Do you have advice for how to ACTUALLY get a job in UX for someone who: 1) has a PhD in Psychology 2) meets all the minimum research, writing, management, and data analyses skills required for UX. 3) has been searching for months and applies to 20 jobs per week 4) knows that they would be an amazingly exceptional team member. Or is it only people who have over 10 years UX experience getting UX jobs now-a-days? Yes, I know the market is tough. Yes, it's all about networking. Yes, competition is tough with UX bachelor degrees and students who get UX internships, and UX layoffs, etc. But why is it so hard for a young, Black, educated woman to get a UX job?
Given how saturated the UX market is, I highly recommend starting with contractor positions so you have actual UX experience on your resume as you continue to apply to FTEs. Get on contractor recruiters’ lists. My coaching students have been seeing success with these a lot more than FTE applications. Other things that help: - Reframe your projects to be industry-centric - Highlight your competitive advantage to differentiate yourself from the average candidate (could be playing up your quant skills, domain expertise in a specific area eg. econmerce, GenZ knowledge, fluency with a second language, if the position calls for it)
I mean... I've got a Master of Science in the actual discipline (Human-Computer Interaction), have taught HCI at the graduate level, have jack-of-all-trades experience in a startup, and I've applied to 70+ roles the past two weeks with crickets or generic "moving on with other candidates" emails. It isn't any easier for late-middle aged white guys. :)
It's hard for everyone right now :( Lawton Pybus had a great post about this: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/lawtonpybus_theres-a-lot-of-folks-trying-to-get-into-activity-7226650095201533953-ytno?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop I'd also check out this post from Amy Santee: https://www.amysantee.com/post/what-the-heck-is-going-on-with-the-ux-job-market
The only advice that has worked for me is to contact the hiring manager if possible (or someone in the team, at least try) and get exactly what they need and what they want. Sometimes the job add is more a wishlist and an ideal that is too general. Talking to them you can get what is what they are missing in their team: data analysis? Someone good at structured interviews? Designers? Specialist or generalist? Since I started doing that, I applied to less jobs but I got more interviews. Good luck PS. It has to be a match also for you, sometimes you realize in a 10 min. Informal conversation that you do not want that position anyways.
The market is super tough for junior/freshers. I would recommend to ensure your portfolio demonstrates your way of approaching things, how you thought about the users and business and how you came to a conclusion. Try storytelling in your interview and have separate projects focused on UX and UI to keep the balance. Explain why you did something and building the story is much better than just going - problem - research - wireframe - design I understand its tough, but pls going if you are interested in UX and keep watching other designers who made it through. You will find tips and inspirations
I see you. Know you are not alone. I have 15 years experience, and I have been actively looking, full time job searching, for 10 months straight. You might look at IBM, though.
The book Never Search Alone may be another option to look into. It discusses the challenges of common approaches to the job seeking process and how Job Search Councils can transform it.
Networking - in-person and virtual, join meetups dedicated to UX, connect with like-minded people on this platform.
Unfortunately, nobody can right now. You’re not the only person I’ve that seen that has a phd and can’t get a job right now. It’s so sad.
Social scientist | Research | Behavioural science
2moThe market is super weird, in addition to the usual problems as sexism, racism, ageism and so on. I made the move from academia into private sector roughly 10 years ago with a PhD in Social Psychology in a market where UXR positions were non-existing and I didn't want to relocate. So, I found this freelance gig at an UK agency specialised in remote qualitative research, which was also my specialty and professional interest. I ended up working with them for 6 years. I would suggest you to focus on agencies and freelance/contractor positions. The bullshit is less and you get to actually conduct interesting research applying diverse methods, with plenty of space to experiment and make decisions. Full time jobs, unless at companies with properly structured research organisations, are not the best entry point, I think. You could get quickly demotivated, you won't have the necessary decision making power for your projects, and overall work might look rather boring and basic for you. In a nutshell, you won't learn much, unless, as I said, you end up working at a mature company with a dedicated research organisation where researchers have a community.