At WunderLand, we have clients in a wide range of industries from healthcare and FinTech to e-tail/retail and consumer technology. No matter the industry, we keep hearing the same thing: we need UX designers.

In today’s market, candidates are in the driver seat when it comes to projects and employment opportunities. We want to share with you some of the best ways you can prepare for interviews, networking events or even friendly coffee-chats with potential employers to help you set yourself a part so you can get your dream job!

Keep it Simple
Bring your best self to every event, networking opportunity and interview. Companies look for polished and professional candidates who can articulate and communicate effectively.

• Make it “scanable”. Use bullets in email and keep your communications short and simple. People appreciate those who respect their time.
• Check your files. Make sure your resume opens correctly, has no formatting issues and all your links work.
• Ask questions when interviewing. Be prepared with industry and even company knowledge and use questions that are intelligent, dynamic and specific. Check out this article on better questions.
• Follow-up. Clarify next steps before you leave an interview. After, make sure to send a thank you, include any examples of things you discussed during your interview and send a LinkedIn request.
• Use your recruiter to gain insight on the company or hiring manager.
• Keep your network intact. The UX community is small so make sure to ask for referrals when necessary and use LinkedIn to find any connections that can help.
  
  

Know Your Strengths & Be Ready to Articulate Your Goals
We all know what we do best, show it off! What is it you have excelled at in a previous jobs or in previous projects? Have clear examples of what the situation was and how you used your strengths to benefit the success of the project. Did you go above and beyond what was asked of you? Show how you don’t just stop at good, but at excellent. Be ready to articulate what your strengths are and how they have affected your goals.

• Be ready to share trainings that have helped your strengths develop and you weaknesses!
• Showcase how you effectively work with teams or independently.
• Have specific examples ready to share.
• Ask questions on how your strengths may lend to the position or team you are interviewing for.
  
  

Create a Shareable Portfolio that Demonstrates Problem Solving Skills
A portfolio can be comprised of many things: social media channels, work examples, case studies, and more. It shouldn’t just represent the outcomes, but how you got there and the thought process and skills you used to successfully do so. Consider the following:

• Does it include process and not just outcome for a project?
• Is the format clean, concise and easy to follow without explanation?
• Are there any grammar or spelling errors? Has it been proofed?
• Does the design represent the quality of work I want to showcase?

Showcasing your work can be one of the strongest self-promoting tactics. Bring examples (digital or hardcopy) that don’t require wifi and use them to show examples of your strengths and work style.

• Highlight your exact role on the project, the business problem and how you came to the solution.
• Be ready to articulate answers to the following:
  • What was the initial challenge?
  • How did I support getting to the decided solution?
  • What were my exact roles in execution?
  • What were issues we ran into during execution and how did I help solve them?
    
    

If you'd like to discuss these tips more thoroughly, want to engage one of our consultants on a future project, or are interested in hiring UX talent, reach out to us today to be connected with someone from our Engagement team by emailing marketing@wunderlandgroup.com.