How to Get a UX Job

So, you want to be a UX professional…

If you think you might want a career in UX, you should become familiar with all of these sources:

 

UX RESOURCES:

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1. In Kansas City, be sure to join UXPA-KC

2. Free UX eBooks by UXPin

3. Invision Fireside Chats
   In-depth video conversations about design systems.

4. UXPin Virtual Summits
   Look for the “Virtual Summit” video collections. You can also look here for more.

5. Jakob Neilsen: Nielsen Norman Group
   Look through Neilsen’s site, NNgroup.com . Read the reports and articles. Check out their top stories and resources of the year page.

6. Jared Spool: User Interface Engineering
   Look through Jared’s site, UIE.com .  Read All You Can Learn, Articles, and anything else.

7. Jesse James Garret: The Elements of Use Experience
   Read this classic book about UX. See the original diagram that is the basis for UX design.

8. Steve Krug:  Don’t Make Me Think
   To get you started, here’s a free sample chapter.

 

COURSES:

1. Design Lab’s UX Academy

2. UX-focused training via Lynda.com. Train yourself in specific UX areas using Lynda’s online training modules.

 

BLOGS & SITES:

1. Leaders of UX Awesomeness — Free UX strategy discussions with Jared Spool and other high-level UX pros

2. Inside Design by Invision

3. Studio by UXPin

4. UX Collective

5. UX Planet

6. Ideo

7. DesignBetter.co

8. Adele Design System Repository by UXPin

9. Mulzi Chrome Extension

 

PODCASTS:

1. DesignBetter.co 

2. UX Cake

3. Google Design “Method”

 

SLACK GROUPS:

1. Product Tribes

2. UX Mastery

3. Here’s a directory of Slack communities

 

JOBS:

1. LinkedIn UX jobs and internships — Be sure to customize this for your own locations.

2. Google: Find UX jobs near you

3. AIGA jobs board

4. IXDA jobs board

5. UXJobsBoard.com

6. UXDesignJobs.com

7. Krop — Results for UX and UI

8. dsgnjbs.com

9. Remotive.io — find a remote job

10. Crema — KC UX-focused agency

11. Nerdery — UX-focused agency in KC and a few other cities

 

GIGS:

1. Catchafire — find a remote job or gig

 

PORTFOLIOS:

1. Look through a variety of portfolios...

   • Look through some UXPin prototypes.

   • See a UX case study — something like this would be great for your portfolio!

   • Here are “26 Beautiful UX Portfolios”

   • Read NNGroup’s 5 Steps to Creating a UX-Design Portfolio.

   • Look through some UX portfolios. And here are some direct links:

   • Bearcat Kia Jones’ UX portfolio site.

     • This isn’t a portfolio, but it’s just as important: See Kia Jones’ UX brainstorm blog. It’s important to look at all things UX, and to show that’s the way you think. UX’ers often have to compile examples of their UX observations to prove that they truly are UX at heart. Kia started this blog in the beginning of her junior year at Northwest.

   • Bearcat Elicia Reuscher’s UX portfolio site.

   • Bearcat Taylor Johnson’s UX portfolio does an excellent job showing the process behind UX.

   • Bearcat Tim Gillissen’s portfolio: He’s a UX designer/developer at VML

   • See Sheila Mullings portfolio: She’s an Experience Designer at VML. (Be sure to check out her Elevator Pitch!) Most of her site still looks the way it did when she was still a student.​

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If you’re really serious, get a mentor!

1. UXPCK has a mentorship program, hopefully it's still operable. Meet people who work in UX in Kansas City… many of them are Bearcats!

2. Use LinkedIn to find Bearcats who work in UX. Connect with them.

3. Ask for help — they will help you.