The Comprehensive Guide to Finding a Kick-Ass UX Job

I very literally stumbled into my first job out of grad school while walking around employer booths at a conference…I’d had a beer and it was the end of a long day of listening to speakers 🍺

At the time, it felt like a dream job – designing software for GIS professionals (I majored in Geography and Informatics).

For my next job, I wanted to move back home to Indianapolis, so I took the first real opportunity I could find, which turned out to be a great job as well.

by Bob Ewing

Now I lead design at an agency…which is funny because I hated agencies when I was in-house, and I certainly never desired to start one. I only helped found one to be able to help more companies at a time.

In hindsight, I certainly benefited from being in good positions and never had to truly seek out new positions. But I did have criteria that — unbeknownst to me at the time — was helping me in my job search.

These days, I’m out of the rat race. I’m likely staying with my agency until the grave, but I often find myself helping other designers figure out how to find good opportunities. I’ve reflected a bit on my own experiences — and those of other happy designers — to figure out how designers can get better at finding great opportunities.

I’ve found the following to be key principles when finding jobs, influenced both by my own success, and as someone who has hired or advised on dozens of hires.

My hope is that this will help both junior and senior designers better approach their next job search.

Myths

But first, a few common myths:

“Startups and agencies have the most exciting work.”

The pace of both is unquestionable, but the actual work isn’t always the most exciting. You can get stuck doing superficial work or doing so many tasks, you’re never getting time to do great work. “Exciting” is a matter of perspective and it is not tied to fast-paced environments.

“Big corporations are…