UX Design: Job Search & Interviewing
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Talk given to the University of Colorado, Denver | Digital Design class Presentation about the interview and job search process along with my advice. 2023
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UX Design: Job Search & Interviewing
- 2. www.skyesant.com Minimize the Unknown Maximize Your Resiliency
- 3. www.skyesant.com Skills Experience Cultural fit Interviewing Recruiter Hiring Manager Panel Interview Partner VP/ Boss
- 4. www.skyesant.com Interviewing Assets RESUME COVER LETTER Resume LinkedIn Website/ Portfolio _______ Cover Letter Social Media WEBSITE Do you really need a cover letter?
- 5. www.skyesant.com Didn’t get contacted? Resume
- 6. www.skyesant.com Recruiter Recruiter Hiring Manager Panel Interview Partner VP/ Boss Minimum requirements Skillset Experience _____ Logistics Salary General questions
- 7. www.skyesant.com Didn’t move on? Interview Skills
- 8. www.skyesant.com Hiring Manager Recruiter Hiring Manager Panel Interview Partner VP/ Boss They have a job in mind. The actual job The team Success metrics
- 9. www.skyesant.com Interview Skills www.skyesant.com Behavioral Interview Past behavior predicts future performance. “Tell me about a time when you…” S T A R ituation ask ction esult Does it have to be UX related?
- 10. www.skyesant.com Didn’t move on? Interview Skills & More Experience
- 11. www.skyesant.com Panel Interview Recruiter Hiring Manager Panel Interview Partner VP/ Boss Skills Teamwork What’s it like to work with you? What you’ll do The team culture Procedures
- 12. www.skyesant.com Didn’t move on? (Interview Skills & More Experience)
- 13. www.skyesant.com ‘Partner’ Recruiter Hiring Manager Panel Interview Partner VP/ Boss Skills Conflict/ interpersonal Are you going to make life easier or harder for the team? How you can serve The org culture Procedures
- 14. www.skyesant.com You’ve proved you can do the job.
- 15. www.skyesant.com VP or Boss Recruiter Hiring Manager Panel Interview Partner VP/ Boss Approval (CYA) Success of the business: leadership, results, problem solving Business goals Past issues/ pain Support for design
- 16. www.skyesant.com Take Orders VS Take Accountability
- 17. www.skyesant.com You vs others Final wait Recruiter Hiring Manager Panel Interview Partner VP/ Boss Follow up How often can I follow up with recruiters?
- 18. www.skyesant.com Didn’t win? (Interview Skills & More Experience)
- 19. www.skyesant.com Q & A Website: www.SkyeSant.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/skyesant/ Twitter: @Skye_sant
- 22. www.skyesant.com Start Now. NOW Now.
- 23. www.skyesant.com Timing Timing Money Support Increase Opportunities Start NOW Timebox your efforts How long has it taken Skye to get a job?
- 24. www.skyesant.com Money Timing Money Support Increase Opportunities Make money Have a plan Know your worth
- 25. www.skyesant.com Money: Know Your Worth www.skyesant.com Salary “What’s the range for this job?” Have a number you could live with + 10-20K
- 26. www.skyesant.com Support Timing Money Support Increase Opportunities Improve what you control; Let go of what you don’t. PHYL.org Never Search Alone - book
- 27. www.skyesant.com Increase Opportunities Timing Money Support Increase Opportunities Best practices Practice & get feedback Portfolio projects Efficient procedures Community connection
- 28. www.skyesant.com Increase Opportunities: Efficient Procedures www.skyesant.com Keep track • LINKEDI N LINK • WEBSITE LINK • $ MONEY • LOCATI ON LinkedIn Company Website [ Email to board Trello Company Website ChatGpt Cover letter Keywords; top skills Trello LinkedIn Company page - interested Ask for referral or help (LinkedIn Inmail) Email (chrome plugin) Trello ChatGPT Simplify/ Teal HQ Rt-click shortcut (Skye, LinkedIn)
- 29. www.skyesant.com www.skyesant.com Increase Opportunities: Community Connection Find your people Go to meetup groups Social media (twitter, linkedIn) Take classes Startup week/ conferences meetup.com See also: UX Group [city], agile alliance, Product Design Denver Startup week: 8 tracks
- 30. www.skyesant.com Q & A Website: www.SkyeSant.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/skyesant/ Twitter: @Skye_sant
- 32. www.skyesant.com • Vision -> Strategy -> Execution • Cross-Company Collaboration • Design Thinking/ Lean UX Champion • UX Maturity + Advocacy Background: Teaching —> Psychology —> Human-Centered Research & Design Skye Sant: UX Research & Product Design Leader Director of Experience and Product Design UXR, CX and UX Design Manager + Innovation Coalfire | Cybersecurity Assessments Director of Internal Digital Strategy UXR & UX Design Manager (global) + Agile Team Leader Prologis | Global Real Estate Director of UX Research & Product Design UXR and UX Design Manger GoCanvas | Digital Forms & Workflow SaaS, B2B2C, Internal B2B/B2C/SaaS Internal Tools • Leveling up the team’s skills • Hiring the team • Measuring the team’s performance www.skyesant.com SaaS, B2B2C
- 33. www.skyesant.com • Becoming a madonnara (street chalk artist) • Encaustic (my favorite medium) • My recent 1-month stay in Kuwait Skye Sant: UX Research & Product Design Leader Joys: • Complex domains • Enterprise functionality with clear, coherent flow • Designing for technical and non- technical users (complex personas) • Hypothesis and data-informed strategy (Lean UX) Also: • Speaking, teaching & mentoring • Global adventures • Art, archery & swing dancing
- 34. www.skyesant.com Cognitive Psychology’s Self-Determination Theory (1970) 3 basic needs to reach intrinsic satisfaction and enjoyment in life: Competence, Relatedness, Autonomy Motivational Interviewing MI is a collaborative, goal-oriented style of communication, a ‘guiding style’ of communication, that sits between following (good listening) and directing (giving information and advice). Relational Style: Align and Engage Focus on creating a shared vision and goals among team members while actively involving them in decision-making processes, fostering a sense of ownership and collaboration.
Editor's Notes
- My goal
- What they need to find out & what you need to express - here’s to whom. they each have a different perspective, and can answer different questions. YOU NEED TO FIT THE COMPANY AND THE COMPANY NEEDS TO FIT YOU. Both! Get volunteers (8): Applicant, Recruiter, Hiring Manager, Panel Interview (3), Partner, VP/ Boss Assets: resume, cover letter
- [pop] I’ll pop up some relevant questions here, and at the end of the slide I’ll address questions. Resume: Keywords. Optimize for OCR - some design. No columns. PDF is best Coherence across assets Portfolio - easy to get to. (Password?) Resume = intro. LinkedIn, more detail. Cover Letter: Customize letter = Chat GPT Give assets to recruiter
- Don’t have the right info - job description Filled the job Looking for interest Wrong half pile _______ What do you control? Info on resume
- Here’s what a recruiter is concerned with. Recruiter: What question do you have for our applicant? (NOT personal - your elevator pitch) “I’m Skye, I help [this person] do [this thing] for [these types of companies]. “ Questions you can ask this person Then: recruiter enters info into the system. (Type type)
- Don’t have the right skills/experience OR less skills than others Didn’t present self well - right skills ‘culture’ - interest, available, commitment Filled the job Cousin hired Too expensive _______ What do you control? Interview skills
- Recruiter pass resume/ cover to manager Job is in the job post Manager: What question do you have for our applicant? You can ask what they need! Then talk about how you’ve done it.
- Is anyone familiar with this who’d like to explain it? situation (my job, others, context), task (constraints, challenges + goal), action (steps, skills, and HOW you did it - highlight teamwork, collaboration, leadership) Result (outcomes, quantify metrics, positive impact) [UX related?] Info entered into system (sit down) A Time That You Improved A Process for Everyone When I was a sales person in a jewelry store, I was responsible for restocking. It took me 2 days - it was hard to find the extra items in the back because anything went on random shelves. So I talked to the owner and he let me order our supplies alphabetically on the shelves in the back. Not only was it possible to restock in 1 hour, we never ran out of supplies because we could see right away what was running out in the back. He was so impressed that he made me a store manager.
- No past experience Don’t demonstrate you could do the job Didn’t present self well Someone else had more experience ‘culture’ - interest, available, commitment Filled the job Cousin hired Personal bias _______ What do you control? Interview skills & more experience
- This is other UX, people who do what you do. Think about doing group work - what do you hope your group members are like? YMMV: 1. Portfolio review 2 design exercise 3 interview Panel: What question do you have for our applicant? Questions you can ask Info entered into system (sit down)
- This is sometimes less about you being inadequate and more about someone else being better. _______ What do you control? Interview skills & more experience
- This is Eng, PM, PO, Sr UX etc Partners: What question do you have for our applicant? Questions you may want to ask Info entered into system (sit down)
- This is less about you being inadequate and more about someone else being better.
- You may not need to do this now, but certainly later. This one is tough because you may not know a lot about business. Ask BUSINESS (mission, vision, strategy, market, customers, fire of the industry, etc) questions to keep this guy talking. Relate where you can. VP: What question do you have for our applicant? Questions he may answer - mostly, talks. Wants you to share his vision Info entered into system (sit down)
- Can you drive results? Follow through? Do things that should be done without being told to do it? Also: someone better, personal preference _______ What do you control? Express how you are a take-charge person; buy into vision
- They’re waiting for everyone to finish + info into system This is you vs everyone else [pop] General: can follow up every week and 1/2. Chat GPT is good for this too.
- Someone else is better. _______ What do you control? Interview skills & more experience
- I have some advice. Not everything will apply - you know you best. Take what you want. 4 things are important to me
- You are gonna want to wait until everything is perfect. Perfect = success (in school) = PERFORMANCE. But what you’re doing now is a UX PRACTICE = doing a thing to get better Do not wait. Get a resume and start applying. Yes, today. Now now.
- Start with what you have. You’ll learn about how effective your assets are. You’ll put just enough efforts into your assets until they’re effective and not a minute more. (Spin wheels) If this is a numbers game, sooner you start sooner you’ll have a job. Timebox: Reserve your time and attention: do the MVP, just enough work. Then build on it later iterative improvement. Timebox research, asset making, interview practicing.
- You must live first - eat, have a place to live - then you can have a job that you like. There is no shame in doing what you have to before you do what you love. It takes a while to find a job. [me, single mom story] Don’t ignore reality - get smart, face it, and plan.
- Try to get them to go first so you don’t lowball yourself.
- The whole process feels personal because it’s happening to you. It isn’t. But you need perspective to see this. Perspective looks like support, to humans. Ask: What’s support, for you? What gives you energy and joy? What puts your problems into perspective? What takes some of the burden off? [each person answers] Therapy - don’t go alone!!
- Google is your friend - find best practices, interview help. Use simplify or Team HQ (resume help; application help) or LinkedIn Ask for feedback! Recruiters see a lot; staffing companies also. Bring professionals into class. Portfolio reviews (free). Classes. Friends. Pay mentors. (Don’t ask for favors - 1:many) Portfolio upgrades- Volunteer for: Small businesses, freelancers, independent contractors. (website, market/user research, experience design)
- linkedin > email (linkedin, website, money, location) > trello > apply > Chat GPT for cover letter > also in trello card > indicate applied > > interest in company > referral I can show you this in action, if we have time
- Anyone go to meetup groups? Meetup dot com Post on social media Take classes Conferences, startup week, events
- My deep background is in psychology by way of teaching. After my second degree (in HCI/ UX) I founded a consultancy focused on digital transformation. I have 19 years of exp in every facet of UX research and product design. To the right - titles, types of platforms, role. The last 10 years I’ve devoted myself to in-house leadership, building teams, products, companies. I’ve worked in many complex industries like healthcare, cybersecurity and finance. I’ve managed managers across global product lines, been a player-coach to small teams, and functioned as a UX dept of One. In my latest role, UX started as a group of staff product designers and grew into a 3 person research team and an 8 person cross-skilled product design team. I’ll go into detail about how I manage people and work with my product and engineering partners in the Q&A after my presentation.
- Regardless of my title, I come in to companies and do a few things I really enjoy. I believe you can relate to some of the challenges I face in complex domains like cybersecurity and healthcare, and also maturing platforms with enterprise functionality but trying to keep it usable and useful for our users. I’d be happy to speak to some of the ways we do this later, if you’re interested. I’m active in my community of practice- I lead and speak at UX meetups and conferences and I’m an Executive Guest Lecturer at General Assembly and the University of Colorado’s Digital Design program. CORE: Up skill a team & UX practices 2. Cross-functional collaboration (leader=this IS the work) 3. Good partner to the business (use their language) [hobbies] Here are some things I’d be happy to talk about, if you’re curious
- I’d like to talk about how I relate to my team, my partners and other members of the business. My Relational Style can be summed up as 'Align and Engage’ or sometimes Commander’s Intent. My leadership comes from my psychology background. Cognitive Psychology’s Self-Determination Theory says that 3 basic needs for life satisfaction are: 1[icon] Competence (or ability): ability to do the work. 2 [icon]Relatedness (or connectedness): where we fit within a larger whole. 3 [icon]Autonomy: the ability to act in accordance with our own organic desire. I use Motivational interviewing to ask smart questions and bring up important topics. I assure that the vision and strategy are communicated clearly so we’re ALIGNED, and then I ENGAGE my team, making sure they have the ability to do the work, understand where they fit in, and then I give them autonomy. Mataphor: Everyone’s traveling across country, or with a team. We’re sometimes coming from different directions. “There’s the party mountain”. Everyone will get to it how they need to. —— (Commander’s intent - empowers initiative, improvisation, and adaptation by explaining purpose & then placing the decisions for action closest to the best information) I create a space and opportunities to grow these using MI as the catalyst. MI is designed to empower people by drawing out their own meaning, importance and capacity for change. I’m good at helping people grow; people are the experts of their own lives. Example: designer is late with assets. Don’t castigate; I’ve created a nonjudgemental space. (our 1:1 he comes to me and will tell me what’s wrong and how he’ll fix it. Guided questions when needed) *add: best practices of classic MBA management [a la The Effective Manager, Horstman] - 1:1s, assuring quality and excellence, nurturing growth, managing conflicting priorities and providing clear direction. MI is practiced with an underlying spirit or way of being with people: Partnership. MI is a collaborative process. The MI practitioner is an expert in helping people change; people are the experts of their own lives. MI has core skills of OARS: Open questions (Elicit-Provide-Elicit), Acceptance, Reflections, Summarizing,