Hi designers,
Welcome to Vol. 007 of the UX Jetpack Newsletter, where I share job searching tips weekly. This week we are talking about:
If you enjoy those tips, please consider sharing them with your friends. They can sign up at https://uxjetpack.com/newsletter
Hiring managers heavily favour designers who can design the final products. So UI skills are more crucial than ever in today’s job market. Here's what I would do to improve my UI skills now:
Let me know if you have other tips on improving your UI skills.
A question aspiring designers always ask is, does a degree matter?
As someone who attended a 4-year program to learn UX design, I can confidently say that my degree did not matter when I was looking for a job, despite graduating from a reputable university in Canada.
While school can provide a structured way to learn design and help you build your network, employers care more about your skills, problem-solving abilities, and communication skills. You can acquire all of these outside of school.
So, instead of worrying about your credentials, focus on honing your skills and gaining more experience. These will be far more beneficial to you.
Next time you send out LinkedIn invites or cold reach out email, follow this 6-point guideline to boost your chance to hear back.
Point #1: Write fewer than seventy-five words.
Point #2: Ask for insight and advice, not job leads.
Point #3: State your connection first.
Point #4: Make your request in the form of a question (ending in “?”).
Point #5: Define your interest both narrowly and broadly.
Point #6: Keep over half the word count about the contact, not about you.
Here’s an example of how you can do this.
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Hi Brooke,
I’m Ryan, we recently attended the UX journey event. May I chat with you for a few minutes about your design experience at CompanyX?
I am trying to learn more about product design in the FinTech space, so your insights would be greatly appreciated.
Best regards,
Ryan
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This great guideline is from the book The 2-Hour Job Search by Steve Dalton
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