Vol. 012 - You don't need to learn another skill to find a job.

Hi designers,

Welcome to Vol. 012 of the UX Jetpack Newsletter, where I share job searching tips weekly. This week we are talking about:

1. You don't need to learn another skill to find a job.
2. How to pick the right projects for your portfolio?
3. 🙄 9 moments that make me roll my eyes as a UX designer
4. AI Tools library

If you enjoy those tips, please consider sharing them with your friends. They can sign up at https://uxjetpack.com/newsletter

You don't need to learn another skill to find a job.

The current job market is tough for anyone to land a job. I have so many designers with 2-3 years of experience asking me if they need to learn a new hard skill to be competitive in the current job market.

I genuinely believe that if you have a few years of experience and have worked on some cool projects, learning a new skill is not going to be the magic trick you are hoping for.

✨ Polish your story.

💪 Showcase your strengths.

🗣️ Talk to more people.

🌐 Extend your network.

🔎 Find the hidden opportunities.

Those things can help you a lot more than any new tools or hard skills you can learn in a few months.

However, if you feel stuck in your job search, spending a little time learning a new skill might give you a sense of progression. It can make you feel less frustrated.

How to pick the right projects for your portfolio?

Whether you are choosing the projects to show on your portfolio or present during an interview, you need to pick the right projects that demonstrate your strength.

🎯 Quality over quantity - pick only high quality projects

3-6 projects are the sweet spot, but don't be discouraged if you only have 2 projects. Apply anyway!

🌟 Prioritize projects in relevant industries or platforms

Companies usually prefer to see your experience working in relevant industries or products. So prioritize those first.

💡 Pick the projects that demonstrate the specific skills required for the role

If the company wants a UI-focused role, you need to have projects that show your strong UI skills, even if it’s not in similar industries.

🌈 Pick one or two side projects to show your personality

If you worked on side projects, show them as well. People love to see you take initiative and what interests you.

🙄 9 moments that make me roll my eyes as a UX designer

9️⃣ Being tasked to create a nice looking poster or slide deck

8️⃣ Spending more time in meetings than designing

7️⃣ Having to revise the design once more after 10 rounds of review

6️⃣ Asking the PM for the timeline, only to receive the vague response of 'as soon as possible'

5️⃣ Consistently being asked if you are good at drawing

4️⃣ Receiving long code snippets from developers and expected to understand

3️⃣ Discovering at the last minute that the developers can't implement the design

2️⃣ Stakeholders always request to make the design 'pop'

1️⃣ Being asked all the time what you do as UX

AI Tools library

Curated AI tools for anyone who wants to dive into the world of AI.

bonsai.fyi

Are you looking for a product designer job?

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Book an intro session now to see if this is the right program for you.