How To Get A Job In UX Design
Your UX job search will inevitably lead to questions like, “Where can I find UX jobs?”, and “How to get a job in UX?”.
What’s the outlook of UX design jobs?
🔸 Spoiler alert: UX designers are still very much in demand
So, if you’re thinking you’re a good fit for a career in UX design, you may be wondering if now is the right time to do it. But how will you know when you’re ready?
As cliche as it sounds…
you know when you know
However, ask yourself these questions:
- Are you fluent with industry-standard design tools?
- Are you confident in the UX process and able to go through the entire design thinking process yourself?
- Do you have a portfolio with your 2–3 projects?
- Are you prepared for the hiring process?
- Do you ACTUALLY like UX design?
A quick story of how I got into the UX field
How do you actually go about breaking into the world of UX?
Job searching (in any field) in this day and age is wild and it’s okay to feel lost and uncertain at times. But I’d not advise you to focus on factors that are outside of your control (the market).
Instead, let’s address the things that you can change in your job search journey:
The most likely reason you are not passing the first round is that you failed to impress the hiring company based on the following:
- Not a stand-out candidate
- Industry experience
- Portfolio
You can improve your chances to progress in the hiring process by doing the following:
- Change your portfolio. Keep adding, editing, and updating.
- Stop sending the same CV to every company! Customize it… please.
- Don’t be unrealistic and adjust your rate in different markets and industries.
- Tailor your message to the recruiter & the company and/or offer insight on what they need help with.
- It’s best to have your portfolio checked by a mentor or someone who’s more experienced in the industry.
- Be specific with your job search. Go into detail about your desired role, the industry, and the level of your seniority and expertise.
- Tap into your network and pick companies with a higher success rate, upcoming or stealth startups. Or try to find those who desperately need design help (there’s A LOT).
Your mindset is important 🧠
I was rejected by 30 companies for my first UX job. I’ve refused to let rejection define me since.
🔸 Here are 4 lessons I’ve learned to turn rejection into success:
- Never. Take. Things. Personally. Remember the rule. 99% of the time, it’s not about you. 100% of the time, it’s whatever you can’t control.
- Redirect your thoughts. Perhaps the job is not the right fit for you or there are better opportunities ahead of you.
- The best way to learn from rejection? Ask the companies/clients for insight on how to do better moving forward.
- Become comfortable with rejection. Rejection is a part of life (which you can’t avoid) but you can become invincible when you do.
I know one copywriter who used to handle multi-million euro campaigns when she was still working for an ad agency in Amsterdam. The pandemic happened and she had to move back to her home country, Indonesia.
She got rejected by 12 local companies while she was there and refused 3 offers because they were expecting her to accept entry-level salaries (she had 6 years of experience).
3 months later, she was offered a position at a multinational tech company in Bangkok with salaries higher than her last job in Europe and a role that covers the whole Asia-Pacific region.
She accepted, packed her bags, and moved to Bangkok. The last time I checked, she was thriving.
The best UX job boards to find a job in UX
Key takeaways
To improve your chances of landing a UX job try networking regularly (online and offline), ask for references (from previous people you’ve worked with), be active on social media (get into design communities), and continue working on your portfolio.
Keep at it, and you’ll find something. Best of luck! 🍀
Let’s Connect
👥 LinkedIn | 🎥 YouTube | 🧵 Threads | 🐦 Twitter | 📸 Instagram
📩 Newsletter | 💻 Website
📥 Email hello@uxplaybook.org if you have any questions, feedback, or suggestions.
Hey 👋 I’m Chris, the Founder of UX Playbook.
Here’s more about me:
👨🏫 I’m a Ex-Head of Design, with 10 years of experience in tech, building products & teams
🦄 I worked with Fortune 100s like Google, Nike, Coca Cola, 21st Century Fox, and startup unicorns
👨👩👧👦 I’ve built a community of over 62,000 designers
🤝 I’ve supported over 11,000 designers with my free UX resources, blog posts, and mentorship
🚀 I’ve been the founding designer for 8 startups
💸 I previously grew my own freelance one-person UX consultancy to $26,000/month then burnt out
Want more from me? Follow me on LinkedIn.
