Have you seen the LinkedIn post where beginner designers frequently post that they are looking for a job?
I am sure you did!
But, have you ever thought in the world of the internet, where thousands of senior designers and mentors are sharing how to get design jobs?
Yet, there are still lots of new designers who remain unemployed!
Seeing this made me very angry.
I don’t know who to blame because new designers keep following the suggestion of those mentors and senior designers.
And still keep struggling to find a job.
Stop following the advice of those mentors and senior designers!
I am not saying they are wrong, but hey, it’s 21-century things keep evolving. Maybe after 10 years, there will be no role like UIUX.
The second thing is, When they were starting out, there was less competition in the market.
Keeping that in mind, let’s find out how to get UI/UX job in a typical Indian startup.
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A startup opened a job position for a UI/UX designer, and now the HR team inbox is filling up with hundreds of resumes.
Humans take mental shortcuts when they feel tired and have less time.
And that’s where hiring people use the shortcut to lower the number of resumes.
To do so;
Hiring person judge designers by their resume
This is a very secret trick, and I never believed in this thing until I saw it with my eyes.
More than half of the resumes get rejected in this first stage.
Want to know the reason for resume rejection? Here we go!
As a designer
We always love to use our creativity wherever possible. But, overuse of anything can backfire.
The main reason for resume rejection is creativity.
You will amaze to know that many designers share their resumes that:
- look like a website (website layout in a resume)
- Or some stupid layout with heavy icons and shapes
- An unwanted case study in their resume (come on, who shares the case study in the resume?)
- Using colours to get attention
- Unwanted skills or software (e.g. Microsoft Office, coral draw)
- No link to the portfolio (some designers still do this)
Your resume is your first interaction with the hiring person.
Make it a trustworthy period.
And if you are making any of these mistakes, please stop!
Because when a hiring person sees these resume mistakes, it instantly raises the bar that you’re an amateur designer!
No one wants to hire an amateur for their business.
Even though there is a slight chance that the hiring person will check your portfolio. But, you have already lost the trust.
This brings us to the next question, which is
How to write the perfect resume for UI/UX job?
We will talk about it someday!
Focus on your resume more than your portfolio (make it trustworthy and don’t use too much creativity)
Now, the hiring person opens your portfolio.
The biggest problem for hiring a person when they go through a portfolio is:
Almost all portfolios look the same.
90% are made upon Behance.net. There is no problem with it.
But when they click on any case study. All case studies follow the same process.
e.g. Showing problem, business objective, user flow, wireframe, then hi-fi design.
It’s a good thing to follow the process.
But, think for a second that thousands of other designers have done the same in their case studies.
Who knows, some of those case studies are even copied and pasted!
Anyway!
How are you going to stand out then?
Due to this problem, hiring people focus on the outcome, not the process.
What do you mean by that?
They click on your case study.
Scroll down to the last section of your case study and see what your final screens look like. e.g. what colour, typography, and layout you have used in your website and app.
So, If you were working on an app that reminds people to water the plant. You can cut down the process (show only 40% process and only 60% UI).
Make sure your UI is looking outstanding as compared to anything else!
Startups focus on UI and the final outcome of your case study, then don’t care much about the process.
After your resume, your portfolio is also get selected.
Again another problem arises, What if some designer has copied the UI work? Or has someone used the UI kit?
Or
Sometimes your portfolio has showcased the app work, but the hiring team is not sure if you will be able to create the web application.
That’s where they give you the design assignment!
No matter how good your portfolio, they will give you an assignment
So, keep yourself mentally prepared for a design assignment.
Read the assignment carefully and try to solve the problem asked for!
A quick tip: When submitting an assignment, remember that the hiring person will probably be the company Founder, Developer or a new designer.
None of these people knows much about the UX process, so show the process, which is ok-ok.
Don’t go in too deep to showcase your process until necessary because none of the hiring people is well aware of the process.
Rather than that, show the final work. Which shows 40% or less design process and 60% UI work (like colours, fonts, layout, etc.)
Hurray, you got the job!
If you follow my advice, your chances will be higher than other new designers.
This brings us to the last question.
Why should you follow my advice, though?
For the last 3 years, I have worked in 4 startups in different niches! And this is the typical hiring process I found among all these companies.
So, every piece of advice which I gave you above is
It’s summary time
The market is full of senior designers and mentors, but their suggestions are vague because every business has a different hiring process!
Your resume is more important than your portfolio because it will help you build trust.
Then work on your portfolio case study (show 40% process and 60% UI work) and prepare for a design assignment.
While submitting design assignments (show 40% process and 60% UI work).
I am sure you will get your next job in a startup.
Next step: Apply the step mentioned above, and if you don’t get the result, email me at [email protected], and I will help you land the job for free.
