How to Find the Right UX Job

Advice for a new UXer.

My advice to you would be to not look for “any” type of internship or entry position. You should be looking for an internship / position that will allow you to grow, and put you with people who are like-minded and can teach you.

You definitely want to be looking for a well-established UX team. Look for a team that has good structure, and a solid track record of developing fresh talent, and plenty of Sr. talent that you’ll have direct access to. It’s always nice to have an expert that can steer you in the right direction, and who can keep you from developing too many bad habits.

It’s a good idea to ask the organization, before you accept the offer, to define their approach (strategy) for managing user experience. If they can’t clearly articulate how they do it, RUN! Unless you’re a masochist of course, then you’ll fit right in. Be looking for things that align with your hard skills and look for some level of autonomy. Without autonomy you’ll end up doing wireframes for two-years.

Present your Soft-skills. There has been more and more shift to hire folks that have strong soft skills. What I tend to see in my most successful candidates as well as colleagues are curiosity, creativity, story-telling, and the ability to just do it. Go after it. See a need / opportunity and attack it. One of the biggest mistakes I see people make is trying to find the biggest project. Or the largest impact right away. Guess what as a newbie, you have to start getting wins! A win comes in many forms. You made a business stakeholder smile. They actually take your advice, no matter how small. Wins = Trust in our field. If you can make the business win, you’ll be golden. Look for low-hanging fruit. Redesign a form. Create a tag line for something. Do a flow-chart. Just help someone do something better than they were no matter how big. In the beginning it’s about generating momentum. The big stuff will come. This also helps build confidence.

Imposter syndrome is rampant in our industry. If you’re not familiar with it. Learn about it. It can make or break some people. Know how to recognize it and work with your boss to combat it. Make sure you’re getting enough positive feedback, critique, and help. Those three things will help you get past your imposter syndrome and improve your skills.

Make sure that UX is somewhat adopted and the business teams you’re working with are either ready to engage or have already been engaging with UX. If not, you’ll be spending most of your time trying to prove your value. That’s your manager’s job. They there to tear down the walls and make you successful. You shouldn’t be fighting those fights, yet. (Watch and learn though. Your manager has been doing this for a while, he’ll give you the keys to unlock those doors. It’s all about trust!)

These tips have worked with me. These are the same tips I give to my mentees, I’ve had a few. They work. Here’s the nitty-gritty. Like anything you do, any problem you approach. USE YOUR KNOWLEDGE to come up with the right solution. You need a plan / a strategy around what your goals are as a UXer. Where you want to be. Look for Structure, access to experts, autonomy, and know that there is a lot of ambiguity in what we do. You’ll pick sides eventually, it doesn’t matter right now. Just try. Make yourself available. And above all else, BE HAPPY!

Thanks for reading. Please find me on linked or twitter if you have more questions.

Related posts:

Although the government, police, bank and even crypto exchange platform has told million and million times to aware of the fraud and scam, there are still a lot of news and stories about people lost…

For the last seven years, the government’s policy of austerity has required those delivering IT services to the public sector to continually find efficiencies wherever they can. At the same time…