Ask HN: I'm Lost. Struggling to Land a UX Design Job After a Career Switch

#1

Post by bobnarizes » Tue, Jan 02, 2024, 7:48 PM UTC

I'm lost. I'm in my mid-30s. I quit my job as a fashion designer and started a career switch into UX design. I have taken multiple online courses, paid for a UX mentor, and started growing my portfolio [1], including building a use case study. Now, it's been almost a year, and I am not able to secure a job, not even as a trainee, intern, or part-time.

I'm getting desperate now, can't sleep, and am losing hope. Despite my genuine interest in UX and my dedication to learning about it, I can't seem to find a job or make a living from it.

Any advice on what I can do? Thanks :)

Re: Ask HN: I'm Lost. Struggling to Land a UX Design Job After a Career Switch

#2

Post by sjfjsjdjwvwvc » Tue, Jan 02, 2024, 7:55 PM UTC

Maybe a role where you can make use of your design skills as well would be a good fit as well?

How many applications did you send out so far?

Re: Ask HN: I'm Lost. Struggling to Land a UX Design Job After a Career Switch

#3

Post by austin-cheney » Tue, Jan 02, 2024, 7:59 PM UTC

Be more specific about UX. For example do you mean product designer or frontend web developer?

If you mean frontend web developer learn React. Take all the glitter away and your goals are just put text on screen and manage events. As a beginner everything will be about “how to write code”. Think of it as extreme vanity but in code. Then later you can graduate to configuration junkie. That is why I moved on.

Re: Ask HN: I'm Lost. Struggling to Land a UX Design Job After a Career Switch

#4

Post by bobnarizes » Tue, Jan 02, 2024, 8:00 PM UTC

sjfjsjdjwvwvc wrote: post #2

Maybe a role where you can make use of your design skills as well would be a good fit as well? How many applications did you send out so far?

> Maybe a role where you can make use of your design skills as well would be a good fit as well?

Yes, I also consider this, but so far didn't see a job offer

> How many applications did you send out so far?

Around 20 or more

Re: Ask HN: I'm Lost. Struggling to Land a UX Design Job After a Career Switch

#5

Post by moose44 » Tue, Jan 02, 2024, 8:03 PM UTC

bobnarizes wrote: post #4

sjfjsjdjwvwvc wrote: post #2

Maybe a role where you can make use of your design skills as well would be a good fit as well? How many applications did you send out so far?

> Maybe a role where you can make use of your design skills as well would be a good fit as well? Yes, I also consider this, but so far didn't see a job offer > How many applications did you send out so far? Around 20 or more

I would suggest sending out way more. It's a numbers game. Starting out fresh for myself took 500+ applications before landing a job.

Re: Ask HN: I'm Lost. Struggling to Land a UX Design Job After a Career Switch

#6

Post by bobnarizes » Tue, Jan 02, 2024, 8:07 PM UTC

austin-cheney wrote: post #3

Be more specific about UX. For example do you mean product designer or frontend web developer? If you mean frontend web developer learn React. Take all the glitter away and your goals are just put text on screen and manage events. As a beginner everything will be about “how to write code”. Think of it as extreme vanity but in code. Then later you can graduate to configuration junkie. That is why I moved on.

I'm currently focusing more on product design. Coding was for now not my main focus, this is something I'm starting to learn.

Re: Ask HN: I'm Lost. Struggling to Land a UX Design Job After a Career Switch

#7

Post by bobnarizes » Tue, Jan 02, 2024, 8:10 PM UTC

moose44 wrote: post #5

bobnarizes wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Maybe a role where you can make use of your design skills as well would be a good fit as well? Yes, I also consider this, but so far didn't see a job offer > How many applications did you send out so far? Around 20 or more

I would suggest sending out way more. It's a numbers game. Starting out fresh for myself took 500+ applications before landing a job.

What was your background? Did you transition from another career? Are you working now as a UX designer?

Re: Ask HN: I'm Lost. Struggling to Land a UX Design Job After a Career Switch

#8

Post by orliesaurus » Tue, Jan 02, 2024, 9:03 PM UTC

1. Where did you link your portfolio?

2. You said you applied to 20 companies, that seems very low

3. Have you tried to provide your services on a marketplace like upwork etc?

4. Have you tried to contact local companies and offer to re-do their sites for a small fee and a good recommendation letter?

5. Do you go out networking at local meetups/events?

6. Did you hire/asked someone to review your resume and improve it?

Don't give up, there are many things you can do!

Re: Ask HN: I'm Lost. Struggling to Land a UX Design Job After a Career Switch

#9

Post by GenerWork » Tue, Jan 02, 2024, 9:15 PM UTC

UX practitioner of 10 years here. The market is very much depressed, especially for juniors who've only done online courses. Are these courses through a bootcamp? If so, does the bootcamp have any sort of career center that you can utilize?

I also see that you've only applied for 20 jobs. That's really not enough, especially in these tough times. As an example, a job for a junior that was posed by my prior company ended up getting 1000 applicants. Have you asked your UX mentor if any of their connections are hiring juniors? If so, your mentor should be able to put in a good word for you and at least get your foot in the door.

Re: Ask HN: I'm Lost. Struggling to Land a UX Design Job After a Career Switch

#10

Post by karaterobot » Tue, Jan 02, 2024, 9:20 PM UTC

Hey, I switched to design in my 30s as well. In my case, it was easy because I was working as a programmer for a consulting company already, and could just ask to take on more and more design responsibilities. The advantage with small consultancies is that they have a constant churn of shortish jobs, so you get plenty of reps in across different areas. My recommendation, then, would be to look for contracting or consulting jobs. As a side benefit for the worker, it's not terribly hard to get poached by a client if they like you.

Also, recognize two things:

1. Not getting a job you apply for doesn't mean you suck, or that you aren't valuable, or that you won't ever get hired. If this is your first software job, you may not know it in your bones yet, but the hiring process in our industry is flat out broken, don't let it break you too.

2. This is a tough time to apply for jobs across the board.