I got a lot of heat for my last article dissing the language I use, my imperfect grammar and my very controversial opinion on portfolios and what junior designers should focus on.

People have different opinions — and that’s perfectly okay. It’s what makes an industry diverse and I appreciate that.

Here’s my credentials anyway: I consistently get job offers, am currently employed and have a proven track-record of helping juniors do the same.

If that’s not good enough for you, you’re free to leave and not take advice from me. Please also note that there are also thousands of better designers and mentors out there, so don’t take my words as the single source of truth.

Disclaimer: This article is for designers who are work-ready. That means that if you’re not skilled enough to be an actual UX professional, none of the tips here will magically help you.

One of the biggest, yet hauntingly valid gripes about my previous article was its focus on portfolios alone.

“… Public/online portfolios really aren’t all that important… the role of a portfolio is to show you are good enough for a call with the hiring manager. After that an online portfolio doesn’t really offer anything else.” — An eloquent reader.

It’s very hard to disagree with that statement because it is true. You can have the most flashy portfolio in the world, and still not get the job at the end of the day.

A good portfolio, however, is still an important part of the checklist that designers should get right; regardless of the protests of many elitist hiring managers on my previous article.

Today, however, we will talk about the other mistakes designers make that costs them job opportunities.

By the way, I’m offering to screen your portfolio, for free. Details here.

Diagnosing your application issues

Every UX-er is familiar to the term “Conversion Rate”. We use this to visually represent how many customers made it to the end of the product funnel and converts to paying lifetime customers.

The same methodology can be applied to interviews.

What’s your conversion rate from applications to a job offer? Where does your funnel stop?

If you’re constantly getting rejected from just sending your resume, your resume is the issue.

If you’re getting rejected after interviews, your interviewing skills need work.

If you’re getting rejected after submitting design assignments, you’re probably not approaching the assignments right.

“No shit, Sherlock.” Some of you may think. Oh, if you only knew how many designers’ minds I’ve blown by telling them the above.

There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact.

Fix your badly-optimised resume

Sometimes really good designers come to me for help with their portfolios. I reviewed them, and was puzzled, as I found nothing wrong with their design approach and the way they present their work.

And yet, they have been getting automated rejections for more than half a year.

And so, the next most common problem I diagnose is a bad resume.

I keep emphasizing the need to ensure that your resume passes an ATS scanner. Especially in competitive regions, it is unlikely that your resume will be looked at by a hiring manager before a bot.

There’s a ton of free ATS scanners out there, Google for them and chuck your resumes in. Make sure it passes. If it doesn’t, redesign it until it does.

Simple, minimalist resumes work the best. Stop adding those tacky skill gauge meters or making your titles pink to show your flare. Both the ATS checker and hiring manager don’t care for that.

Dylan Ho took the advice and redesigned his resume. He was getting rejections, now he’s getting interviews. Be like Dylan. (If you’re looking for a designer with amazing potential to join your team, or a good example to be influenced by, he’s your guy.)

Your portfolio presentation sucks

The next thing most juniors get stumped at, after portfolios, is preparing a portfolio presentation for interviews. Never go into your portfolio interview with your website or Behance. Make a presentation for it covering your design approach, the problem statements and your solution.

There’s a bunch of portfolio presentation examples on Youtube, my favourite public one being Sharon Kim’s. The people who can articulate their design decisions and have the most eye-catching presentation will be one step closer to the next round.

Failure to do so? Another rejection in your inbox.

That said, don’t just copy successful templates blindly. Everyone’s project and portfolio work covers a different scope and has different results. It’s up to you as a designer to figure out what’s the best presentation template that enables the best storytelling potential for yourself.

Just like how portfolios are fucking boring if everyone follows the same formats, the same is said for presentations and anything else in the interview / design process. You want to stand out, not fit in.

Be good at interviews

Being good at interviews is a unique skillset in itself. A really good designer can lose a job offer from someone who is more glib-tongued. It is not uncommon for a person more persuasive to get the job, instead of the people most qualified for it.

The easiest way to get better at interviews is by practicing. Talk to recruiters more often, do mock interviews with your peers, or talk to yourself in the mirror. Be comfortable with speaking.

I know a company that had to fire their Head of Design recently because even though the person could sell themselves, they couldn’t do the work. Now, that company has reached out and hired their 2nd choice, someone more qualified but was initially passed up because they weren’t as strong presentation-wise.

If that happens to senior / leadership-level roles, it’s definitely going to happen to junior roles.

So learn to speak well and present yourself. It’s an essential life skill.

Be smart about design assignments

Failing design assignments is the most common reason why designers fail to advance to the next round or immediately get rejected.

I wrote a really long but useful article about this topic. To avoid the risk of repeating myself, I’ll just summarise here: Do a presentation for your design assignments. Submit that presentation. Don’t submit working files. If you don’t want to do it, e-mail them to tell them to fuck off* and you’d rather do a portfolio presentation instead.

*Use this advice wisely and not literally.

If you want more insight about how to tackle this exactly, scroll to the end of my article: The Truth about UX Hiring. There’s a literal screenshot of the e-mail I send out to companies that give me assignments I don’t feel like doing.

Some supplements to ensure a better application process

Building and executing a career strategy is not something people ponder about and work on from the get-go. As intimidating as this process is, the main principle is this: The more you figure out what you are good at and want to do, the easier it gets for you in life.

“Prioritize your life, get organized, and set realistic goals.

Call me crazy, but this is the key: We have to apply UX to ourselves. The UX of ‘you’ must be dialed in. Nothing I’ve found in my career works better than this.”

— Mike Curtis, Senior Designer @ Indeed

Apply intentionally.

Think about what you want to specialise in. Do you want to work in a specific industry like fintech, healthcare, education, e-commerce or wearables? Are you exceptionally good at user research, improving conversion or design systems?

Positioning yourself will allow you to discover your unique selling points, make it easy to know what roles to apply for and make you a better candidate to hire instead of a generalist.

It may be difficult to answer existential questions about your purpose and direction in life. So, it might be easier to find companies that you like and relate to instead.

Too many people apply to 100 job listings blindly at one go, and get their inbox flooded with rejections in the coming weeks.

There’s so many negatives with bulk applications, but the mental toll from the amount of rejections you will keep getting is definitely one of the most significant.

Focus some energy on finding companies you connect with or are curious about. You won’t feel as bad getting rejections from such companies, and you’re going to have more fun when applying. Find that thrill in your curiosity and let that guide you.

While this seems counter-intuitive, it has consistently worked for me and the people I mentored. Being intentional and strategic when applying will put you at a better position in your job hunt.

Reflect.

Despite the pressure and stress of starting in a competitive industry, the practice of retrospectives will aid in your growth as a designer and a human being.

Did you bomb an interview?
Great, more notes to help you do better next time!

Getting sick of your design job?
No problem, you’ve just learned what your preferences are for your dream career.

Embrace failure; because failure is your greatest teacher.

“It is through mistakes that you actually can grow. You have to get bad in order to get good.”

— Paula Scher, one of the most influential graphic designers of our time

Reflection also includes noting your successes as well. Celebrate every achievement or milestone you have completed in your design journey. Take note of how far you’ve come.

While it’s important to pay attention to failures, it’s also equally important to give yourself credit where its due. Be the design mentor you wish you have; critical when needed, but kind and objective.

Change your focus.

Too many people who are interviewing and applying for jobs make the mistake of only interviewing and applying for jobs on the daily, not giving themselves a break and overall just kicking themselves over not getting anywhere.

It’s very easy to become anxious about how an interview has gone or think about when you’re going to hear back from companies. However, it’s literally the most unproductive thing to do. The time you spend giving yourself anxiety is time you can spend reading up on UX or improving your skills so you can eventually get hired.

Don’t silo yourself to doing only one thing at a time. Have a schedule where you allow yourself to work on different activities in a day. I would personally say to job hunt for a maximum of 1 hour a day, and spend the rest of your time reading, practicing UX, or focusing on work, if you’re part of that transitioning group.

Be visible.

As mentioned in my 2019 UX checklist to getting hired: Too many people underestimate the power of LinkedIn. Hiring managers and recruiters use LinkedIn as a source of truth to figure out who you are and if you’re worth speaking to.

Make sure you have a decent LinkedIn profile with information about your previous work experiences, education and what you’re looking out for. Link your resume and other important references on your LinkedIn profile. This also helps you get noticed passively and makes it easier for you to start conversations if you reach out to other professionals for mentorship or help.

I would not mentor someone with a suspicious-looking profile, so I definitely won’t even think about hiring them, just saying.

Closing words

The design industry, like many others, is full of bullshit that you have to navigate in order to build a successful career. Getting your first job or next offer will be a daunting task, but there are tricks to make your journey a little more pleasant, and eventually a successful one.

Even after you’ve successfully gotten an offer, getting another in the future is definitely something you’ll have to think about. So don’t rest on your laurels, and keep working at it.

Now for those jobless UX-ers, go out there and get that job!

I forgot to add a poem when I first published this, so here is one.

Get a UX Job

Have a portfolio, but not a job?
It’s probably because your resume is a slob.
Make sure it’s neat, make sure its tidy.
Hiring managers don’t care if the ATS reads empty.

Got interviews, but still no dice?
Do proper presentations, or pay the price!
Get creative, get whacky: Overall tell a story.
Make your projects delicious and savory.

Don’t send 100 applications everywhere,
You’ll lose track of them here and there.
Instead apply a little a week,
and focus the rest of your time on UX technique.

Getting a job is already hard,
so make sure you don’t give yourself a bad start.
Follow my tips and maybe follow me,
and success might be as easy as 1, 2 ,3!

Looking for a job soon? I am offering to screen your portfolio to see if you’ll land an interview. Details here.