UX design jobs and specialists have been in demand for the last three years. In 2020, this profession has been in want even more, which makes it harder to find a job for a beginner UX designer.
The most frequent complaint about finding a job in the field is that the market is crowded with specialists, so, how can a freshman in UX find a job and develop necessary skills? Let's take a look!
Be Your Entrepreneur
To gain proper experience in UX by working with a team is a good idea. What to do if you apply for the UX designer jobs as a junior and no one wants to hire you at least without 2 years experience? That's what you do:
- Look for work in start-ups. Yes, it's a real opportunity to get a job in a company, where the team is just exploring the opportunities. The same as you! It will be easier to get into a start-up team, than in a big company's. There you'll gain the necessary skills to get to the next level of your UX design career.
- Work for your portfolio. Case studies are what you need to become a seasoned professional in UX design. And the portfolio is what reflects your growth as a designer. Here you'll find how to make your design portfolio up-to-date and compelling.
- Communicate with the people from the field. Attend meet-ups and other events where you'll be learning from the other UX designers. Also, it's a great way to find your first job: at start-up meetings, there are always people, who look for interns and juniors.
- Get a freelance project. When you start a career in any field, it's very hard to beat seasoned specialists and get a job. Seek opportunities to get freelance projects, do not place a high price for your work, make it cheap, so the clients will likely hire you. Here you'll find the freelance project and first clients:
Focus on Work
To know how to sell yourself is just one tiny part of finding a job as a UX designer. Being a good designer required skills and experience. Master any custom tool, improve your work by adding, new features, and learn new things constantly. Here are the tools you need to know to find work as a UX designer:
And the soft skills you have to master to find a job in UX:
- Teamwork
- Time management
- Communication
These are the basic skills and tools to learn for a designer who wants to get a job in the field.
Create a Resume
How to create an efficient resume for a beginner in UX? Here is our full guide.
- Organize the information in blocks so it's easy for HR to scan it
- Your resume should not be more than one page long
- Mention the most relevant experience for the vacancy
- In your resume should be such blocks as:
- Name
- Contacts
- Experience
- Accomplishments
- Skills
- Education
- Honorable mentions
- Talents
- Link to portfolio
Also, there are many platforms where you can publish your resume: it will be much easier to find for a recruiter a web version of your CV:
Create a profile at these platforms, make it visible, choose a nice photo, but links and your social media contacts so the recruiters see that the resume is active.
Create a Motivation Letter
This may sound old-fashioned, but it's a useful tip when looking for work in small companies and startups where UX designers and CEOs communicate with you directly. They have more time than HR specialists in large companies, and they can read you an inspiring story. More information and tips can be find in this video:
Remember
To mention: always set up realistic goals in learning tools, gaining experience, and so on. If you do that, you'll gradually become a seasoned UX designer.
You also should keep in mind that the way of becoming a pro requires lots of time, maybe years, that's why you need to be a little patient and go on learning or reading.
