Have you ever come across job postings that require at least 1 or 2 years of experience even for junior/executive roles? When you apply without experience, do your job applications get rejected? Do you get ghosted by employers often? In this blog, I will share the things that will help you land your first UIUX job.

Every creative should have their portfolio ready

Even when job postings you come across require a couple of years of experience, it’s still a green light to try out those positions if you have a strong portfolio because that was what I did. I realise they are always more intrigued by my portfolio than by my academic background. So a portfolio with a set of projects would definitely stand out from my academic background.

You can get started by thinking of some design concepts you want for your branding, you can get inspiration from Dribbble, Pinterest, and other platforms. What concept are you going for? Does it have 3d graphic assets or does it have a typography design? What fonts are you going to use for your header and paragraphs? What colours will you be using for your accent? These are the details that employers will look out for.

Think of it as if you’re creating your own company but for yourself. How do you want employers to feel when they are looking at your portfolio? It’s cool even if you use templated portfolio like Behance, but your projects should stand out with proper projects.

So my point is that the chance of getting a job with a portfolio is easier when it comes to applying for a job with experience required. That said, this does not guarantee that your compensation will be higher than someone with more experience.

Let your work speaks (even if it’s self-initiated)

Every UIUX designer should prepare and show their most recent projects. It’s okay if they are self-initiated projects. In my last video, I talked about how I started doing self-initiated projects to build my portfolio. There is nothing to be ashamed of doing. Demonstrate your understanding by going through your thought process for your product design. 

How did the product idea come about? What was the product trying to solve? What are some similar products in the market? What was the objective of the product? How was your design implemented with your idea? How did your design make it easy to use for the user? I know this is boring shit but let me explain.
 
Usually, each product arises from a problem that creates demand for it. So for example, it could be that the purpose of the design system is to ensure consistent scalable design. However, no platform helps to onboard startups into using design systems currently. The reason being is that it’s too costly to build from scratch. Only big companies can use design systems e.g. Atlassian, Shopify, Netflix, etc. From there, show a couple of research (if possible), then show your user journey and wireframes.

You don’t have to describe what features your product has but you can if you want to. Lastly, Explain why you design your UI in that way. Although the description of how your product is important, your UI screens should ultimately sell your portfolio and cover 60% of the entire site(even if you’re a UX designer)
 
I know I know, it’s a comprehensive amount of work for just 1 project. But once you’ve done that, your portfolio will somehow do the talking for you. The chances of you getting noticed by employers will increase significantly.

Tell them how you overcome challenges

This is a straightforward one. Basically, what did you do when you faced challenges? Every project has its own set of challenges. For example, it could be searching for the adapting to the default iOS UI components. It could be finding graphic assets to fit the context of the design. It could be thinking of how each screen could work.

Did you take a step back and analyse things or did you seek help? These are the answers employers will be looking out for. After all, we’re all humans. We encounter challenges. Other than telling them how capable you are, you should be honest with them about how you deal with obstacles or what you do when you’re stuck. When you start opening up about the challenges that you’ve faced and how it has helped you to be better, they would see and understand your working ethics and then imagine how you would be operating in their team.

Be strategic and elaborate when comes to a generic question

“Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?” Employers always asked this question if you realize. The reason why they ask is to see whether your goals align with theirs or if it could be one of their template questions. Regardless of which, take your time to think and think deeply. Give an answer that would align with your goal for the next 5 years. Elaborate on each of your answers with your reasons and your way of thinking about life. This would give an idea to them of how you perceive things and your maturity level.

It’s better not to give typical answers like “I want to be a well-respected design lead who can lead a design team”. Imagine you’re a hiring manager, would you be interested to know who they want to be in 5 years? Or would you be more interested to listen through an open-ended thought process of the question? Remember to elaborate on your answers to such generic questions.

To end everything off,

I hope you guys find these tips useful. Most importantly, don’t be afraid to show your work. The right employer will appear. Remember in the seas of noes, you only need one yes.

Thanks for staying with me. If you like such content, comment down below!