5 strategies to help

kick-start your

UX CAREER
BY ROBERT SMITH
Figuring out how to begin a UX career can be really confusing, but
luckily for you, I am about to give you 5 actionable strategies that
you can start applying today. Ready? Let’s go get it!

1 SET A SPECIFIC, SHORT TERM CAREER GOAL

In order to know what to focus your efforts on

now, you need to know where you want to be
in the future. I recommend setting a short 3-6
month career goal that you can work toward.

This is essentially a roadmap that will inform

all your efforts over the next few months and
force you to think specifically about where you
want to be in your UX career. Planning further
in advance (1, 5 or even 10 years) can be useful,
but our circumstances can change and so a 3-6
month time frame is often more relevant and
realistic in terms of goal setting.

Start mapping out what you are aiming for, this could include:

The skills you want to have learnt and developed

The sort of companies you would like to be working for

The sort of projects you would like to be involved in

Your specific role (user research, design etc)

The sort of salary you would like

This will now become your point of reference and inform your decision making. So for example,
when it comes time to start reaching out to recruiters and companies, you will have a clearer
understanding of what you are looking for.

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 2 INVEST IN AN ONLINE COURSE

This is something I wish I had done

sooner when I was starting out in my
career. A lot of what i’ve learnt is by trying
(and failing) multiple times in real world
scenarios. This approach has worked for
me, but I don’t recommend it because it’s
the slow lane to success.

If you haven’t already, I recommend

you invest in a reasonably priced online
course or subscribe to an organisation
that gives you access to a number of
courses. Nothing is better to understand
the basics of UX or to learn specific
UX skills, than having someone teach
you and guide you through a learning
experience, step by step.

Books, blog posts and YouTube videos are great too, but if you want a solid, process driven
understanding, then I recommend you take an online course.

I suggest you check out The Interaction Design Foundation https://www.interaction-design.org/

they have a number of extremely detailed and high quality courses you take for an annual cost of
approx $100.

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 3 LEVERAGE YOUR EXISTING NETWORK FOR PROJECTS

Right now you are probably in a difficult

situation: you are looking to break into
UX and consequently employers want to
see a portfolio but how the hell are you
supposed build a portfolio without a job?

To get started I recommend you contact

friends, family or anyone in your local
community or local business network
and reach out with your services. Be
honest and explain your situation, that
you are just starting out and looking
to gain experience, but don’t undersell
yourself either.

Perhaps it’s a local charity or community

initiative that needs help with attracting
donations online? Or perhaps it’s a friend
of someone you already work with who
runs a small business and wants help to
improve their online sales process?

Try and find individuals or organisations with challenges that interest you and think of ways you
could approach them to sell or volunteer your UX services. Before long, you should have worked
on some projects which you can use to start creating a portfolio.

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 4 BUILD AN MVP (MINIMUM VIABLE PORTFOLIO)

A Minimum Viable Portfolio, just like a

Minimum Viable Product, is a portfolio
that is just good enough. It’s not
spectacular, but it’s enough.

The purpose of an MVP is to create a

simple, online platform on which you
can start demonstrating your skills and
experience to potential employers.

There’s a common misconception that

you need a large number of projects to
build a portfolio, and while a broad and
varied selection can be impressive, you
can still create a portfolio that gets you
noticed with just 2-3 pieces of work.

YO U R M V P S H O U L D I N C L U D E T H E F O L LOW I N G :

CASE STUDIES:

2-3 well written, descriptive case studies that showcase your skills and demonstrate your process

YOUR STORY:

Tell potential employers about who you are, where you have come from and what makes you
unique.

BLOG:

Your blog will be your place that you can share unique content with your audience that you have
written or curated. It’s never too early to start building your credibility.

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 5 START REACHING OUT

It’s never too early to start taking action

and putting yourself out there.

Once you’ve created your MVP, the next

step is to start making a list of all the
organisations that you would like to work
with and start introducing yourself.

The purpose of this step isn’t so much

to start applying formally for jobs
(although you could do that if you felt
you were ready) but more to just put
yourself out there and get on the radar
of organisations in your city or local
community.

This is going to help you build a rapport

with organisations for the future, so
when it does come time to apply for jobs
or formally introduce yourself, they will
already have an awareness of you and be
more receptive to your approach.

I also recommend you take this approach to recruiters too, as they often work exclusively with
companies when it comes to their recruitment.

They should also have an in-depth knowledge of the industry (although some don’t) and be able to
give you help and advice along the way when it comes time to start your official job hunt.

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the author
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Robert Smith is a UX consultant based in London, U.K

Over the past 8+ years he’s worked with a rich variety of clients from early stage startups to FTSE
100 companies, where he has helped them accomplish everything from prototyping MVPs to
implementing successful UX strategies.

Not only does he love UX, but he’s also passionate about teaching others and has a growing
YouTube channel and following.

YOUTUBE.COM/ROBERTSMITH

TWITTER.COM/ROBERTSMITH_CO

ROBERTSMITH.CO

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