Every month in my column Ask UXmatters, our panel of UX experts answers readers’ questions about a broad range of user experience matters. To get answers to your own questions about UX strategy, design, user research, or any other topic of interest to UX professionals in an upcoming edition of Ask UXmatters, please send your questions to: [email protected].
The following experts have contributed answers to this month’s edition of Ask UXmatters:
- Sarah Doody—User Experience Designer; Product Consultant; Creator of The UX Notebook
- Cory Lebson—Principal Consultant at Lebsontech; Past President, User Experience Professionals’ Association (UXPA); author of The UX Careers Handbook
- Andrew Wirtanen—Lead Designer at Citrix
Q: Do you have recommendations on how to navigate the UX job–search process?—from a UXmatters reader
“That’s a very big question because there are so many aspects to the job-search process,” answers Cory. “I collect various useful links about searching for UX jobs, in association with the Web site for my book The UX Careers Handbook. I discuss these issues in Part 2 of my book Getting a Job. Two of the best places to look for new UX jobs are LinkedIn Jobs and Indeed.
“Make sure your resume and portfolio tell a story. A portfolio is not just about deliverables, but the narrative of how you did what you did and why you know what you know. Not just a team you worked with, but what you personally have done and know.
“You need to get the word out that you’re looking for a job. While you might not want to explicitly discuss this at work, there are plenty of UX meetups out there where you can quietly let people know that you’re looking. Just taking the opportunity to meet people in person at meetups and starting conversations is so valuable in the long term. Look through your LinkedIn network—your virtual Rolodex of potential new-job connections. Let individual connections who you think might be able to give you information or help you find out about an actual job know that you’re looking.
“If you want to be more public about your job search, you can post about it on LinkedIn. Theoretically, you can exclude people at your current business, but I’d certainly suggest some caution here. Other social networks that might not be work related could be very good places to post information about your job search. After all, friends and family could potentially help you get your next job, even if they’re completely disconnected from your work network.
