Hello fellow UXers!
Are you exhausted from sending out countless applications, hearing crickets, or worse, receiving rejection letters? You're not alone.
But here's the good news – it's not about you. It's about mastering the art of standing out! 💫
Ready for a revelation? Let's explore some uncommon techniques that will make a world of difference in your UX job hunt – your ultimate guide to making waves in the UX job market!
🌐 Crafting a Globetrotting Tale
Remember those stories you read as a child? The ones that took you to far-off places and filled you with wonder?
That's what your UX journey should be - a riveting story.
Consider Alice, a mid-level UX designer who found herself in a job search rut.
She had a list of skills on her resume, just like everyone else.
The turning point?
She replaced the list with a story about how she used her skills to transform an e-commerce site for a local business in a rural town.
She narrated how her designs improved their sales and user interaction.
Alice didn't just tell them what she could do; she showed them.
🃏 Playing the Joker Card
We all love a good surprise, right?
Here is a story of another one of my students, James.
He was in the same boat as Alice - his resume was getting lost in the sea of applications.
He decided to introduce a surprise element - a link to an AR game he developed as a passion project.
His out-of-the-box thinking was enough to catch the eye of the hiring manager.
He got the call, aced the interview, and the rest is history.
🚀 Launching a Moonshot
Doing something unconventional can be risky, but when done right, it can change your life.
Meet Sarah, a senior-level UXer with passion for biotech.
She was applying to healthcare startups but was getting nowhere.
Instead of giving up, she took a bold step.
She conducted a heuristic evaluation of an app of one of the healthcare startups she planned to apply to, identified a critical UX issue, and redesigned the problematic component.
She included a link to this case study in her cover letter.
The startup was impressed by her initiative and hired her.
Each of these individuals had their unique “ice cream truck moment.” They found a way to stand out and make the recruiters come to them instead of the other way round.
With the inspiring stories of Alice, James, and Sarah in mind, let's delve deeper into how you can create your own “ice cream truck moment.”
I've put together a list of specific strategies and examples to guide you, whether you're unlocking the “escape room” challenge, inventing the “invisible problem,” or championing the “underdog.”
Let's dive in and transform your job search strategy together.
Unlock the “Escape Room” Challenge:
You were working with a team and ran into a conflict that was derailing progress. You took on the role of a mediator, resolved the issue, and put the project back on track.
You were asked to master a new design tool within a week for a crucial project. Share how you used online resources, tutorials, and practiced diligently to meet this challenge.
While working on a product, unexpected feedback from user testing caused a major pivot in design direction. Discuss how you managed this change, adapted to the new requirements, and still met your deadline.
Invent the “Invisible Problem”:
You noticed that the user onboarding process for an app was causing drop-offs. Upon investigation, you found that the tutorials were too complex for new users.
While going through a health app, you found that users were skipping reading terms and conditions because of the small font size and heavy legal jargon.
While reviewing an e-commerce site, you saw that customers frequently left their carts abandoned. You identified that the issue was a lack of a clear, step-by-step checkout process.
Design the “Before-and-After”:
You chose a local library’s website that was difficult to navigate and turned it into a user-friendly experience.
You took a slow, cumbersome food delivery app and redesigned it to make it quick and easy-to-use.
You picked a newsletter with a low read rate and redesigned its layout and presentation style to increase user engagement.
Champion the “Underdog”:
You took the concept of “accessibility,” often overlooked, and demonstrated how enhancing it in a streaming service improved user engagement.
You chose “feedback loops” and showed how applying it in a fitness app led to increased user motivation and activity.
You selected “white space” as an underdog element and showcased how using it effectively in a blog layout improved readability and user satisfaction.
Embrace the “Happy Accident”:
While redesigning a website, you realized that your chosen color palette was not accessible to color-blind users. Share how you used this incident to improve your design's accessibility.
While conducting a usability test, you found that users were confused by the app's navigation due to the lack of clear labels. Discuss how you learned from this oversight and improved the UX.
In one of your projects, you overlooked mobile optimization. When you saw it led to poor user experience for mobile users, you turned this into a learning opportunity and ensured future designs were mobile-first.
You get the idea now, right?
Yes, it's easy to get lost in the sea of applications. But UX is about solving problems creatively. So, why not start with the problem of landing your dream job?
Remember, job hunting is a journey, just like UX design itself. Research, iterate, improve. Every “no” takes you one step closer to a “yes.”
In this journey, don't forget the first rule of UX - empathy. Extend that empathy to yourself. You're more than a candidate; you're a unique individual with a wealth of experiences. You're not just seeking a job; you're seeking a platform where you can make a difference.
So, polish that resume, revamp your portfolio, and go create your “ice cream truck moment.” You've got this! 💪
Share your job-hunting experiences, ideas, and success stories below. We're all on this journey together, and every story can inspire someone else.
Here's to landing that dream UX job! 🥂
—Marina
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