We know that being a Jr professional in any field could be tough when it comes to UX could be even harder.
UX is a trend now we have more and more people jumping into it also at this time (2023) big companies are laying off fantastic professionals which make the market more competitive.
However, as a junior, you can follow some tips that could support you to accomplish your goals.
1 – Get a mentor
This person should help you with the daily challenges you might face as a UXer, but also guide you during interview processes, portfolio reviews, and sharing their knowledge and expertise.
Although you should be cautious when picking a mentor because now we have tons of people offering mentorships but what they are delivering is the same as you can have on YouTube for free.
How to select a mentor?
- Ask them to show you some projects they were working on.
- Look for the previous mentees to have some references.
- Read the content they are normally sharing on social media.
- Try realizing if the mentorship will have lots of mentees at once because just one person can’t support 35 mentees alone, otherwise, you are buying just a regular course.
- Ask how this person will conduct the mentorship and the level of mentees, I mean that person will accept beginners or just people with some certification.
2 – Connect with the right people
Linkedin is more than a job-hunting app, it is a place to connect to people and increase your professional network.
Don’t be afraid of connecting to a stranger, however, you should at least send a message saying who are you and why you are trying to connect to them.
Eg: Hi my name is ________
I came across your profile and reckon you will be a great plus to my professional network.
I’m looking forward to exchanging knowledge and know more about your career and studies.
I hope you don’t mind connecting.
Thanks,
Your name
You must connect to recruiters as well when you see a position posted, and send a message to the person responsible for it expressing your interest in the role.
You can also join social media groups posting and commenting there and sending a connection request to relevant group members.
3 – Create content
Again Linkedin is much more than a job-hunting app.
Try sharing some knowledge on the app, asking questions, raising discussions, and joining groups, every small effort will be visible.
But I’m a Jr what authority do I have to share something?
If you are a Jr, I’m sure you are studying hard so why not write an article about the last topic you just learnt? Creating a poll about some questions you had during an online class? Or just sharing an excellent book.
It will definitely show your passion for UX because you are using your spare time talking about it and share with your network, it is something that hiring managers really appreciate and I’m sure you will be ahead of your competitors.
4 – Attend some meetups
You can join some online meetings or much better in-person ones.
By attending those events, you will come across high-profile professionals delivering insightful speeches and those meetings are a great place to increase your network face to face.
5 – Volunteering
What??? Working for free, are you crazy???
No, I’m not crazy, working for free sometimes could be a door opener. You can join an NGO offering your expertise by creating their website, app or whatever they need, of course applying your UX abilities.
It will be a real job with deadlines, hierarchy, and different teams to handle, like a paid job but just a few hours per week, in addition, it will be something to add to your portfolio.
Everybody needs people to give them good referrals so volunteering is great plus to your CV.
If you want someone to see you, you must make yourself visible.
Here we wrote some tips, are you doing it already? Did you do it and get good results? Do you have more valuable tips?
Please share it in the comments.
Wrote by Rafael de Rezende Basso
