Hi guys! Thanks for taking a look. Hopefully you guys found it helpful.

There’s a lot of information so if you’re feeling overwhelmed just skip to the parts that’s most
relevant to your current stage. (Click on the list icon on the left of this sheet. It’ll expand
document outlines and you can just click it to jump to it)

Feel free to ask me any questions!

Jiyoung An
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jiyoungan/
Portfolio: https://www.jiyoungan.com/
Resume: Link

Part 1: Improving Portfolio & Resume

I knew something was not working when I was receiving 0 call backs after applying to 60 jobs. I
knew it had to be either or both of two things - my resume & portfolio. So I decided to focus on
improving them. I implemented the UX process to my portfolio: Research, Define, Ideate,
Prototype & validate.

Phase 1: Research
1. I researched 78645312845613 (Exaggerated) portfolio sites.
a. I went to recruiters linkedin job opening posts and opened EVERY portfolio site
the interested candidates posted in the comment section.
b. I googled generic things like “Best UX portfolio sites”
c. I found UX designers who pivoted just like me and looked at their website to see
how they showcased their transferable skills.

2. I researched & interviewed “users” to learn what recruiters and hiring managers looked
for when looking at an applicants resume & portfolio.
a. I talked to many mentors in ADP list & UX coffee hours and my Springboard
mentor.
b. I googled generic things like “what makes a UX portfolio website good?”

3. After receiving feedback that my visual hierarchy and typography choices sucked, I
researched those topics to learn what makes a good typography.
a. Googled those topics
b. Focused on finding portfolio sites with good visual hierarchy and studying them
(What makes it good)

Phase 2: Defining
I “synthesized my findings”.
1. I narrowed down the list of portfolio websites I would refer to. I liked very specific things
from each website.
 2. These are some of them:
https://www.pazux.com/the-bake-off-box
https://www.jaskim.co/
https://www.sirirosa.co/
https://www.jamiejchoi.com/
https://simonpan.com/
https://www.pranitaloki.com/
https://dianapop.com/
https://www.elleyoon.ca/
https://jwillcox.com/
https://eunaeko.com/
https://www.summchestnuts.com/project-portal
https://www.vansharora.in/ally
https://www.liamgallagherdesign.com/

3. I wrote down main findings and changes I need to make and wrote them on post-its to
put em up on my wall

4. I then prioritized the list so that my focus is on the most important parts.

Phase 3: Ideate
1. Every change I would first visualize or sketch out on paper so that I don’t waste time
editing the site before knowing if it would work or not.

2. I would go back to my list of portfolio website references and figure out the best way to
improve xyz.

Phase 4 & 5: Prototype & Validate

1. After ideating, I would implement the changes on my websites.

2. I sought feedback from mentors and peers (discord groups, ADP list, UX coffee host).
Feedbacks are not black & white. Everyone has their own definition of a good portfolio.
To avoid listening to EVERY feedback and going on this infinite improvement loop, I
“tested” my portfolio sites with 5 mentors then I fixed the common major feedbacks.

3. I rinsed & repeated this until I felt proud of my portfolio. I ended up redoing my portfolio
site 7 times and my resume 8+ times (I am talking 100% redo. Improving the UI, story
telling, typography, the copy. EVERYTHING. This number does not include the
86451328645513 tweaks I made to it)

4. Another “test” that I did was after every major overhaul, I applied to 10-20 jobs and
waited to see if the response changed. It did not until my last redo.
Most critical findings:
Portfolio:
1. Tell the why and the what. Why did you decide to use that tool and what were you trying
to accomplish?

2. Don’t just show the steps you took just to check off the box. Tell a story. Every
information you put on your case study should have an intention. Figure out what that is.

3. Visual hierarchy. The users (Recruiters and hiring managers) don’t have time. Make it
easy for them to skim

4. Don’t need EVERY information. Make it as short & sweet as possible while including the
critical information. Don’t know what they are? Book a mentor session through ADP list
or UX coffee host

5. Consistency in format, typography, visuals & layout. Makes skimming easier

Resume:
1. If you are transitioning: Focus on listing out UX related jobs first. The format I used that
gave me most results were:
a. Experience (UX roles, internships, volunteer, hackathons, anything with working
with team/collaborations)
b. UX Projects (Bootcamp, solo projects)
c. Past Experiences (Only includes transferable skills)

2. Make it skimmable. Visual hierarchy, layout consistency, legible typography, usage of

white space, short texts, bullet points.

3. Use keywords. Go through job posts and look for common keywords and integrate it into
your resume.

4. If you find a company you are super excited about, tailor your resume to them. Look
through their job posting and find related keywords and tasks.

Tips
Practice presenting your case study using your website. You’ll start to notice gaps within your
story or that your story does not flow as well.

Part 2: Time Management

In the beginning I was so overwhelmed I felt like I was getting nowhere. I was simultaneously
performing all these tasks:
 1. Booking 30 min - 1 hour sessions with mentors (ADP list, UX Coffee Hours and my
Springboard mentor)
2. Chatting with UX Designers that either recently landed a job or successfully pivoted their
careers.
3. Improving my portfolio
4. Improving my resume
5. Attending webinars + online UX events
6. Writing cover letters unique to each company I applied at.
7. Applying to companies
8. Catering my resume to jobs that I was excited about
9. Also looking for a non UX job because I was unemployed and needed money

Since I was doing all 9 tasks at the same time, I was not completing any tasks and the ones I
did complete I rushed them resulting in low quality work.

After a month of going crazy my Springboard Mentor advised me to split up the tasks between
the days and that’s exactly what I did and it helped SOOOOO much. I felt so much more sane
and more productive. This is the schedule I followed

1. Monday: Work on Portfolio

2. Tuesday: Apply to jobs
3. Wednesday: Apply to non UX jobs
4. Thursday: Work on Resume
5. Friday: Network/find webinars
6. Saturday: Work on Portfolio
7. Sunday: Rest

I didn’t stick to it 100% but I tried to follow it as much as possible. I felt like I was getting things
done and I was not rushing the tasks. I did not feel “guilty” for not doing the other 8 things
because I knew that today was designated for 1 task and as long as I finish that task I’ve met
my goal for the day.

Tips:
1. Job postings will be up for days, if not weeks. It’s ok to save it for later.
2. Save job postings so that you can apply to it on the designated day. This way you don’t
have fomo moments
3. If you catch yourself drifting into other tasks,stop what you’re doing and redirect yourself
to the day’s task.
4. Set a goal each day of what you want to accomplish. Helps you feel productive.
Part 3: Managing negative emotions/thoughts
Man the rollercoaster of emotions. I remember my boyfriend asking me how I was doing and I
said “I’m doing ok” then I started crying LOL!!

If you’re having a rough time just know you’re not alone!

Honestly there is no real answer to this. I knew I had two options.

1. Keep pushing through while crying
2. Stop the process and give in to my negative emotion

I chose the first option.

These are some things that kept my going:

1. Set small goals so that you can have a boost of positivity. Small wins > no wins

2. Network and talk to other designers. Many of the people I talked to helped point out my
strengths and weaknesses which I utilized in my job search

3. Just cry it out. It’s ok to cry and be sad. It’s ok to have thoughts that you’re not enough.
We’re human after all. Just cry it out and get it out of your system

4. Shake out the negative thoughts. Literally. I shake my head and my hands then I say out
loud positive thoughts.

5. Don’t compare yourself to others. When you come across a beautiful portfolio or find out
a colleague from the same cohort just got a job, it's almost natural to compare yourself to
them. DONT!!! It’s a trap!!! Everyone brings something unique to the table. You just have
to find out what your strengths are.
a. Talk to other UX designers and share your story, your experience and ask if
anything sticks out to them. See what reactions people have to your story. You’ll
be surprised what you thought was “normal” is actually unique to others.
b. If you don’t think your story is different or compelling, I promise you you haven't
dug deep enough. Time to take a self awareness trip!

6. Talk to your friends & family or a close one about how you really feel. If you don’t have
anyone that is supportive around you, speak to a mentor in ADP list or UX coffee host
and get some support. Don’t just dump your worries on them but express your worries
and ask if there is any actionable thing you can do to get out of the slump.

7. Step back and take breaks. Don’t burn out. If you feel you need a break, take it. If you
feel guilty then just take an hour or two. Doesn’t have to be an entire day.
 8. Write down your schedule and goals. Last thing you need when you’re feeling down is
figuring out what to do next. If you have it all written down all you gotta worry about is
execution.

Part 4: Continuous learning while job searching

Job search can stop the learning process. Don’t let it! We already have a disadvantage of
having no experience, we can’t afford to stop improving as a designer.

I’ll be honest, Springboard helped me with the foundation but I learned more about UX design
during my job search phase. These are some things I did to continue learning after I graduated
from Springboard bootcamp.

1. When improving a portfolio & resume, research why each tool and methods are
important and what they are trying to accomplish. This includes:
a. Talking to mentors and other experienced designers
b. Attending workshops and webinars
c. Googling/youtubing on your own

This is time consuming but once you understand the “why” and the “what” behind each
tool/method/steps, it’ll be that much easier to showcase and communicate your design
decisions during your interview.

Understanding those also helped me understand what UX is really about.

2. Attend workshops and webinars. There are so many webinars you can attend. Choose
one that relates to your situation. It can be about understanding UX or improving skills or
interviewing tips or even non UX related skills like public speaking

3. Talk to many mentors and find someone you connect with. Things I learned when talking
to many mentors and designers:
a. Jargon and industry languages. Every industry has their language. Learning
industry jargon helps you communicate and connect with hiring managers. It also
shows your understanding of the industry.
b. My strengths & weaknesses. This was a big one. I learned what I can utilize
during interviews and what I need to improve and work on in order to get an
interview.
c. One thing I like to ask experienced designers is how they would have gone about
designing one of my projects. I learned so much about different tools and
processes and that my process could have been improved a lot.
d. Learn about UX in a larger scope. Learn about industry problems and how to
navigate around them.
 e. Got used to talking to people via Zoom (Or any virtual rooms). In the beginning I
found it hard connecting to people through zoom. I couldn’t see social cues I
would have if I spoke to them in person and let’s not even talk about the delays
that can lead to awkward moments. Talking to numerous people helped me
improve my zoom skills.

4. Subscribe to newsletter or people that teach UX related skills. I don’t have a big list for
this. I just started getting into newsletters towards the end of my job search. Here are the
only two I’ve really enjoyed. I’m sure there’s thousands out there.

a. Design Buddies
b. UX Design Weekly
c. Zander Whitehurst ←- LinkedIn

5. Youtube. I youtubed things I did not understand. I don’t necessarily have a list of my favs
as I looked at videos generated from my search.

6. Podcast? I didn’t listen to any podcast as I don’t have enough attention span for them. I
always always end up drifting or flat out drowning it out. But I just included it here
because it does help out a lot for others.

Tips:
1. No time? Just do one a week. It’s better than nothing
2. Just play it in the background as you work on your portfolio. You might not get 100% but
even if you get 1%, it’s still 1% more than you already know.
3. Focus on one topic at a time if you feel overwhelmed with the amount of information.

Part 5: Practicing Interview questions

So once I started getting call backs, it was a whole nother world. Now I needed to crush them
interview questions!

My interview experience
I want to share my interview experience but also note that I only had 3 screener calls from
recruiters and interviewed with 1 company (Which I landed the role) so my experience won’t
speak much but I still want to share it.

For Nav (The company I accepted the offer from) I had 2 interviews with recruiters and 3
interviews with the design team. (UX designers and strategists)

All 3 design teams asked me to walk them through one of my case studies. I chose to present
my capstone project because it showed my end to end process as a UX Designer. But I also
explained other projects and how I collaborated with other designers and stakeholders
(Collaboration is very very important)

😂😂😂😭😭😭
After preparing for the interview questions for 20+ hours, they only asked 1 of them: Tell me
about yourself

They asked questions specific to my case study such as expand on this subject, why did I
choose to do xyz? How did I go about testing?

Interview Question Prep

It’s still important to prepare for all the questions because you never know. Here is how I
prepped for my behavioral interviews.

1. I typed out all the common questions (More like copy & paste from google. My mentor
also gave me a great list)

2. I then researched what the hiring managers wanted to know when they asked this
question. (What is the important information I need to communicate?)

3. I researched how to answer the question. STAR method is BIG. Here is linkedIn source
for answering questions. I found it really helpful. Click here for link

4. I typed out my answer

5. I had my mentor take a look and review it (ADP list or UX coffee host)

6. I practiced it out loud. I personally did not practice it in front of someone because I was
confident in my public speaking skills (I did door to door sales for a bit just to improve
this skill). If you are not confident in your public speaking skills, practice in front of others!

7. Kept improving my answer. After you practice it enough times, you can tell if the answer
isn’t genuine, honest or the best at showcasing your capabilities.

Here is a link to my list of questions and how I answered them. I didn’t fill it all out.
General Behavioral Interview Question
More UX related Interview Questions

Tips:
1. Focus on “Tell me about yourself”. This is the biggest and most guaranteed question.
This is your chance to tell your unique journey and what you can bring to the table. Make
sure to somehow connect it back to the company.

2. Keep practicing. The more you practice the more natural it becomes. After a while you
won’t need to “read” it.
 3. Use the STAR method when answering questions. Situation, Task, Action, Results.
When they ask you questions they don’t only want to know what you did to solve the
issue but also if you got results. They also want to know if you are self aware and can
admit to mistakes and faults.

4. Be honest. They are not looking for a robot. They know they are hiring humans. Humans
have flaws and humans make mistakes. They want to know how you would deal with
mistakes. Are you self aware enough to admit it and proactive enough to fix it? Or do you
blame others and then sit back and shrug your shoulders?

5. Always have a handful of stories you can revert back to just in case they ask a question
you’re not prepared for.

6. Be human. In the end it’s all about human connection. Don’t be afraid to be yourself (but
be professional). Be silly, make them laugh. Make yourself laugh. They probably
interviewed 7847893 people. Make this experience enjoyable for them. It doesn’t have to
be a miserable experience for both.

Part 6: Practicing Presenting my case studies

Presenting your case study is sooooooooooooooooooo important and also the most difficult part
IMO. There’s so much that goes into it. I’ll try and break it down as clear & simple as possible.

Part 1: Creating the presentation deck

1. There are two ways to showcase your case study. Using your portfolio or creating a
presentation deck. I personally like the deck because of several reasons:
a. Your portfolio is meant to attract the recruiters and hiring managers when they
first look at your application. Meaning it’s main functionality is to make it
scannable and only show information that is critical for that goal. It might not have
all the information you want to share when presenting your case study to the
hiring manager. Or it might show too much information making the presentation
lengthy. So I chose to create a presentation deck so that I can customize and
maximize the hiring manager's experience.

b. Scrolling can look messy and also your information might not fit in one page.
Again portfolio sites are meant to be scrolled. Presentation decks are not - so all
the information the hiring managers sees is in one page and it’s easier on the eye
when flipping through pages vs scrolling.
 c. Shows that you are prepared. Creating a presentation deck takes work. It shows
that you are willing to put the work in.

2. Skim over the less important details (but still include it to show that you know how to do
it) and expand on the important details such as
a. Critical research findings & insights.

b. The core problem that you are trying to solve and how you came about
discovering it during the research phase

c. Design solutions - Why did you choose to make it an app? Why did you choose
to display this information this way? Why did you choose to include these
features?

d. Important findings from validation phase.

e. Iterations based on test findings. Why did you do it that way?

3. I created mine in Figma. It was easier and quick to put together a deck vs powerpoint. I
can’t live without the auto layout anymore. Here is the deck I created for one of my
projects. View my presentation deck It might not make too much sense because it just
includes visuals. Which I expand on in part 2.

4. Use a lot of engaging visuals to showcase your case study. The hiring managers are
designers. They are most likely visual people. They will understand what you’re trying to
get across if there are charts, images, visuals.

5. Make it look pretty. Have consistency in your typography, design, colors. Don’t make it
look like you slapped it together last minute.

Part 2: Presenting

1. DO NOT READ OFF OF YOUR SLIDES!!!! You shouldn’t read from your slides. You
should know your project in and out so that you’re able to speak about it fluidly. The
decks are just visuals to help support your presentation.

2. This is where public speaking skills come into play. Research how to be a good public
speaker. Here are some tips:
a. Talk slow and enunciate the words. Make it engaging.

b. Speak with conviction and passion. Don’t just mumble on about things.
Emphasize important words and points.
 c. Practice confidence. Confidence doesn’t just show up out of nowhere. It’s a skill,
meaning it can be practiced. Start with confident body language and speak
confidently. (speaking with conviction & enunciating your words help)

d. Have great positive energy. Don’t slouch, don’t lean on things. Pretend that
someone told you you won $100 million dollars. How would you react? Take that
energy and apply it to the interview.

e. Be yourself. Be funny! Be silly! Connect with your audience. Be human. No one

wants to hire a boring robot.

3. Important tips when presenting:

a. Explain the why behind all of your tools. Why did you perform user interviews?
Why did you create an affinity map? Do you understand why it’s important to do
xyz.

b. Explain any challenges you’ve encountered and any mistakes you made and
explain how you solved it and why you chose to solve it that way. This is super
important!! Mistakes will happen in real life, it’s important for them to know that
you are self aware and that you can redirect yourself quickly and still deliver
results.

c. Tie EVERYTHING back to your research. Don’t just say: “I decided to make it a
mobile app because they can easily see their current bank balance” Say: “I
decided to make it a mobile app because most of the users I interviewed said
they spend too much money because they don’t know how much is in their
account. A mobile app allows them to have that information on them at all times.”

d. Explain your design decisions. (Only go into critical details. 1 - 2. Still should be a
short presentation). Why did you choose that color as a main? Why did you
organize your product that way?

e. Very important to explain how you recruited your interviewees and test
participants. Where did you recruit them? What were the criterias you used when
recruiting? Did you interview your audience resulting in findings that are relevant?
Or did you just interview random people which can potentially, depending on the
product, result in inaccurate findings? At first I did not explain this and they asked
into depth about my process of recruiting.

4. Practice Practice Practice Practice Practice. The more you practice the more natural and
fluid it will be. When you make a mistake, it’ll be that much easier to get back on track
because you know it like the back of your hand. If you are not a strong public speaker it
is a MUST to practice it in front of people. Book a session through ADP List or UX Coffee
host and present to them.
 5. Be prepared. Make sure before the interview, have your slides ready to go. Have your
portfolio ready to go. Close out on all the other tabs. Sign out of all social media or
anything that gives you constant notification. Make sure your laptops are plugged in.
Check your mic & audio. Be prepared. Don’t fumble and look like you’re a hot mess. (It’s
ok to be a hot mess. Just get good at hiding it lol!)

Tips:
1. Prepare a thorough presentation (15-20 min) and prepare one that is short (10min or
less). It doesn't have to be two separate decks. But practice for both. During two of my
interviews I was unexpectedly asked to show one of my case studies but I only had 10
min or less to do so. I didn’t give the very best because I never practiced the short
version.

2. When you make a mistake, laugh it off and take a second to get back on track. Hiring
managers are aware they are hiring humans and that interviewing is nerve racking.

3. Use your hands. Most likely your interview will be through zoom but still use your body to
convey your idea. Plus if you move around you feel less stiff and rigid.

4. Make eye contact. So for virtual interviews, make sure you’re not looking around as
much. Focus on the screen. If you have multiple screens, make sure the meeting
window is on the one that’s facing you. No one wants to talk to someone from the side.

Examples of case study presentation:

1. Here is a recording of my presentation. This was a 20 min presentation. It was so much
harder presenting to a dead camera than to a person

2. Here is my Figma presentation deck

3. Here is the Youtube video that helped me improve my case study presentation

Part 7: Overcoming feeling lost in the process- Where do I start?

When I just started my job search phase, I was so overwhelmed. I needed to learn how to
network, I knew I needed to rework my portfolio & resume, I needed to apply to jobs, and I also
needed to look for a non UX job just to bring in money, I needed to attend webinars to continue
to learn, I needed to create accounts across 864531284651327846513286451238645132 job
boards. Man, my head was spinning! It took me a while to settle down and figure things out.

So where should you start?

1. Start with a list of things you need to do. Here was my list:
a. Improve my resume
i. Book sessions with mentors for feedback
ii. Implement feedbacks
iii. Rinse & repeat

b. Improve my portfolio
i. Book sessions with mentors for feedback
ii. Implement feedbacks
iii. Rinse & repeat

c. Define where I wanted to work (It’s ok to not know this right off the bat)
i. Industry
ii. UX research? UX design? UI design?
iii. Size of company?
iv. What environment do I want to work in?

d. Network
i. Reach out to other designers that recently landed a job or someone you
can relate with
ii. Reach out to mentors and just talk design
iii. Reach out to employees at companies you want to work for
iv. Stay active on LinkedIn and connect with many people (The more
connections the more reach your posts get. The wider the audience, the
greater your chances of being discovered or you discovering
people/information)
v. Reach out to designers who work at the companies I applied to and am
really excited about.

e. Sign up for and attend webinars and online events

f. Apply to companies
i. Catering my resume to jobs that I was excited about
ii. Writing cover letters unique to each company I applied at.

g. Also look for a non UX job (because I was unemployed and needed $$)
i. Figure out what I want to do and were I want to work (I decided on
administrative roles)
ii. Create a resume for each position I am looking for (Sales admin, Admin,
Customer service)
iii. Writing cover letters unique to each company I applied at.
 2. Once you have your list, Prioritize them. For me the most critical thing was Networking
and improving my resume & portfolio. After a month I needed to prioritize finding a non
UX job.

3. Once you prioritized the list, going back to the time management part, create a schedule.
Create the schedule around the top critical tasks. For me it looked like this:
a. Monday: Work on Portfolio
b. Tuesday: Apply to jobs
c. Wednesday: Apply to non UX jobs
d. Thursday: Work on Resume
e. Friday: Network/find webinars
f. Saturday: Work on Portfolio
g. Sunday: Rest

4. Once you get your schedule and your priority. Just focus on that task for the day.

Tips:
1. To do list is your best friend. It can get messy at times. When there’s too many things
going on, make an action list for the week. Plan out the week in detail. On Monday
you’re going to work on XYZ and so on. This way all you have to do is execute. Goal is
to reduce thinking & less decision making.

2. Set goals. Set small daily goals and weekly goals. Focus on those goals.

3. It’s ok to feel lost. Get comfortable with the feeling of having no idea what to do.
Whenever you do something difficult or new, you will always ALWAYS feel this way.
Learn how to push through. This is the definition of “being comfortable with being
uncomfortable”

4. When you feel absolutely lost, don’t stop moving. Keep going. It doesn’t matter if it’s the
“right” thing to do just as long as you’re moving and not staying still. The more you do
something, the clearer the path will become but if you choose to stop all progress the
path will always stay hazy. So whether it’s working on your portfolio or networking, just
do something.

5. Don’t get analysis paralysis. This is expanding on the point above (#4). Planning is great.
But planning doesn’t mean you’re executing. Don’t spend too long on a perfect strategy.
Execution is more important. It’s better to have 1 bad case study than 0
will-be-perfect-one-day case study.
Part 8: Networking
To say the least. I suck at networking so I don’t really have any amazing tips on this section. It
took a long time to understand the reason and the importance as to why networking is
important. I remember asking my mentor “How would any of these conversations lead to a
job??” lol…..

I still suck at networking but here is what I learned about it.

1. There are several reasons as to why I would reach out to someone

a. Reach out to those that were in your shoes - Learn from their journey and their
mistakes

b. Reach out to designers at companies you want to work for - build a good
relationship with the hopes of having a referral when a job opens up

c. Reach out to designers at companies you applied to and are excited about.

d. Reach out to mentors for feedback on your portfolio, resume, presentation, etc.

e. Reach out to those in similar shoes so that you can uplift one another and
support each other

f. Reach out to someone who has led a similar career path (Pivoted from fashion or
teaching, etc.) - Learn what transferable skills they highlighted & learn what the
similarities are between the two industry so that you can utilize the information
when job searching

2. I mostly reached out on LinkedIn. I used ADP List & UX Coffee Host for feedback.
a. When connecting with someone, don’t just send them a connection invite. Send
them a small msg as to why you want to connect with them. Make the connection
mean something.

b. When reaching out to someone, be open minded. You’d be surprised what they
can teach you outside of what you want to learn

c. Search for genuine connection. Everyone seeks connection. No one wants to be

used for information.

3. Number of connections does matter.

a. The more connections you have, the more reach you have.

b. The more connections you have, the more you are exposed to information and
possible job openings.
 4. It’s ok if you’re shy or nervous. The more people you talk to, the more you’ll get used to
it. Just go for it. You’ll never get better if you don’t try.

Tips:
1. It might feel like the time you’re putting into networking is giving you no result but don’t
stop. If you’re consistent one of them will lead you to a role. I found my job just by
applying (As I said, I am not good at networking) but 90% of the designers I talked to
found theirs through networking. Believe in the system and keep networking.

2. Don’t ever feel like you’re below anyone. A CEO, Senior designer, Designer at FAANG
companies, doesn’t matter. At the end of the day we are all human. If they are not willing
to connect it’s not personal (Most likely they don’t check linkedin)

3. Be courteous and be open to all their feedback and insights. Turn on your student brain.

Part 9: Managing my expectations

Lol…..

I knew I was going to get a job in UX Design no matter what because I was confident in my
ability to hustle BUT I was ready for this journey to take 1-3 years.I knew it wouldn’t be easy and
I knew it would be A LOT of work. So I was ready and committed.

I had a HUGE advantage though. I am fortunate and privileged enough to be able to claim
unemployment during this process. I was able to and I did put in 8-16 hours a day 6 days a
week toward this job hunting journey. I found my job in 2-½ months but it could have easily been
3-4+x that if I had to juggle a full time job. (For those who don’t know me, I used to work 80-100
hours a week for years. I am not down playing how difficult it is to juggle a full time job, job
searching and figuring out life but from my track record, I was confident in my ability to push
through and not give up)

In terms of managing my expectations, I had none. I did expected anything out of anything I did.
After I finished my last interview with the company (I was offered a job) and felt good about the
interview, I did not stop. I continued to apply for jobs and I also set up more preliminary
interviews with three more companies because I did not expect anything out of that interview. I
just believed in the system and I kept going and kept putting the work in.

I focused on things I can control and let go of the things I can’t control. On the contrary to
popular belief, you can’t control results but you can control what you do to get those results.
Whenever I did anything, improving my portfolio, reaching out and networking, interviewing, I did
not expect a certain outcome. All I did was focus on doing my very best and learn from the
results I get. If the results were not favorable I would go back and study my actions and see
what I can do better next time. If the results were favorable I would go back and study my
actions and see what I need to implement every time.

Tips:
1. Let go of the things you can’t control and focus on the things you can control.

2. Do not expect anything. Just do the work. Believe in the system.

3. If you were to expect something, expect this to be a very difficult and long journey and
brace yourself for it. Prepare for it and commit to working hard towards it. If you brace
yourself for a long journey, you won’t quit because you are already mentally prepared for
it.

4. Even if you feel good about the interview, don’t stop applying. Again, don’t expect
anything out of anything. Last thing you need is to break your momentum and have to
start the wheel again.

5. Do not stop!! Keep your momentum going. It’s better to apply to 10-20 jobs a week for 1
year than to apply to 100 jobs every other month. Once you break your momentum, it is
hard to get it back, especially when you are feeling discouraged.

6. Again I’m repeating. Do NOT expect anything out of anything!!! Just focus on doing your
very best at every stage. If you do get the job awesome!!! But if you did not get the job,
you don’t get discouraged but most importantly, since you did not expect anything out of
it, you did not stop and break your momentum. You kept going, possibly lining up more
interviews.

Part 10: Imposter Syndrome (I don’t have the answer to this)

As stated in the title. I don’t have the answer to this but I thought it was important to add it so
that I can make some aware of it. Some of the choices we make during the journey can be
affected by the imposter syndrome. It helped me to be aware of it and aware of how it affects
me so that I can fight it. Otherwise it would win without me even knowing. This is a battle I
fought for a very long time. I don’t remember the resources I used when dealing with it but I’m
sure if you google or youtube it you’ll find 89456312386451278645126845132645132 contents
on it.

Tip:
When it comes to imposter syndrome your knowledge on the subject and self awareness is your
weapon. I suggest looking into the subject. Even if you’re aware of it, you’d be surprised how far
it can influence your daily life.
Part 11: Job boards
LinkedIn job postings always have 8465138465123864531284653128645513 applicants. These
are some of the smaller job boards I used in my job search:

https://www.earlystagedesignjobs.com/
https://www.workatastartup.com/
https://www.uxjobsboard.com/
https://www.monster.com/
https://angel.co/jobs
https://remotive.com/
https://builtin.com/
https://www.workatastartup.com/
https://uiuxjobsboard.com/
https://chunbuns.pallet.com/jobs
Dice.com
https://otta.com/