Vol. 021 - How do you keep your portfolio concise?

Hi designers,

Welcome to Vol. 021 of the UX Jetpack Newsletter, where I share job searching tips weekly. This week we are talking about:

1. How do you keep your portfolio concise?
2. This is how you use LinkedIn to find jobs.
3. You need to show up more to get lucky
4. Design ethos

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

How do you keep your portfolio concise?

Keep your portfolio concise. Hiring managers ONLY have 30 seconds to review your portfolio, they do not want to read long essays.

Here are some tips to make your portfolio more skimmable:

❌ Don’t label sections as "Problem" and "Competitive Analysis"

✅ Use headings that clearly convey the main point

❌ Avoid using long paragraph

✅ Use bullet points or graphs instead

❌ Don’t create a manual for your app

✅ Explain your thought process in reaching your design decision

This is how you use LinkedIn to find jobs

LinkedIn is the best platform to land a UX job,

but not everyone is using it right.

Don’t apply to every single job on the job board.

Instead, you should do these 3 steps.

1. Find out all the companies that you are interested in working at, or you have related experience in the industry.
2. Connect with people in those companies who share common interests or backgrounds like you.
3. Build connections with those people, ask about their experience or for feedback, and then offer anything you can in return.

Eventually, you will know enough people in the industry.

One of them has an opportunity for you.

You need to show up more to get lucky

I consider myself extremely lucky.

That I can get a $200k job at the age of 28 during the pandemic.

However, it was not easy to get.

It took me a whole year,

200 applications,

16 interviews,

and countless hours to work on myself.

You can get lucky,

but you need to show up to have the chance.

Meeting new people

Reading books and articles

Getting feedback from mentors

Attending online and in-person events

Engaging with people on LinkedIn and Slack

Practicing how you would present yourself at interviews

Learning to put the extra effort and also take a break when needed

Be consistent and persistent

Your opportunity is just around the corner

Design ethos

Design ethos by Carl Barenbrug

This ethos summarizes perfectly what I value in design and why I'm passionate about design.

Read it here https://carlbarenbrug.com/design-ethos

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Ryan Yao

Say hi 👋🏼 on LinkedIn and ☎️ Book a 1:1 with me