Member-only story
Starting out in UX? How a startup might offer you better opportunities
5 things UX professionals need to know about working for startups

If you're looking for your first job in a recession, look towards smaller businesses and startups for better opportunities.
That's advice I received from the Recession Proof Graduate by Charlie Hoehn, and it's allowed me to have the UX career I have today.
I've spent half of my decade-long UX career working for startups and small businesses and learned a few key lessons the hard way. For example, I was fired from the first startup I joined because I didn't realize the company needed more than just UX.
So if you're a UX job-seeker and you're thinking about taking the plunge into the world of startups, here are 5 key lessons to take away.
"What else can you offer?" Or choosing multiple hats to wear
There's no getting around it; UX is not so important that it's the only thing you can do at a startup.
There are only two jobs in a startup that are allowed to wear only one hat:
- Executives/decision-makers like CEOs/COOs
- Revenue-generating jobs like Sales