Unconventional ways to land a UX design job in 2025, Bangkok, Lisbon, and Buenos Aries
We’ll be spilling some tea on unconventional skills you can have to land your dream design job in 2025 here! (written by Grace Ling on a 17-hour flight from Bangkok to Lisbon)
We’re also heading into month 4 of our world tour! We recently hosted an event in Bangkok, Thailand, and ~300 of you showed up in person. We love Thailand!
We are grateful for Kati, Pizza, Parin, and Zim for organizing this with us. Also LINE MAN wongnai, Design Buddies , Lottiefiles and ADPList for sponsoring. Also Kamila, Ruby, Chusek, Apirak, and Chanon for speaking!
Up next, we’re hosting another event in Lisbon, Portugal, tonight, along with Friends of Figma Portugal and Ladies that UX Lisbon! RSVP here
Then, our next meetup will be in early January 2025 in Buenos Aries, Argentina! Before we head back home to San Francisco
Unconventional ways to land a UX design job in 2025
As technology advances, UX designers are here to bridge it to humans and make it useful! I think UX design will continue to grow
Work smarter, not harder
Use ChatGPT to write your resume and cover letters. Feed it your experience and the job you’re applying for.
You can even use ChatGPT to write your UX design case studies and give you feedback if you ask them to pretend to be your hiring manager.
Make sure to proofread everything AI writes and edit it to sound like you.
Document your journey on LinkedIn
Many hiring managers hang out on LinkedIn. Posting more on Linkedin increases your surface area of luck.
Focus on both getting experience and sharing on LinkedIn! Introduce yourself and share about the design work you’re doing on LinkedIn. Show your learning and improvements
Scroll through your feed and connect with people who seem interesting. Comment on each other’s posts and support each other! You can even collaborate and learn from each other!
Leverage emerging trends
Dive into and design products in these areas if they interest you:
AI: Personalized interfaces. Explore case studies where AI adds to the user experience of existing products
Voice and gesture interfaces. Explore conversational design prompts and designing for devices like Google Home.
AR/VR experiences. Understand 3D and spatial design
Web3 design. Understanding the finance side, blockchain, smart contracts, etc
Then talk about it on LinkedIn!!
Gain real-world experiences
You can still get design experience without a job or another college degree! Look for volunteer projects, freelance work, or collaborating with your buddies on a new product. If you’re volunteering, be 100% sure you can add it to your portfolio. Seek opportunities where you’d get mentored and grow.
Join hackathons and design-a-thons to build a product with a team, too!
Offer free UX audits for startups with no revenue yet. Show how these improvements can improve their business. They can be a great reference for you or even hire you.
Also, many freelance and job opportunities are posted in the Design Buddies Discord daily, and it’s 100% free to post and join!
We’re also launching our next cohort after filling up our last one:
Build real cross-functional experience with big tech coaches and product teams. Learn cutting-edge product design with top VR/AR/AI founders.
Come away with:
Shipping a real product
Working experience with a product team
A big-tech ready interview presentation
Learn more & apply here! https://www.ux-go.com/uxgo-2025/10-week-internship-course
Application accepted on a rolling basis. The cohort starts Jan 2025.
Grow your skills
On your technical skills:
Design tools: Figma and prototyping. Also, use Spline if you like 3D and Adobe Illustrator if you like graphic design. Figma is key, but having additional areas of expertise like 3D can also set you apart
Coding knowledge: HTML, CSS, Javascript. Knowing the fundamentals of how software is built and how the front end works with the back end can help you work better with engineers. I don’t think you need to be at the level of writing your own code; you just need to understand it and design interfaces that fit the technical constraints.
Data analytics: Using data to make design decisions
On your soft skills:
Communication: Clearly explain your design decisions. Being able to collaborate well with other designers and stakeholders like product managers, engineers, researchers, and more
Problem-solving
Adaptability: Learning and evolving with new tech
Build a portfolio that slaps
Showcase your best work, not all of your work. People who are hiring usually skim through this in less than a minute. Make it easy for them to understand how you think and work as a designer.
Ideally, you should have 2-3 strong case studies of different kinds of work (e.g., one web, one mobile). You should also have an about me page and a landing page where they can find everything. You can also include your branding here.
Each of your case studies should be a story starting from what the problem was, research, how you go about solving it/design solutions, iterations, testing, outcomes, and learnings (more on case studies in an upcoming newsletter)
Network strategically
Joining communities like Design Buddies and attending industry events helps you meet people organically. Events are usually in big cities, but Design Buddies is online and global (with in-person events in big cities)!
Don’t ask for a job if you just met someone. Lead with curiosity and learn from other professionals. Sometimes, you might end up with a job.
If you have known someone for a while, catch up with them and ask them what they need help with. If this interests you, pitch yourself as a designer.
You can even network in unconventional spaces. For example, you can offer UX improvements for games and engage in niche Reddit forums.
Stay curious! Design is an adventure, and your growth never stops at your job. Don’t hold back on trying new ideas
Online event: Skills to land a UX Design Job in 2025
On Wed Dec 11, 8 am UTC-8 (pacific time)! Morning in Americas, Afternoon in Europe, night in Asia
The demand for UX Designers is increasing. With tech advancing (hello AI), we'll dive into ways of how you can stay ahead and land your dream job in 2025.
We'll cover:
Key technical and soft skills needed
Emerging UX specializations
Career growth hacks
Resources to help you out along the way (and launching our next advanced design project cohort)
RSVP (free): https://lu.ma/design-job
🐰 About Design Buddies/UXGO
Design Buddies/UXGO is a community where you level up your design career. Land jobs, improve your design skills, and make friends. We have resources, events, design challenges, job boards, fun perks, and more.
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