Junior UX Portfolio: A Job Offer After 3 Months of Learning and Doing UX

In this UX Portfolio Review video, I'll walk through a recent review request made by one of the junior product designers in Australia. With only 3 months of experience of learning and doing UX research and design and applying to over 20 openings, they landed their first UX/UI gig. Watch to find out the key factors that contributed to this as well as the improvement areas to take it further.
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[@YourMajesty143]

For those who feel let down about your own progress, keep in mind that this example is an outlier, since he was previously in the architectural design field. Architects are essentially UX designers, just in a different medium. They work on designing functional and aesthetically pleasing spaces in ways that fulfill buyers needs, much like UXD focus on fulfilling user needs. They also create blueprints, which are similar in the way UXD create wireframes. His background definitely gave him extra leverage. Anytime I see people transition into UX quickly, I always check to see what their previous career was. Usually they were already in tech, academic research or marketing research, or some other creative field that involves design. If you don't have these kinds of backgrounds, then don't get hung up over your progress vs theirs. It's possible that the job he secured was in the industry he's transitioning from, it's possible the application process and interviews gave him enough practice to figure out how to sell his background, it's possible he got a clueless recruiter who is desperately hiring, or it could be a less-than-desirable company that was on the bottom of his list but was the only open door into to UX industry. So don't assume his path was an optimal one. Drop the comparisons and focus on your own path, because UX is a dense field to study that takes years to fully develop and even Senior UXD don't stop learning, so be patient and enjoy the journey!

[@MKPrive]

Excellent comment! I hope people see this v despair and self compare. Also, in my experience hiring managers care more about the UX process than a sleek website and fancy UI. This example is strong on the UI and actually sort of weak on UX.

[@julianp3244]

My thoughts exactly, but I will say that the field one is transitioning from matters too. I recently discovered that I am getting responses all from real estate UX jobs as opposed to other fields, and I worked in the real estate field before. So if you are transitioning from a specific field (whats on your resume?), consider starting off in UX in that same field.

[@thelifechitchatpodcast]

Very true!!

[@amaonthego]

Excellent comment! It’s so important to avoid comparison because everyone’s situation is unique.

[@alexdromero13]

Yes, that portfolio was really good! Definitely an outlier

[@lalakuma9]

It's great to know that even a junior designer whose project you criticized thoroughly still found a job

[@xiaofha]

Wow! There is hope. I was becoming doubtful it’d be possible to really find a job. Still building my skills and doing my best.

[@lucygilbertson3746]

This is the exception, not the rule. From what I have seen, getting an entry level ux job is pure blind luck. Plenty on pretty bad designers out there in great careers, and plenty of amazing designers who have been unable to get a job for years.

[@dwebb8910]

Today I started my first day in a UX design role. I just wanted to say thanks for your channel and advice which has certainly helped get ready, apply and make the right decisions for where I am in my career. I was lucky to get a few offers over a couple of months and it has really helped hearing your thoughts on roles and how to differentiate between various opportunities. Thanks again definitely helped steer my career through this minefield.

[@tranminhtri9963]

Your content is absolutely gold Mr. Vy. I just got 4 offers over 14 job applications recently after 4-5 months of learning and building case studies. If you are a UX beginner, start building and structuring your own website, resumé and portfolio as early as possible. Because those are not just time-consuming (especially case studies) but also frustrated AF when you really have to construct a cohensive personal brand to apply for jobs.

[@vaexperience]

Amazing

[@esteban578]

I agree the most time consuming thing for me has been building my portfolio

[@tranminhtri9963]

@@esteban578 yeah it's exactly like building a new project, but you have to be extra careful and thoughtful with it

[@emmanuelolubodun6475]

How did you build your website ? By yourself?

[@esteban578]

@@emmanuelolubodun6475 If youre asking me, I used bootstrap and customized it my self, theres other things like squarespace and wix but I prefer to code it and customize it

[@joydeepchatterjee3218]

I want to see your portfolio. Please upload one video

[@ABSVabeautifulsunsetvlog]

I feel like having a technical background of some sort (IT related, architecture, graphic design, etc…) gives you a leg up with some employers as they are already impressed and probably looking for reasons not to hire you more so than reasons as to why they should. So assuming you interview well, if you’re coming from those types of fields these jobs are probably more yours to lose.

[@harry199172]

Great content! Thank you for sharing this with us. I have been self-learning UX design for a while, I stopped learning a couple of months ago because there was a lot of self-doubts, I have no design background or anything, so I wasn't sure if I could get a real job offer no matter how hard I try. However, recently I told myself to give it a go and worry about it later. So basically yeah, I'm restarting the learning process from the scratch. Anyways thanks for the inspiration, if anyone here has a similar experience?

[@lalalala2845]

There was talk about all the think she should/could have included, but aren’t case studies supposed to be easily scannable and not included every step? Considering if he included all of the suggestions made it would be really long. So how do you know what’s the most important info to included?

[@joshdotera]

I have a very similar story -- I got my first UX/UI job within the first month of graduating my bootcamp with a wonderful company! I think I only applied to about 5 companies but what ended up working for me was networking on LinkedIn

[@AkshayPatel-xo2zf]

bootcamp name?

[@cristinaarguello5654]

I hope to have a similar experience, but I'm losing hope, and I haven't even finished my certificate course. I feel like the Google UX course isn't really doing the field justice, especially since I am not getting any real feedback.

[@duncanbug]

@@cristinaarguello5654 I agree I'm not pursuing the google UX course. For "free courses" I've heard really good things about the UC San Diego Interaction Design one on coursera! Paid bootcamps will be better for feedback though.

[@cristinaarguello5654]

@@duncanbug Do you have any bootcamp recommendations that will hopefully not break the bank?

[@starvemarve5530]

You teach us not how to design. But how to think.

[@hani_753]

Where is your portfolio of you ?

[@alexandrabohmer1268]

Did he code this himself or what platform did he use? Impressive!

[@cindyluvbug]

Keep on swimming, swimming, swimming... I can tell I'm getting somewhere, but I would have loved to be working 3 months out from school. I feel like some valuable lessons are being learned, perhaps the hard way, but learned nonetheless! 💪

[@vaexperience]

Keep on keeping on. There are a lot of factors that are out of your control, but what's in your control is to keep doing great work in UX and stay patient

[@cindyluvbug]

Because I am still in pursuit of that first "real" product design position, the first thing that stood out to me was that this portfolio, while definitely very appealing and engaging, seemed to have a very different focus from mine. I would love to know what the position was because I am starting to see why you sometimes say "it depends" when asked how a "top" portfolio would show this or that... is a great portfolio more of a contextual thing, with the key factor being the balance of UX to UI work the position entails? If so, does the same apply to level (junior vs mid)?

[@beeutiaddict]

does anyone know the template or website for the portfolio? I absolutely adore and would love to implement

[@theado3183]

Very helpful for someone like me who's working on the first case study too. Thank you!

[@angelacheng7886]

It was a really helpful video, Thank u! Please let me know when u are doing a portfolio review again. I would really like to share my portfolio and have your feedback on it!

[@msvladyslavap]

Couldn't find a link to this portfolio, can we have it please? 🙏

[@aminXlocale]

Sorry I saw this and thought 🤔, oh of course (he majored in Architecture)... dude that's like saying I'm transitioning from IT to Computational Engineering for Openchat...it's the same thing. Tbh he's architecture background was even harder than UX so the manager would have easily taken him on board. But thanks for the video.

[@vaexperience]

Architects do make for great UI designers... but if UX is a different question.

[@fia3384]

hello, may I ask where are you from? you have an interesting accent

[@johnathanmontelongo6487]

I appreciate the comment on depth v speed, focussing on one great case study over three shallower ones, but this is the guy's first attempt ahead of searching for his first entry-level/junior role. Depth seems the luxury reserved for of a seasoned pro in a real-life situation. Disclaimer: I'm transition from graphic design into UX/UI and haven't yet produced any case studies/portfolio, so probably just projecting my own anxieties and inhibitions.

[@vaexperience]

Hey that's fair comment, but also now is the time to go deep if you want to stand out from uber competitive landscape where everyone has shallow case studies. Because of the conceptual case nature in the beginning you need to invest time as there is virtually no limit how deep you can go - which is the opposite of when the real business challenges will come into place during real projects. Thus now is the time to do it deep, because if with all the freedom in the world to explore and choose any method you want if you restrict it when you'll also restrict your chances to getting the call.

[@cp3onmtv963]

Also transitioning from graphic design with mostly print work. It’s hard to give metrics and “results” when you’re making up the whole project from scratch. Have already gotten my first round of no’s. Just have to keep trying, especially if you don’t want to stay in the field you’re in (which I don’t)

[@StiNkyBorgEr]

Should I do my portfolio website in framer?

[@vaexperience]

The platform doesn't matter

[@StiNkyBorgEr]

@@vaexperience thank you!!

[@johncliffalvarez6513]

But then how long should a case study be if one must present more depth of the ux process? Isn’t there a priority for keeping a concise format that helps recruiters and other hiring managers to scan through a candidate’s case study to quickly pick out their skill set and experience?

[@vaexperience]

It's not about the length but the quality of statements.

[@pandastory-abookseriesabou8568]

​👌🏻​ Like your work 💯

[@swagfel]

Man great Content I need to work on my portfolio however I got a opportunity to work for a big company in Europe for your advices

[@nickcarter5343]

Hello. Can you tell us what UX Portfolio is needed for a Senior? And please tell me how to use the Talent Service. I was told that there you can find very cool offers for seniors.

[@secession77]

is it really necessary to show so much detail about the process? Doesn't measurable outcome matter the most while showcasing the portfolio? Shouldn't a case study be just an invitation to initial call? What if I don't wish to share too much about my commercial projects that are not in public domain yet?

[@vaexperience]

It's about the right kind of detail

[@stheil777]

Really great content. Unfortunately at least in my agency history, i've never had a customer who would pay for a journey like u tell is needed. Yes, a user journey workshop is always done - but then there is always a quick jump into prototyping and a even faster way into the design cause they want to see nice pictures of their new stuff ;) How long do you stay in the process of gathering information before scribble the first box and how do you sell it?

[@worldstop2337]

your videos teach us a lot. Thanks for it, we appreciate it ,we are grateful .

[@Unknown-uy2hh]

Can you upload the portfolio link?

[@EvanBlack11]

Any idea where or how he made his portfolio/case study on?

[@Aj-tu4gv]

Use framer

[@tfdesign4072]

Thank you so much for making this!

[@user-fi6hg8vq6c]

This is great

[@balob]

20 openings? shiit, I've applied to 50+ and have gotten no response for the UX jobs

[@julianp3244]

stop immediately and get a mentor for advice on what is going

[@balob]

@@julianp3244 thanks, i will look on adplist

[@KiranVarri]

Awesome👍👏👏👏👏

[@grainnebuckley4771]

Hi, I'm someone who has just recently begun applying for UX jobs and just recently graduated from a bachelors program, and I'm finding your videos really helpful! Would you have any recommendations regarding UX case studies applied to physical products, eg. medical devices? Can/Should I use these as a way of showcasing UX principals in relation to physical concepts or should I stick solely to UI designs and case studies? Thank you!

[@esteban578]

UX and UI go hand in hand, but it sounds like you are leaning more into product design and development than user experience

[@chakibbrikcisid5474]

Nice!

[@LorettaBangBang]

Haha this totally reminds me of my portfolio.