do that with your designs, what will you do that with?
Answer: How you *learned* to do those designs.
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And to do that, you'll need to impress the hiring managers.
And if you won't do that with your designs, what will you do that with?
Answer: How you *learned* to do those designs.
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This is what most early-career UX folks miss: It's about how you learn, not how you work today.
Whatever work you've done? It's not good enough for your first job.
It never is.
To produce good work when you get your first job, you'll need to learn a lot of stuff.
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Whatever work you've done? It's not good enough for your first job.
It never is.
To produce good work when you get your first job, you'll need to learn a lot of stuff.
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That's what a smart hiring manager cares about most: How good are you at learning?
The hiring manager knows you just learned all this stuff.
How did you do it?
How quick were you?
How thorough were you?
How did adapt to new information?
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The hiring manager knows you just learned all this stuff.
How did you do it?
How quick were you?
How thorough were you?
How did adapt to new information?
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Think about that.
It's not what you can do. It's what you *will* do.
That's what the hiring manager wants to know.
Given that, how are you telling that story about yourself?
How are you showing how good you are at learning?
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It's not what you can do. It's what you *will* do.
That's what the hiring manager wants to know.
Given that, how are you telling that story about yourself?
How are you showing how good you are at learning?
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You probably have a résumé.
How well does your résumé tell the story of what you've learned and how you learned it?
You likely have a portfolio.
How well does your portfolio tell the story of all the things you've learned?
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How well does your résumé tell the story of what you've learned and how you learned it?
You likely have a portfolio.
How well does your portfolio tell the story of all the things you've learned?
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When you describe a project in your portfolio, do you explain what you didn't know at the start that you learned during the project?
Do you explain how you went about learning it?
Do you explain how what you learned changed how you'll design in the future?
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Do you explain how you went about learning it?
Do you explain how what you learned changed how you'll design in the future?
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Do you show the mistakes you made?
What did you learn from those mistakes?
What did you learn from trying to correct those mistakes?
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What did you learn from those mistakes?
What did you learn from trying to correct those mistakes?
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Do you show what you've learned by studying the designs of others?
Do you show what you learned by emulating other designer's work?
Do you show what you learned by transforming their work into your own style and solutions?
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Do you show what you learned by emulating other designer's work?
Do you show what you learned by transforming their work into your own style and solutions?
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Do you show what you've learned from user research?
How did your chosen research methods help you learn what you learned?
Where did the research methods fail to teach you something you later learned was critical?
What did you learn to do differently the next time?
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How did your chosen research methods help you learn what you learned?
Where did the research methods fail to teach you something you later learned was critical?
What did you learn to do differently the next time?
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Can a hiring manager look at your portfolio and résumé and see how you've grown?
Can they see how the most recent projects are so much better than the earlier projects?
(Can they even tell which are the most recent and which are the earlier works?)
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Can they see how the most recent projects are so much better than the earlier projects?
(Can they even tell which are the most recent and which are the earlier works?)
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Can a hiring manager see your vector of growth?
A vector represents direction and distance. Can they see the distance you've come and the direction your design education has taken you?
Not just what you've learned in school. All of your education.
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A vector represents direction and distance. Can they see the distance you've come and the direction your design education has taken you?
Not just what you've learned in school. All of your education.
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The hiring manager needs to see your vector of growth.
They need to plot it from today into the future.
They need to see that it will cover all the thins you don't know. That you can't possibly know. That you will need to learn.
That's what makes you impressive.
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They need to plot it from today into the future.
They need to see that it will cover all the thins you don't know. That you can't possibly know. That you will need to learn.
That's what makes you impressive.
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If you're not talking about how you've learned and grown in your UX journey, you're likely leaving out the most important part of your story.
If you're wondering why you're not getting the job offers you hoped you would get, this may be why.
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If you're wondering why you're not getting the job offers you hoped you would get, this may be why.
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Why don't you see others doing this?
Because it's much harder to do this than just showcasing your best project work.
But it's not what your user (the hiring manager) needs from you.
Design is hard. That's what makes it fun.
Do the hard work. I promise, it's worth it.
18/fin
Because it's much harder to do this than just showcasing your best project work.
But it's not what your user (the hiring manager) needs from you.
Design is hard. That's what makes it fun.
Do the hard work. I promise, it's worth it.
18/fin
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