5 tips to land your first job as a UX/UI designer
It was one year ago when I decided to start a journey of becoming a UX/UI designer. I spend the last 3 months looking for a job. I got rejected multiple times, and finally, I land my first job recently. This is a job I wanted since the beginning of my journey.
I share my experience and things I’ve learned or noticed during this process.
1. Have realistic expectations
The reality is that finding the first job is hard, especially now. Thousands of people (including myself) have changed their careers, and become UX/UI designers. Also, some people with university degrees and relevant backgrounds have an advantage. All of us want jobs.
High competition on the field combined with the pandemic, war, and economic crisis are not ideal conditions for job seekers. Don’t expect to find a job after finishing a course, project, or Bootcamp.
The reality is that to get hired, you should stand out from the crowd. Minimum requirements are met in most cases, so if you want to get hired, it’s best to start thinking about what is your advantage. Maybe you have a very good portfolio website or relevant job experience?
For me, it was writing on Medium. Writing helped me in so many ways — to better articulate things, explain my thinking process, connect with people, and share and receive knowledge or experience.
Medium helped me to connect to a fellow designer, who gave me a recommendation for the company I’m going to work for.
Tip: Don’t expect to start working right away.
Work on your skills and try to stand out from the crowd.
2. Work on your skills
Having flaws is perfectly normal, especially when you are a beginner. The thing is, you should be aware of that. Observe yourself, ask for feedback, and make a plan. Planning can help you to organize your thoughts, goals, and tasks.
For example, a few months ago I noticed that my UI skills needed polishing. I came up with a plan:
- I decided to create a pixel-perfect copy of Airbnb and OpenSea. It helped me to observe and learn from others.
- Next, I started doing a daily UI challenge. It helped me to practice, and do something every day. As a result, I practiced Figma and worked faster, and the interfaces I created were better than before.
- I took an online course that covers so many topics from UI fundamentals to motion and micro-interactions. I learned so many new things, and techniques and received tips through this course.
While hard skills are essential to have, don’t forget about soft skills. They are equally and sometimes more important than hard skills. You’ll have to work with people from different backgrounds, interests, and characters. So, work on your communication skills as well.
Tip: Observe yourself.
Notice how you do things, how you communicate with people, and what can you do to improve yourself. Find the problem and solve it.
3. The power of networking
Networking is compelling. Having somebody to ask questions, receive feedback, and just communicate with them is crucial for development and growth.
Networking played a huge role to get my first job. As I mentioned, I wrote the case study about the Tbilisi parking app redesign on Medium and then shared it with my local UX/UI group. That’s how I met with the product designer, who helped me to get my first job.
Besides, it is nice to be a part of the community. You can learn, share and receive feedback, joke about things, and share your thoughts. The ultimate goal of networking is to communicate with fellow designers, not essentially find a job. Networking is a great way to find a mentor, or person(s) who will motivate and inspire you, or even land a job — it’s quite common practice to start seeking a job in the community.
Tip: In a nutshell, networking is comforting and rewarding.
4. Work on your resume and portfolio
As simple as it gets, finding a job without a good resume and portfolio is almost impossible. There are a dozen tips on how to create a good resume and portfolio, so I won’t go into the details now.
For creating my resume, I used Overleaf. It’s a bit tricky, but the main advantage is that it is minimalistic and you can add any external links easily.
For a portfolio, I use Behance. After thinking a lot, I decided that for now, I prefer having my portfolio on Behance rather than creating a portfolio website.
The thing is if you look for your first job, most probably you won’t have real work experience. \I decided to work on a real project — I designed a website for an accounting company. I know the owner of this company, and I offered them my service for free. In a return, I gained valuable knowledge and real experience. I worked with a developer, who is a junior like me. So, it was a beneficial experience for all of us. I strongly suggest doing a similar thing.
Tip: Polish your resume frequently.
5. Practice interviewing skills
If you have an interview, it’s already a success. It’s a very good experience.
Before I changed my career, I’ve been to dozens of interviews. From my experience, interviewing for a UX/UI designer job was different from all the interviews I’ve ever been.
For years I worked in revenue services and was a tax officer. So, I used to be very official. Plus, I had to use certain phrases and tones. It was imprinted and unconsciously I used that tone and phrase when I was having an interview simulation with my boyfriend. He gave me feedback, and I started to work on this issue. By the way, it’s a good way to train yourself — ask a friend, or a family member to interview you.
After that, I recorded a video during another interview simulation and observed my manners and body language. You can use a mirror, but recording is better if you want to notice more details. Although, it was a bit cringing when I was watching my “interview” over and over again.
Tip: Ask a friend/family to conduct an interview with you, and record a video. Then observe yourself, and notice how you talk, act and look.
Searching for a job can be overwhelming. If you have trouble, don’t hesitate and ask for help. Be patient, and kind to yourself. Sooner or later, you’ll have a job!
If you are stressed, anxious, or tired, take a break. Focus on your mental health and well-being. My last tip is to stay off-screen for some time — even for a few days. It’s very refreshing. Meet friends, have a long walk or read a book, whatever you love to do. When you feel relaxed, and refreshed, go back to work and you’ll notice the difference.
