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I was going to post about this elsewhere but it wouldn’t have made much sense. I’m thinking I need to find a different way to sell myself in product/UX design, because my background is so mixed. Most job listings ask for 3+ years experience in UX, and I have that, sort of. I have: — 2y solid with my last company as an all-rounder — 1.5ish years working on a site a friend and I built, received news spots and traction, then we had to drop (had to put paid roles and family stuff first) — 2.5y as a “graphic designer” (physical product family manager, print product design, photography, copywriting, and so many other things) — 1.5y in the middle of all of that pursing a professional Master’s where I generated a series of contained UX case studies I don’t know. I’ve been rejected, deep into the interview process, from two roles due to theoretically not having the experience the companies need but without further explanation. I’m trying to get feedback on the last one, because my skillset seemed to align nigh perfectly with the role. It could be an excuse, but I’d rather meet those critiques as presented and try to improve. Part of it’s a market-sucks-badly issue, but I’m in a corner trying to find a position to fill in missing income and don’t have a safety net outside of our dwindling savings. I don’t think I can sell too hard on graphic design since my graphical work is so dated or narrow (very print heavy in a Wordpress world). I’m looking at contracts, I’m eyeing the public sector, and I’m beginning to feel like a jack of all visual design concepts, master of none. I know there aren’t many folks in these UX, graphic design, and adjacent fields here, but it’s been helpful to get general advice in the past… or to simply express my thoughts someplace that isn’t whatever the hell LinkedIn culture is.
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Mar 28, 2024 09:47
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| # ¿ May 13, 2024 04:23 |
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Sorry, I became depressed about jobs and disappeared for a bit. I also managed to unbookmark the thread! Thanks for the responses, all. Let me actually respond:Lockback posted:With your experience have you also looked into junior product manager/owner roles? You'd probably need to do some Agile certification but running your own site and wearing a ton of hats as the graphic designer isn't a bad foundation. That isn't to say you should pivot but just to give you a wider net. I'd suggest completely different resumes for different job families liket hat. I should do that. I know Agile, worked in Scrum, and all that. I'll look into certification and see about generating a proper PM resume. Lockback posted:I read that as "pursuing a masters" not completed. Sorry, I wasn't clear on that. I completed it in late 2022! Jordan7hm posted:I’m wondering if you need some coaching on how to present your experience. Sure looks to me like you have a masters in a relevant field and 6+ years of experience. KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:In fact it sounds like the OP's broad based experience might be significantly more valuable in a lot of roles than just straight 3+ of UI/UX! Honestly, it surprises me to see people that think my experience looks as significant as it does. In that light, yeah, I probably need coaching. I can mask my self-confidence issues pretty well, but I genuinely don't know how my experience gets perceived from the outside. Likewise, I don't know how to pitch myself in a way that highlights what experience I, personally, have. Would a career coach or some sort of consultation be a good idea?
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Apr 4, 2024 21:49
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Jordan7hm posted:I would highly recommend trying to find someone who is either in or who knows your target industry / function to work with to figure out how to tell your story. Could be a career coach, a mentor (people are usually really open to talking to junior people if it’s not them directly asking for work - reach out on LinkedIn and make mentorship asks and you will get positive responses) or an experienced recruiter. Cool! I should have some connections who could do that from my master's program. I recently connected with a person whose promoting public sector roles for UX, and I'd like to know more about that landscape, anyway.
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Apr 4, 2024 22:38
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