UX Notebook #339: Disconnect btwn UX candidates & companies

Hey ,

A big problem I'm addressing in 2022 is UX hiring. I've been watching the space and listening to people on both sides (candidates and companies) and it's clear there is a big disconnect.

I've been building a database of companies and one of the questions I ask them is "what's the biggest struggle with hiring?" ... here are a few of their answers:

Candidates don’t read job descriptions and apply with low or no experience.
It's hard to find candidates who understand both users and business. They need to tell an outcome-oriented story with their work or studies.
We have hundreds of underqualified boot camp candidates who have the same template projects.
Finding candidates with experience in our industry (eg. health, finance, etc).

On the flip side, every day I see posts from candidates who complain about how hard it is to find UX roles and get interviews. To be brutally honest, I think candidates need to stop playing the "blame game" ... of course, this doesn't apply to all candidates!

Candidates often post on LinkedIn, Twitter, etc to say things such as, "how am I supposed to get hired if companies won't tell me why I didn't get hired or give me feedback about my interviews, resume, portfolio, etc?"

It's not a company's responsibility to give candidates feedback on how they can be stronger candidates.

I know that may not land well with some of you and that people may say I'm not being empathetic. We don't have to agree! But you have to see it from the side of the companies and hiring managers as well!

Clearly, there are problems and opportunities in UX hiring on both ends of the issue! I'm a little farther along with helping UX candidates and my team and I are in the early stages of prototyping how we can help companies.

Whether you're a UX candidate or a company looking to hire, here's how I can help you:

If you're a candidate, apply to join my 6-month Career Strategy Lab program. Recently our clients have been hired at IBM, Intel, Gallup, UE Group, SAP and more.

If you're a company, fill out this UX hiring survey so we can get to know you and we'll be in touch in a few weeks about how we might work together.

Sarah

ARTICLE
🏨 3 UX takeaways from 992 hours of testing on travel accommodation sites
Baymard's recent research has uncovered 1000+ medium to severe usability issues specific to travel accommodation sites, many that disrupted users from being able to book somewhere to stay and led to cart abandonment. Here they discuss the issues found at large brand hotel chains, rental property sites, boutique hotels and online travel agencies, and 3 ways that the UX of accommodation sites is different from general B2C e-commerce websites.
Read the article ➝

👤 Laura got hired as a UX Research Manager in Spain:
"Before I wasn't even getting interviews at all. I also didn't have a clear plan or vision of where to go. My portfolio was a mess and so was my CV. Following the Career Strategy Lab program, everything was structured, ordered, and had a clear vision and purpose. I would absolutely recommend the program for anyone that takes their own worth and career seriously."

👤 Abby got hired as a UX designer (switched from an architecture career)
I am so thankful for Career Strategy lab. Literally, every step I needed in order to compile my information together to make a presentable portfolio & resume, I referenced the tools provided by CSL. Even learning to negotiate was helpful!

The critiques were invaluable and gave me the confidence I needed to present my work and reach out to connections about potential opportunities. Having never applied to a UX role previously, I had no idea where to even start or what content should look like but the critiques and course material were just so helpful.

👉 Want to accelerate your UX job search? I invite you to apply to join Career Strategy Lab.

The program has literally everything you need to get hired. It's insanely detailed and covers what you were not taught in university, college, or a UX boot camp regarding how to design your career and navigate the job search.