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3 things to consider for your first UX job hunt
Filling in the perspective gaps facing a prospective first-time UX design candidate.
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I’m writing this in the middle of 2020, and if you’re a recent graduate from college or a design bootcamp, you might be searching for your first full-time job, which — even under non-pandemic circumstances — is an incredibly stressful situation.
There was a recent article going over some expectations for the new designer, and I wanted to add a few practical tips and perspectives that might be helpful.
There’s usually a large information gap between fresh applicants and the companies hiring, so my hope is my perspective — as a former first-time applicant, as someone who has been on hiring panels, and as someone who did the actual hiring — can help fill in the details.
1. Consider smaller startups
If you’re looking for your first full-time job, aiming for the big tech companies is going to be an uphill battle. They get thousands of applicants and, more often than not, will just end up relying on their referral networks. As you’ve also probably seen, most of the openings that aren’t just for college grads expect a minimum of 2–5 years of experience.