How to land a UX design job? Lessons learned as a senior career changer
Introduction
I try to ‘distil’ the general conclusion from my personal experience. Following a break in my personal and professional life at the same time, I found UX design. As an economist, I had 22 years of commercial (and investment) banking, strategic and consulting background at the time. Because of the depth and nature of the changes in my life and because I could not continue my former path, I decided to change everything: I wanted to do different things and differently than before.
Why UX design? I thought it was an analytical, innovative and creative thing at the same time that attracted me. I wanted to create useful things and learn. I assumed all these in advance. After reviewing the topics of the training programs, I discovered that I had completed already or been able to contribute to many elements of a double diamond design process in my previous professional life. And what I didn’t know I was interested in.
As a general remark what is important here for you is to articulate why you chose UX design? Because it is fashionable and to pay the bills is not an adequate answer.
After the training, I started to build a portfolio and apply for jobs intermittently, with longer breaks in between. It took me 2 years to experience and understand what the market thinks of me and to get my first job offer. I would like to share my experiences and tips. Some of these might be useful for juniors starting their career in UX design.
At first reading, my statements may seem negative. I don’t want to take your mind off UX design. On the contrary, I want to give a realistic picture and encourage everyone to follow the path consistently if you have chosen UX design because you thought you liked it.
Even before identifying UX design for myself, some of my friends said to try abroad, you would never get a job in Hungary after 22 years of employment, you are too old, too senior for everything practically. This echoed in my head and determined my first two years and is still echoing.
Ups and downs: you have to be mentally strong
I built my portfolio intermittently, I applied for opportunities intermittently since finishing my training in mid-2020. The positive feedback didn’t take a job for two years because either it turned out the jobs weren’t remote and I couldn’t relocate or I overpriced myself as a freelancer. After a few rejections, I did not apply in my home country at all, these were all foreign opportunities. I got a lot of rejections, but most of them were senior designer hirings and realistically, I don’t stick there in all the elements of a double diamond.
Because of the rejections, I often felt ups and downs. After a year when every junior, class or schoolmate got their first job in Hungary that I knew about, it was already extremely frustrating. To tackle this, I was thinking about three things: the positive feedback I received about my career switch, mainly from foreign designers in interviews; it may seem opinionated, but about some of the popular artists who were all rejected at one point in their careers then became world-famous; and the positive reactions I received to my UX-themed appearances, on Medium, LinkedIn and Behance of which almost 100% came from foreigners.
UX design training: a Bootcamp is not enough
From 48 hours to a university Master’s degree, from full remote to physical, from free YouTube videos to programs with a job guarantee, from the “anonymous” to the famous, all sorts of educational opportunities are available. I wanted to change my career relatively quickly yet within a reasonable financial framework. I ruled out completely remote self-taught learning because I needed humans, UXers, around me.
More important than the name of the UX training is its structure, the adequate proportion of theory and practice, whether it adds ammunition to all elements of the double diamond, and to prepare, present and document your first design in project work.
The most important thing is however it should develop your way of thinking, your structuring of problems, make you more sensitive to become more empathetic and strengthen your aptitude for continuous search for inspiration. A Bootcamp can be enough if you supplement it with self-study and do a number of your own projects afterwards.
I opted for an intensive, bundled, bootcamp-based project training with multi-hour sessions on Wednesday-Saturday rhythm. Writing the case study was not part of it at the time, altogether it was almost half a year-long and quite intensive.
Learning in UX is continuous, you only took the first step with the above.
Job vacancies: in search of the extra-terrestrial UX designer
Do not be frightened. If you’ve looked at a number of ads, you’ll notice that they’re about copies of each other. You should be professional in all prototyping tools, and program languages, capable to mentor and everything, basically. Filters for junior/entry/medior levels do not really applicable. In many cases level is stated as entry, in a few cases medior or mid then from the detailed description, it is clearly a senior role.
The more realistic 1% note that they know what they are looking for as a UX designer doesn’t really exist. So, do not care if you do not meet every point of the job ad, apply. The question is whether a) there will be such at all b) do they see fantasy and potential in you for an interview at least?
Let’s turn it around for a moment. I had one case: in an ad, the expectation in short was to know everything on a professional level. When I asked if it was okay, but if I knew all that, why would I go right there? Well, I didn’t become popular. I won’t have any more problems in life with this employer. My feeling is that in many cases the employer’s value proposition is not outstanding at all put it euphemistically with respect to its expectations towards a UX designer.
I also saw that companies have been advertising for weeks, and months, and looking for the perfect candidate that will never come. I would definitely do it differently in their place. I would mentor a candidate with growth potential for 1–2 months and she/he will be extremely grateful.
Timing
You can upload your CV to the HR database at many, typically larger companies so that they can contact you if a relevant opportunity arises. My experience is limited, but I don’t believe in that. On the other hand, if you apply quickly to a job posting you will have more chances for sure. No one wants to review 150 CVs. Chances are even higher if the company wants to fill the position quickly. Thus, if they see fantasy in the first 10 applicants, they will select from those for the second round. I know it’s all trivial, but here’s the place.
The application process can have 7 stages
The typical application process could look like this: HR interview with a junior HR Colleague — A professional interview with your potential head of design — Test task — Presentation in front of the design team and product squad/tribe, discussion — Trial on-site work days (1–3 days, with potential colleagues in real working setup) — Feedback — Offer. This type of selection process can take a minimum of 4–5 weeks, but even the shortest process can take 3 weeks at least. Post-covid, everything is done online, except the trial on-site.
Get past the first HR filter
Do not misunderstand me I am not pejorative, but the first HR filter is typically a junior HR colleague, dynamic, skilled, educated, well-trained, and enthusiastic. Her/his task is to filter you by keywords, maybe ask three questions and see if it might be worth moving on with you.
Do not be upset and be empathetic. Understandably, he/she has neither life nor professional experience, has no idea what you worked on before, doesn’t understand, but in many cases, doesn’t even look at the CV in detail, let alone the portfolio. Of course, don’t even understand your values. This is completely obvious because he/she does not have this task. You can get through by putting all the keywords in it, kind of reflecting on the common features of the job listings. But only if they are true.
CV tailored to the company: I will never do it
Almost every job portal, senior recruiter etc. advises that your CV should be tailored to the job description of that particular company. I’ve never done this and I never will. Why? According to statistics, a typically junior HR colleague (if not a bot) spends an average of 7 seconds on a CV. You’ve spent orders of magnitude more time with it already. My suggestion is instead of tailoring it one by one, apply for 20 instead of 10 jobs, 100 instead of 50. Only Italian footballers can score from one single opportunity.
I in fact iterated my CV several times based on my interview experience. In the first year, I applied, and I stopped due to the negative results. When I was already trying harder in year 2, there was enough feedback to see what companies are looking for. Thus, I incorporated the synthesis of those in my CV, thus I have only one general, for a UX designer role.
‘Downgrade your CV’: I didn’t do it but it can work
At the time of my UX training, I still had a ‘War and Peace’-like CV of a good 10 years old. Banking domain-heavy, contentwise strong, but long, outdated., boring most likely. Why? I never really needed it.
You need the effort to reorchestrate your CV to comply with the requirements of a different profession. To stand out, to eliminate unnecessarily yet to be self-identical. To restructure or formulate newly your previous experience into what is relevant from a UX design perspective.
You might think this takes a couple of minutes. In fact, it wasn’t easy, because you tend to stick to what you have already achieved. I iterated it in several rounds content, structure, and appearance included. My mentor provided me with unbiased feedback. When he probed companies (UX agencies) about me, the synthesis of the feedback was: ‘they dare not risk you, they are afraid of you.’
This could lead to a conclusion of downgrading your CV, lowering your seniority, cutting out achievements to display yourselves as someone not representing any danger to colleagues and superiors etc. Though I prefer to be self-identical, a kind of take it, or leave it, I must admit that in today’s job market the downgrade approach could work.
‘So you just started UX design?’
The market sees you as a career changer. No matter what you think of yourself, no matter what your background is, and how you reflect that on your CV, this is the general perception of you. You didn’t do that, you started this now (so you don’t have enough experience).
‘We provide mentoring’ — but not for you
‘No matter if you haven’t learned UX design, we’ll teach you.’ It is a very rare but existing and extremely sympathetic practice. In a smaller number of companies, there are job postings to apply boldly, even if you have an affinity but are not a UX designer because they mentor you in-house for a couple of months. The experience shows that the target group is the 25–30 years old young professionals, mostly ladies.
You are in no one’s land: make the extra mile and find your niche
It is tough to enter the UX job market even as a junior (by age). You’re too old to be a junior. The number of officially advertised junior jobs is negligible. You get in through a network of contacts. When companies want juniors they prefer fresh graduates of design school especially if they also have 1–2 years of experience in a digital agency. I even saw several junior job descriptions with medior expectations. It isn't rare.
Are they better than you? Yes, most likely in several skills: technical skills, graphics, widespread use of apps, and in a broader sense in everything that characterises gen z in the digital age including a high level of self-confidence. These, although very important, are only part of the UX design. I consider life and work experience supporting UX design work fundamentally through understanding better human, corporate behaviour, life situations, business cases, decisions, sensitivity etc. In addition, there are gen x things that will never come back. Is there any need for it at all? It’s worth a mass.
Medior ads are even rarer. There are few companies willing to employ juniors or mediors. The reason for this is the lack of culture and preconditions both human and financial, they need a workforce to contribute to the bottom line from day one.
The bulk of ads is ‘UX designer’ who typically have a minimum of 3–5 years of experience and ‘senior UX designer’. Here you compete with designer candidates from around the globe with a minimum of 4–5 years of experience at 2–3 companies as UX or product designers, which you have not done by definition. You have to convince companies that you can do that.
When my mentor tested agencies with my CV the feedback was: he is good but old. You are in no one’s land, you have to make the extra mile compared to fresh graduates and to senior UX practitioners and most importantly find your niche.
Your domain knowledge is likely an advantage, your seniority isn’t
After completing the UX training, I applied for jobs in my home country at either financial institutions or digital/UX agencies that develop applications for the financial sector or of finance subject assuming I can be valuable to them. The biggest surprise came here, my domain knowledge didn’t get me anywhere so I gave it up quickly and presumably forever after a few tries. I also posted on the local UX Facebook group that I am looking for an internship or junior opportunity. I thought it would be a good idea, someone will appreciate it. Result: zero.
Later came a promising opportunity abroad, where exactly my domain knowledge was valuable but it was not a remote one. Despite my opposite experience, I still think that your domain knowledge is an asset. If you don’t want anything else specifically, I mean to taste another sector you can start looking for UX jobs in your original industry.
Take a risk, change your industry
There is another way. You’ve already taken a big risk by changing careers. Why not go any further? Also, change sectors.
It may happen that you no longer find any excitement in the industry where you worked. You would switch to a fancy one. Many areas and within companies especially in tech are sexy, with a brand name, generous remuneration, and a strong media presence thanks to their well-known leaders, not to mention hype. The scramble for these places is huge, your chances of getting there are close to zero at first.
However, having worked in large organizations, I think this hype hides that the actual difference in the working process, organisation culture, human relations etc. is much more limited than it seems compared to the better chunk of more traditional industries/companies. Bravely sign up for other sectors which you would never have thought of where your experience and motivation are valued.
The job is good, the company seems not: should you go?
I had this case. The job, the direct colleagues seemed to be good, they liked my CV etc. I then checked the company on job boards. A large number of former employees' feedback was strongly negative partly due to dismissals during the two years of the pandemic but also to management issues. Should you go for a UX designer job in such a case?
Yes, because you just start you can learn and gain experience everywhere. When the concerns turn out to be true and become an obstacle in your daily work, you leave.
What is your USP?
UX designers are pouring into the job market, thus, you also have to differentiate yourself from juniors and other seniors. What is your specific value proposition? It can be anything. Just take a sheet and write down your values from a UX designer's eye.
I filtered out the following for myself. I work with the double diamond methodology, testing and iterating a lot, always experimenting with various tools for flexibility and to form my own opinion. When run into new problems I map them in detail. I intend to be precise and structured, document and share everything. I strive for every element of the user interface to enhance the product. It may sound too general, but I would put it this way: I do more of all of the mentioned than what I observed as an ‘average’ by other designers.
I have a project management, leadership, research and domain background in a multicultural large corporate environment. Your USP will pave the way for you and those who will hire you want to build on your USP.
Own website? Build your portfolio instead
Initially, I thought that anyone who designs digital products needed a website of their own. Either to display everything up there or to operate it as an umbrella and contact channel. But that’s the best advertisement I thought of.
However, to get your first job in UX design, you need a good portfolio first and foremost. You can present it for free on Behance and for an annual subscription fee of 50 USD on Medium getting access to ‘unlimited’ valuable professional content not just in UX. These are much better than like me maintaining an expensive but visually outdated, thus to be redesigned bilingual website.
On the other hand, if you are a senior and/or you want to be a freelance contractor, your own website could sell you if good enough. It depends on your career objectives and seniority, but if it is not just a one-page ‘static’ contact site, it is always resource-consuming. When you work as a UX/product designer for 40 hours a week, but rather for significantly more, will you have the energy and will at all to maintain your website?
Your portfolio: as many different projects as possible
I recently read a post on LinkedIn that senior recruiting designers have had enough of portfolios and case studies and practically no one reads them. From their point of view, these only serve to raise their attention to invite you for an interview. Despite it sounds harsh since you have worked countless hours with it already. Some say it should contain at least 3 different projects for a junior job. (I had 6, numerous writings and a collection of UX tools and they all were shared.)
Anyway, your portfolio should reflect through your relevant (parts of) projects: 1) the direction you want to go within UX design if you know it already; 2) what strengths of yours you want to show: e.g. UX research, IA, low-fidelity wireframing, interaction design, UI, etc. All these should be emphasized 3) the same is true for industries, and companies of your interest e.g. finance, fintech, streaming, health tech, crypto, proptech, ecommerce, tourism, and smart solutions just to name a few. Show your relevant work. 4) tools & methods that you are familiar with 5) what you have learnt out of each project 6) your familiarity with current trends in UX/UI design 7) technically, strive for real-life projects, redesign existing solutions, apply for voluntary projects on Upwork.
No, I did not fully comply with the above either. But I recommend it at my best. In addition, do not accomplish a single project because the topic is fashionable only if you are really interested in it.
Test tasks
Test tasks are typically related to the company’s activities and attempt to test you through several elements of UX design: e.g. research, low-fidelity prototyping, UX writing, interaction, and high-fidelity prototyping. They have fixed deadlines, either with a time frame tailored to each sub-task, or a 3-day-one-week for the complete task.
You can also ask. I don’t know what good tactics are here. I assumed I needed to be able to interpret the task and work on my own, so I didn’t ask. There are places where they refer to the tools used by the company, but for the most part, you have a free hand. You share the files and present them in an online meeting. I exceeded the time frame (except for one case), but I always documented it transparently.
What is very important is to overcome the stress, and the exam crunch and stand as if you have nothing at stake. (Which, of course, isn’t true.) I didn’t do several tasks well enough for that. For example for the very first time, I put a lot of energy into all the stages before the hi-fi screens or hi-fi prototype, and I did not accomplish those latter at all. Even though that was not required, it still proved to be a big mistake. By 2022, a company wanted me to finish quickly the second part of the test task (they were satisfied with the first part) in order to accelerate the hiring process and influence my decision not to accept another offer. In mid-2020, I didn’t see myself getting there. By doing a couple of test tasks you will see your development clearly.
Glad you got into the test round because in that case, you will almost always get meaningful feedback from which you can learn and that is the point.
A good hiring designer/employer is curious about the way you think and how you justify your decisions. Technical skills can be developed quickly.
What interview questions do you get to answer?
Examples, without claiming completeness: Why UX design? What did you do before, what is your background? Your experience in an agile work environment? Do you understand the place/role/functioning of product management within the matrix organization and the operation of squads/tribes? What is your level in UX design and how do you work as a designer? Present a project (what is the problem, how did you research, what tools did you use, was your solution applied, what was the opinion of the users?). Talk about your favourite design, why (digital/physical)? What are your financial expectations?
What to ask?
Why do they want to hire a UX designer? The weighting of tasks: UX research, UX design, UI, which one, or all this, in what proportions? Are you working on a specific product or feature? Designer team size, composition? Do they capable and will provide you with mentoring? Training budget and opportunities? Measurement of your performance?
Feedback
I didn’t count, I received automated rejection emails with similar text for 90% of my applications. 10% contained substantive feedback of which half supports your progression. Be very grateful for any meaningful feedback.
What are your financial expectations?
For many companies, this is already included in the filtering questions on the application form, which is mandatory. For me, this isn't right. More specifically, it’s good if you want 30% more of what you certainly wouldn’t get in your current position, so you test a potential employer. Normally, I think it should turn out first that the company needs your skills and experience and there is the chemistry with colleagues, and then the last thing is to clarify the financial conditions. If you really want someone, you will find the financial source for it.
There are several sources for current UX designer salaries on the net. You can download Hays Salary Guide 2022 or check data on Glassdoor. Here is one illustration, but there are plenty of resources for this.
For example, in mid-2022, a medior designer in Hungary can get HUF 0.9–1.1mn gross monthly as an employee plus the usual fringe benefits like cafeteria, fully remote, all equipment, at some companies medical insurance, a larger cafeteria budget, or max. 10% bonus of the gross annual salary upon company’s performance, budget/opportunity for learning related to job or language.
In EUR terms it is low. (As a freelancer working for foreign companies you can have a day rate of EUR 200–250, though this is rather a senior designer rate, but not the top of it at all.) Taking into account the persistent weaknesses of the current Hungarian economic policy, this leads already in the short term to an ‘escape’. Hungarian UX designers will increasingly look for job opportunities abroad or remote at foreign entities since locals will not be able to provide the required compensation. (Even today the local market needs more experienced designers that the actual supply.) The situation will be very similar to that of IT developers.
Full remote: yes, but the time zone matters
One of the attractions of the UX design profession that has become obvious under Covid19 is that it can be done remotely. Therefore, in principle, the supply and demand sides of the market are now global. In practice, a significant portion of companies doesn’t mind if you show up occasionally in the office or at joint team/company events half-yearly or annually. Some are hybrid, but most of them are really full remote. In the more minor part of the latter, you should be within +/- 2–3 hours compared to the time zone of the company’s physical location for smooth collaboration. You have to consider what stage of life or life situation you are at. Working with a company on another continent sounds fancy at first, while the permanently upset rhythm of life may not be.
Chemistry: if you don’t have it, everything else is irrelevant
We never officially talk about this topic, it’s taboo. After all, it is not an objective category e.g. have you already had 20 responsive design projects etc. nor is it a legal category. You can be any motivated, skilled, etc. if your future design leader and/or team don’t sympathize with you, in advance, or during the application process, you’ll never get there.
You need to be able to digest that which is difficult because you have no idea why, since they haven’t worked with you, and so on. From your point of view, it seems prejudice and lack of inclusivity, are the exact opposite of what you have learnt about design. You have to be empathetic and imagine yourself in their place, you shouldn’t even stretch this, you have to let it go. Go to the next option.
Is it impossible to start as a freelancer?
Not necessarily, but it could be tough. There are two ways to start in UX: you are trying to get a job as an employee, or you will be a freelancer in a legal form. As a freelancer, there are four options basically. You should 1) apply for projects on platforms like Upwork 2) introduce yourself to the UX community of your country and try to join projects 3) select small to mid-sized businesses that could be susceptible to the redesign of their digital presence and proactively seek them out. Design a few screens, and some interactions to introduce yourself. Luck is needed, but if you have 1–2 references, that will support you to get to the next level. 4) You can join platforms like Toptal. I saw an abundance of Toptal hirings in some countries. My presumption is you can take the advantage of Toptal better as a senior.
I only indicated on LinkedIn that I was open, I didn’t even try the other channels. To my surprise, inquiries from abroad were almost constant. I failed on these things for two reasons: I was not yet at the required level of knowledge and experience despite I asked for a fee close to the international standards for experienced designers.
What would I do differently if I could start over?
I have to say this self-critically: I produced a lot of output, but I wasn’t efficient enough. When I finished my studies, the lecturers said it takes an average of one year for the job, for me it took two. I’m sure you’ll find a UX design opportunity in less time than two years. Covid19 has accelerated digitization, UX design will be needed because of rapid development in technology and for various reasons, but there are plenty of digital products and interfaces to improve. (I know there are recession fears, it can set things back, but the basic trend I don’t think will change.)
It’s good to document your projects because your thinking is transparent and reasoned. However, this is extremely time-consuming. It’s no coincidence you see shots everywhere with no explanation. The documentation can be shortened and more focused to release your time, thus, more projects can be created to illustrate the development of your skills.
I didn’t have a responsive design that I regret. I haven’t had a website design ready yet, just mobile. I had no redesign for a globally known application. I don’t mind this latter so much, but it can also help, provided redesign is outstanding because there are tons of them.
I also think it’s reasonable to accomplish a UX audit project.
Obviously, if you decided to tend towards a specific direction, create a relevant project, eg. VR/AR, smart solutions, fintech, etc. the list is endless.
I wouldn’t make my own website at the beginning. It’s good later when you’re senior. To make and maintain a good designer website is resource-consuming. I would devote that resource to make more projects.
I would make my projects even more real-life. If e.g. if you can’t find a paid job at Upwork, apply for pro bono jobs or try to get involved in projects in your home UX community. You can gain experience and recommendations, it will pay off.
Of course, I would apply for jobs continuously. Don’t stick to your background, apply wherever the opportunity itself seems attractive from a professional (!) point of view, not from a financial. Don’t apply for fancy, well-paid ones if you don’t care or do not believe in their product or business model or the company’s management etc. and you couldn’t do it with love. Maybe I’m too strict with that because you can learn everywhere.
UX is not UI. Senior recruiting designers know this perfectly. But they are also human and are influenced by a polished UI. So I advise selecting 1–2 of your projects where you display nice UIs and interactions in accordance with the design trends of 2022.
And iterate yourself as you develop: your CV, the presentation of your projects, your site, etc. emphasizing where applicable what you have learnt. I also think it is a bonus point if you share your thoughts and experiences since it is an extra effort, you are not paid for it.
Always remain self-identical, and say what you know, and what you will learn.
Conclusion: good luck and do not give up
Luck also has a role to play in winning the first UX design job. There will be always a professional leader or a senior designer who sees your values and potential. It is your job to do everything else to find your luck anyway.
‘I went to parties’ a few times in my life where I wasn’t invited. It always ended badly. I have knocked on doors that have never been opened before me. I thought it was good to knock more and more. False. All of your energy should be concentrated in the areas where the doors are open for you. There are a lot of open doors.
The snap of my story is that after two years and putting aside one of my principles I started applying again and to my greatest surprise there were several opportunities at once. Can I make it? I will do my best. I hope now I am at the beginning of a long and exciting journey.
I wish the best to all career changers and anyone applying for their first job in UX design. I am not an oracle, this is not scripture, just one point of view, long and dull as always. There will be ups and downs in your journey, but if you choose and love UX design, don’t give up. I am thankful for the support of my former mentor Péter Klein and my ex- xLabs classmates Anna Árpás and Gábor Kiss to whom I could always turn with my questions and testing needs.
Thank you for reading this article and your claps if you find it useful. It is my pleasure to recommend my writings on Medium and you can reach me here or here.
