Hi! Thanks for watching my content, I'm glad you find it useful 🙂 so I personally haven't done any Bootcamps or courses, that's mostly because I have transitioned into UX research on the job. I started as a product analyst and as part of this position over time became more involved with product thinking and user research. So when I went to apply for UX research jobs I already had a portfolio of work to show for it. So in terms of credibility, work experience says more than a course. in absence of experience it won't hurt to do a course, might help you build a couple of case studies and understand processes in a product life cycle. I think it really depends on the course and it's focus though, I do find that you learn all the necessary research skills in a psychology or another research focused degree, so it's more about getting an insight into how these can be applied, learning industry specific language etc. And the last caveat is: I'm saying it won't hurt if it's a free or inexpensive course, of course if considerable cost is involved then it's up to you to do your research about whether you will get what you need out of it and do financial planning accordingly. I'm the last person who would tell people they have to to pay for some online certificate when so much knowledge is available freely.

Thank you so much Val. You have no idea how helpful this is. @@valaz

Thanks

So glad you found this helpful! All the best :)

Thank you! Really glad to hear you found it helpful :) good luck with your transition

Hi! I don't think there is anything wrong with including academic projects, but I would be careful in terms of how you present them. It's important to be concise and emphasize skills that would be relevant in the positions you are applying for, focus less so on your findings and and more on tasks/ challenges and how they helped you grow.

So helpful!! Thanks so much!!@@valaz

I wouldn't say that actually. I think what's essential is having a good understanding of research methods and the ability to apply them. Psychology is simply the degree that provides one of the strongest foundations in both quantitative and qualitative methods, but it is not the only way to acquire those skills. I think the biggest problem is that many employers rely on a psych degree too much as an indicator of relevant skills... They mostly do so when they are not knowledgeable enough themselves and can't come up with a good technical task to test relevant skills. There are positions that don't require a psychology degree or any kind of an academic degree and focus on your actual skillset.

Thank you for your kind words!

Glad to hear you found it helpful. Best of luck for your applications!

Hi Indre! I've been able to work with a 14 inc laptop for years, I prefer mobility. For a couple years now i've had a large DELL monitor, which for me is the perfect combination. I do use the large screen a lot for Miro boards etc, but it's all doable with a small screen as well.

@@valaz Thanks a lot for your reply and insights! Much appreciated

Hi, sorry for the late response,only just saw it. in case it is still relevant, you can book a portfolio review session with me on superpeer: superpeer.com/valuxr/-/review?s=d

Glad it was helpful!

Welcome!

Amazing! Would you like to share what questions you have?

Glad it was helpful!

Hey, I don't have a class, I only offer 1:1 mentoring. But there are many online courses out there even free ones that teach specific skills. You can check out Coursera, udemy for example.

Hey, I do know that designers move to uxr, usually from UX or product design. What exactly do instructional designer do? I would generally say you can move into uxr from any field if you have the skills to do the job.

@@valaz Instructional designers create content and design and develop training courses for learners. Therefore they are responsible for developing and delivering effective e learning courses. An ID should be able to create relevant content and design better learning experience with the help of Learning psychology. They use authorings tools like storyline, captivate etc.

@@mketkee that sounds very interesting! Usually for uxr positions, the main requirement is for you to know different research methods and know when and how to apply them. You should be able to show evidence of that in your application materials and interview, no matter which field you are transitioning from. Best of luck!

@@valaz Okay ! I understood. Thanks very much. Keep up the good work 👍😇

Okay thank you for this service. I didn't read this before sending you a comment. Well, Your video helped me.

Thanks for subbing!

So I currently work in the UK, but my first job was in Germany. In what way do you think it's different in Germany?

Taking online courses in UX research or other UX topics is not a requirement, especially if they are expensive and after being a student it can be quite a lot to spend. Even if you do take such a course it is no guarantee it will be a factor in whether you get a job as a UXR or now. However, these courses can be helpful in learning how research is applied in UX and they can be a way to show recruiters and hiring manager that you are serious about UXR and investing into learning about it. I would say of money and the extra time is no issue, why not... Otherwise you can learn a lot from free resources as well. The best is to try it out by doing some mock projects, internships, freelance work... Any kind of hands on experience always trump's any kind of course in my experience:) if you are wondering whether to do a PhD or go straight into UXR, i have a video on that topic you might find useful, hopefully:) Good luck!

@@valaz Thank you so much for your answer, it's been very helpful :). I wish you all the best..

Hey! I might make a video about it, thanks for the suggestion :) but in the mean time, one thing you can do is reach out to non-profits and ask if they need your services, you could do a pro bono project or two which would have real world impact, that could be great. You could also do fake projects of your own (I am guessing you might be already doing it as part of your course), pick an app or a physical product and think what would you do as a UXR if you were the first one hired to their team. What might you research? Usually anything around the onboarding experience would work well, because it is easy to get your hands on and ask people to do usability tests with and there is always something that confuses people (eg. I pick and app like Monday.com and I ask 5 friends who work in tech or product management which seem to be their target customers to go through onboarding, then document it and present as if you were doing this project for a client. What were the main insights? What would you recommend? etc. Behavioral science research also draws good attention in UXR, so you might not necessarily need to do projects, but thing about how you can take a piece of research that you did and explain how the skills you have a are transferable, how could a similar piece of research be applied in industry for example. keep in mind that not all companies require you to have experience when you start, but it can certainly be helpful to show that you understand the jargon, what they are looking for and would know how to get started. I find that smaller companies and startups are much more open to beginners, as long as they have another UXR who could mentor.

Hey Alex! I would say it's harder with BA only, but not impossible. May be if you are looking in the US, it could be easier BCS it's more common to just do BA, but I'm not an expert here. You will have to really present your skills in a strategic way, bring your 2 years of experience in research to the forefront. If you have the option to do so, try to find an internship in UXR, do an online course with a certificate that you could add to your resume. If you don't have the option to do be looking for a long time, I would consider applying for alternative positions in tech and try to transition from there. I' be started in product analytics myself and did lots of uxr tasks that I could than leverage to apply for uxr positions, I've seen people transitioning from customer support or customer operations, it's a good prep as you are on direct contact with customers and product teams if it's an internal Cs team. Consider also if UXR is the way forward, you might also like market research or analytics or something completely different, I would keep my options open when applying, sometimes alternatives come along that you didn't plan for.

@Nisha About to film a portfolio video soon, are there any particular questions you have? Advice you haven't found helpful and would like better guidance? What part of it do you feel least sure about? Thx :)

@@valaz like step by step process in solving problem statement with explanations and examples would be great to understand .

Thanks Nisha! I'm really happy to see someone is actually watching these XD happy to do a portfolio video, that's a great idea! Will take me a couple weeks though as I am on vacation ATM :) still figuring out how to make this KZbin thing fit into my life

@@valaz yaa suree, waiting for more videos related to uxr :)