How to get your first UX job?

[@denizorsel1029]

I started my UX career in 1995 and experienced various roles ever since. I strongly suggest UX juniors to develop their communication skills to pitch their ideas. And always support your ideas with tangible matters such as money or quantifiable efficiency in workforce or time. Always add a value proposition to the project and use it as an interface for other stake holders to digest. Others don't necessarily need to know UX principles, how you ideate , priotize behavioral psychology or research methods you use but they can easily associate numbers and see what the project brings to their world. eg. We need to get the gear shifter back where it used to be in the previous model eventhough it is an automatic drive due to the research we conducted and if we do we expect to recover the dip and even double it since the rest of the feats ensures several upgrades.

[@MalewiczHype]

Very good, strong points here! Thank you for contributing :) If you'd like to talk more about these patterns, maybe we could arrange a short interview too :)

[@__Marielle__]

WOW the advice of not looking too seriously/high to the demands some companies have for a job description is everything I needed. Thank you soooo much!! I created some sort of imposter syndrome in my own design skills ( I have two design degrees) because of those ridiculously high demands. I already was discouraged when I didn't exactly fit those demands because I don't have the skills in design program A, but do in design program B. So I completely lost my joy in designing in general. And this is what I needed to hear. THANK YOU. You have no idea how much this is helping me.

[@MalewiczHype]

Happy to hear it's helpful :) And it's true, many companies copy and paste requirements from other job posts without thinking too much - definitely always worth to apply

[@wrdj3094]

I only have one design degree and I feel the same as you. I've been slowing breaking through the imposter syndrome with all of Michal's content.

[@Libows]

This was perfect timing for me as I'm working on my portfolio right now as a junior designer. Great video, thank you!

[@MalewiczHype]

Great to hear! Good luck with the portfolio! 🙌

[@cdlikecdrom]

Did you find a junior role?

[@Libows]

@@cdlikecdrom I did! I've been working as a full time UX/UI Designer for 9 months now :)

[@cdlikecdrom]

@@Libows happy to know! Been moving from engineering design to UX and working on my portfolio! What’s your biggest advice for a job seeker?

[@Libows]

@@cdlikecdrom I'd say it is to work on your storytelling in combination with a strong UI skills will help get your foot in the door. GL!

[@MegaDgenx]

I totally practiced and worked in Adobe XD since I purchased the Adobe Creative Cloud package. Is it mandatory to learn other software like Sketch, Figma, InVision, etc? or just Adobe XD is better? Please help!

[@randomz5641]

As he said in the video, if you learn 1 you can easily learn the other ux tools, I recommend Figma :)

[@jackknapierr]

Great vid! needed this as i'm applying for jobs now. Thanks!

[@MalewiczHype]

Great to hear!

[@animepedia4737]

hey Malewicz cannn you go on a lil detail into tags ( and where to put them in the folio like in the context page wokrs too as well as the heading page of each new project?) and also the popular keywords managers and there softwars look for tyyyyyyy/

[@MalewiczHype]

I did. exactly that in this popular course: gum.co/uicasestudy

[@natalie-taylor]

What a nice, informative interview and so friendly. I'm not after my first UX job but I still randomly watch videos like this to stay current. In addition to the portfolio advice, the LinkedIn tips discussed are vaulable too. I never request a connection without fully looking at a profile first and always add a note.

[@MalewiczHype]

Yes. I'm not really a fan of LinkedIn - I find it a bit too serious for my tastes, but it's definitely worth having a well crafted account there.

[@natalie-taylor]

@@MalewiczHype I totally get it and a LOT of ppl feel that way. As a creator it can be stifling. I had a job coach that showed me how to use it as research/reference/marketing tool and that got me using it more. I do some learning there too.

[@ulazaranska7723]

Wow! Love this! So informative and insightful! Thanks Michal and friends :) very kind and helpful, they all seem like a great bunch of people to be around!

[@MalewiczHype]

True, we talked for over an hour before I realised we should start recording 😂 It was a goldmine of insight :)

[@jamesbartlett1956]

I also heard the portfolio is most important part of a job application too. But my experience is showing that about half of companies are not even looking at it. (thanks to web analytics) Thanks for a great video 👍

[@MalewiczHype]

Thanks James! Well, companies that don't look at the portfolio are usually ones who already know who they're going to hire (likely someone they know) and the entire hiring process is just for show ;)

[@d.o.nmuzic3802]

This was very good and helpful

[@zip_cs]

Amazing interview. Thank you.

[@chivalryfutures3666]

Thanks for the tips!

[@EdA-dp3nk]

Malewicz, Thank you for sharing this valuable information. As a recent Interaction design graduate that is transitioning from a fashion design field, I found this interview insightful. I consider myself a researcher and conceptualist, but my goal is to continue learning so I can be a generalist in 8 to 10 years. Thank you again, and have a great new year!

[@MalewiczHype]

It's definitely worth it to either be a generalist, or have substantial knowledge on fields next to your main one - it always helps with communication. Have a great new year too!

[@yoada4387]

Great video

[@audreyolivia8625]

YES OMG thank you!!!! I have been in countless of interviews where they actually told me by the end of the interview that they are looking for a senior UX designer

[@busimo]

when will the courses release? was supposed to release today right?

[@MalewiczHype]

They released 5 minutes ago :) Just log in at hype4.academy using the email you used at purchase.

[@njengathegeek]

I think this is a must watch vid for any junior designer out there who are actively in job search like I do. Thanks Malewicz for inviting those guests

[@cubensic]

Whaaaat you met up with Helena? She's awesome. glad to see you in Copenhagen.

[@MalewiczHype]

Thanks! Yeah, CPHUX are awesome people! I'm in CPH every 2 years on average, one of my favorite cities in the EU and breakfasts at Atelier September are 🔥

[@cubensic]

@@MalewiczHype Great choice, that place has style! I also recommend Zoku Copenhagen for a great breakfast and amazing interior. Anyways, hope to see you again here!

[@hollieholbrook4707]

Helena has such a friendly, cheerful, pretty face

[@emkhandigital]

what is the age range for junior designer?

[@MalewiczHype]

There is no "age" range really, you can be a junior at 50 years old - if you're good at what you do you should find the job anyway :)

[@ankitsaikumar6866]

Is 50 and over ux designers common or are they not valued

[@MalewiczHype]

They're not common, but there are people of all ages joining the industry and age is not as strong of a factor as it used to be - if you have a good portfolio and work ethic you can still get a job - at any age.

[@denniszenanywhere]

Question is, how do you highlight your ux design skill when you have, say, you are a content strategist. I’ve had this problem where I’ve done so many ux and content writing that more employers are interested in my writing skills than my ux design skills. That is the challenge for someone at 50. It’s not that you’re not capable of doing ux at 50 but how at age 50, you can hide your other skills. This is my unusual problem even if I have been doing ux for 3 years now.

[@brendanpowers2176]

Love this video, very insightful. Any specific advice for someone trying to pull a complete 180 and from 9 years of sales to a UX design career? Y’all highlight the importance of a portfolio quite a bit and I imagine real-world professional projects far outweigh personal ones. Is there a good way to approach finding professional projects for my portfolio?

[@MalewiczHype]

One thing I often hear is potentially trying to find some non-profits and do a project for them - that way you'd have a real one. But having personal projects is fine too if they're good :)

[@monstera677]

Fantastic! Very helpful information for applying to ux jobs!

[@MalewiczHype]

Glad it was helpful! I plan to make a podcast out of a couple of talks like this

[@Mmvexxx]

I’m self teaching myself frontend web development at the moment but also itching to get into UX as well. Does anyone have any recs as to what courses to pick up? Books perhaps? I have a few books that I’ve been reading on my downtime

[@MalewiczHype]

For UX the Google course is good. For UI you can check out my books and courses at hype4.academy :-)

[@tarlan5236]

That was a great talk, enjoyed it very much with great tips for portfolios :)

[@MalewiczHype]

Awesome, that was exactly the kind of tips I wanted to share :)

[@eye_tee]

thank you!

[@BigWangLee]

Got some good tips on how to indicate what employers look for here! Thank you!

[@MalewiczHype]

Yes, some great tips from very knowledgeable people :)

[@TheHollygirls]

This is gold!

[@MalewiczHype]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@sarmadali77771]

I was thinking ux designer is separate job. Are they responsible for both research (UX) and design (UI)?

[@MalewiczHype]

It's never really that clear. Some designers are generalits and they do everything. Some are more design inclined and understand enough research to communicate with dedicated researchers better. Some prefer research.

[@TheSwedishHistorian]

depends on the job and how UX mature your city is

[@manisky9026]

Thanks for the information you shared with us. I am a junior designer, and since I have 6 months gap before I start my 3 years of study, I thought to take a course so that I can stand out better. what course do you recommend that I can take for this short time? ( I have had some UX projects before and am familiar with the steps and how to execute them, but I am not a specialist yet. I am interested in both coding and UI.) I would appreciate it if you can suggest something.

[@MalewiczHype]

In case of UI I've made my own courses (at hype4.academy) that has proven to help a lot of people so far (2000+ designers) As for coding I'm not an expert on that I'm afraid.

[@manisky9026]

@@MalewiczHype Thank you so much for the quick response. however, I wasn't looking for any particular school or Bootcamp. I am concerned whether I should start coding at the side or working on UI? which one is helping me more to stand out? And for your Ui courses, I will def look into it. :)

[@JonRomera]

Let`s kick it!

[@MalewiczHype]

It's a longer one, so I'll probably turn it into a podcast :)

[@yojanselcuevas9829]

@@MalewiczHype would be cool

[@JonRomera]

​@@MalewiczHype I just watched it at 1.5x and it was completely fine, thanks for sharing this great content!

[@salmanwap]

Great video Michal 😃

[@MalewiczHype]

Thank you! I hope it helps people get their dream jobs :)