This Is How I Succeed In My First Job As A UX Designer
“At first they will ask why you are doing it. Later they will ask how you did it.”
I have been a software biz since 2001 (yeah it has been quite a long time). And all these years, I have been learning a lot especially in context with UX designing. The concept of User Experience (UX) designing has been around for 3.3 million years since “Homo Habilis first started creating stone tools”, a design that even exists today in the form of hand axe/ chainsaw. But as far as the jobs are concerned, the title of a UX designer is very much a 21st-century creation. Moreover, one of the tech- giants, Google is looking for skilled user experience (UX) experts in research, design, strategy, and engineering.
The UX job market is expanding on a rapid scale. Several studies reveal that there are around 12,103 vacancies on LinkedIn for jobs with “User Experience” or “UX” in their title. Which means plenty of positions to be filled and big bucks to be earned. Over a few months, I have been noticing how hard it is to find a job as an entry-level UX designer, even when the world is flooded with UX design jobs. So here I am with a small post that explores how I landed my first job as a UX designer.
Understand The Digital Product Development Need
Keeping the money and opportunity aside for a while, firstly you need to understand the newness and continually evolving procedures to digital product development. After graduating from a reputable UX design bootcamp, I was definitely not going to sit at home. Instead, I chose to get in touch with skilled mentors and shape my career as a UX designer. Apart from this, I gave my all in the process of learning UX design, i.e. from scratch to solution.
Next is the basic personality traits and habits found in any UX designer, including me were:
- Strong work ethics, disciplined attitude
- High internal drive, passion, self-motivated
- Curiosity to discover
- Positive outlook
- Healthy and a balanced lifestyle
- Broad mindset, open to all
Most of the UX design & development companies are looking for professionals featuring the aforementioned traits. Trust me, you are more like to get the job if you work hard and are more pleasant to be around!
Now I used to divide my entire day into three big areas:-
- Design work
- Job applications
- Marketing
However, most of the people put marketing/networking at first which is not appropriate for a designer, let me tell you why.
Design work (20 hours per week)
One of the finest thing about working as a designer is that no one is interested in which school you went instead people are more interested in what you have created lately. Besides, one the most important factors in my entire career of user experience designing is to hone my craft and create a portfolio of some thoughtful work. If your work is best-in-class, you can get a job with no marketing at all. So what I did was?
Volunteering- Volunteering numerous events, meeting the best people at various tech-networking mixers and showcasing my designing skills.
Read, read & read- Learning is a never-ending process, and even after you have graduated keep yourself updated with new concepts until the content starts repeating itself. One of the best ways to pursue your career as a successful UX designer is to fully immerse yourself in all aspects of the craft.
“If you love designing, why wait for someone to pay for it.”
Job applications (5 hours per week)
The two most common yet biggest mistakes made by the new designers are:-
- Not applying enough
- Not looking for jobs every day
I have made them as well. Besides, getting obsessed for what to write in my portfolio, sending a wide range of applications and eagerly wait for a response, getting crushed for days, if rejected and holding grudges at the company were some of the biggest mistakes that I have made in my career as a UX designer. Make sure that you don’t repeat them.
What to do instead:
- Apply for all the jobs once a week
- Do all the applications on Sunday night (in your free time)
- Instead of simply applying for a job, apply for something meaningful
- Create a cover letter featuring three reasons that why you are a good fit for the UX design & development company. Make it in brief and send.
Marketing/Networking (5 hours per week)
Self-praising is no more in vogue. It may quite interest you to know that I have never marketed myself. It always felt weird for me to talk to others about how good I am especially in my work. Marketing at the core is all about making people aware that your do exist and doing it organically will not only help you in refining your story but even will make you stand out of the house!
Additional note: Not to write for the sake of writing as most of the UX designing companies can totally tell when someone is being inauthentic. Besides, keep networking events at the lowest priority. Networking among people is much like networking between the two devices, it works only if it has a strong connection.
Best online resources that can make you count
Whether you are a novice or an expert, these below-mentioned resources will definitely help you in keeping up with the latest updates in the User experience design field.
- Usability counts- Consider the main usability count website at regular intervals
- Get experience- Knowledge is just not enough, experience counts as well
- UXPIN Blog- The site comprises of lots and lots of UI resources and tools like responsive web design tips, UX cheat sheets, resources for design patterns, wireframes guides, and other useful articles.
Final Words…
Getting started as a UX designer is difficult but working smart will surely help you climb the career ladder at a faster pace. Apart from adequate knowledge, make effective use of tools like MS excel, Google Docs, good mapping softwares as Xmind, SPSS Statistics, Nvivo, Morae, Silverback and the list goes on.
So this is it for now! Good luck to all of you just starting out in UX!
