7 Tips from Conversation Design Pros, CEOs and Recruiters on How to Land the Job
Industry experts share their advice on breaking into the industry. This blog post was co-written by Rebecca Evanhoe.
Conversation design is one of the fastest-growing roles for writers and designers in the market right now, but how do you land a job? Whether you’re hoping to find a new role in conversation design or make a complete career pivot, knowing exactly what skills you need and what it takes to break into the industry can feel overwhelming.
We’ve asked seven industry experts to share their advice and tips to become a conversation designer — no matter your skillset. Here’s what they had to say…
Allys Parsons, Co-Founder & Conversational AI Recruiter, Techire.AI
“If you don’t get any experience in this field, do not fear all is not lost! Personally I see many incredible people with zero experience in this industry still land their dream jobs. This is because they put the leg work in by networking, skilling up and fully emerging themselves in this space.”
Ahmed Bouzid, CEO, Witlingo
“Build a portfolio of Alexa skills or Google actions that you have deployed and are proud of. This will force you to read, write, partner up, hustle, endure, and design for real.”
Lisa Falkson, Senior VUI Designer, Amazon
“The best conversation designers have a mix of interdisciplinary qualities: an engineer or computer scientist with strong language skills, or a linguist who has strong technical aptitude. As with most design positions, a lot of empathy is required.”
Braden Ream, CEO of Voiceflow
“The best Cx Designers understand the underlying technologies — where boundaries can be pushed and where to stay within the guard rails. They can sequence their designs for what’s possible today, and what’s possible in future as the technology advances.”
Nicola Bryan, Talent Acquisition Manager, NeuraFlash
“Be confident in interviews! Communication goes a very long way. Have a story about how you got here and how your experience relates to the position you’re interviewing for.”
Brandon Kaplan, CEO, Skilled Creative
“The best conversational designers’ minds sit at the intersection of creativity and utility. We need maximum creativity packed into the best possible vehicle for conversation. Understand that challenge, and get excited about finding angles for creative solutions.”
Want to learn more about the skills needed to work in conversation design, and how to land your next role? Tune into our panel “So You Want to Work in Voice” and ask your questions at the inaugural Women in Voice Summit.
Tickets are free! Womeninvoice.org/summit
If you’re looking to get inspired, learn new conversation design skills and kickstart your career, here are a few additional resources to check out:
- Interested in taking a Conversation Design course? Lots to choose from. Check out this list by Voice Tech Global’s Polina Cherkashyna.
- Need portfolio guidance? Read about it in these posts from Brielle Nickoloff from Botmock: “Building Your Voice Design Portfolio” featuring Allys Parsons, and “How to Build a Great Chatbot Design Portfolio” featuring me, Hillary Black!
- Cathy Pearl’s website has great FAQ content on the topic here.
- Elaine Anzaldo created a great writeup with four different job-hunting points of view on how to get hired from real conversation designers here.
- Benjamin McCulloch (conch.design) collected an epic list of links and recommendations for beginners in conversation design. See it here.
- Join the Women in Voice and VoiceLunch communities to meet and network with more people like you!
Enjoy this post? Tune into our panel “So You Want to Work in Voice” at the Women in Voice summit to hear more insights!
