Junior UX Portfolio: A Job Offer After 3 Months of Learning and Doing UX

In this UX Portfolio Review video, I'll walk through a recent review request made by one of the junior product designers in Australia. With only 3 months of experience of learning and doing UX research and design and applying to over 20 openings, they landed their first UX/UI gig. Watch to find out the key factors that contributed to this as well as the improvement areas to take it further.

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[YourMajesty]

For those who feel let down about your own progress, keep in mind that this example is an outlier, since he was previously in the architectural design field. Architects are essentially UX designers, just in a different medium. They work on designing functional and aesthetically pleasing spaces in ways that fulfill buyers needs, much like UXD focus on fulfilling user needs. They also create blueprints, which are similar in the way UXD create wireframes.

His background definitely gave him extra leverage. Anytime I see people transition into UX quickly, I always check to see what their previous career was. Usually they were already in tech, academic research or marketing research, or some other creative field that involves design. If you don't have these kinds of backgrounds, then don't get hung up over your progress vs theirs.

It's possible that the job he secured was in the industry he's transitioning from, it's possible the application process and interviews gave him enough practice to figure out how to sell his background, it's possible he got a clueless recruiter who is desperately hiring, or it could be a less-than-desirable company that was on the bottom of his list but was the only open door into to UX industry. So don't assume his path was an optimal one. Drop the comparisons and focus on your own path, because UX is a dense field to study that takes years to fully develop and even Senior UXD don't stop learning, so be patient and enjoy the journey!

[lalakuma]

It's great to know that even a junior designer whose project you criticized thoroughly still found a job

[xiaofha]

Wow! There is hope. I was becoming doubtful it’d be possible to really find a job. Still building my skills and doing my best.

[tomeynotes]

Your content is absolutely gold Mr. Vy.

I just got 4 offers over 14 job applications recently after 4-5 months of learning and building case studies.

If you are a UX beginner, start building and structuring your own website, resumé and portfolio as early as possible. Because those are not just time-consuming (especially case studies) but also frustrated AF when you really have to construct a cohensive personal brand to apply for jobs.

[dwebb]

Today I started my first day in a UX design role. I just wanted to say thanks for your channel and advice which has certainly helped get ready, apply and make the right decisions for where I am in my career. I was lucky to get a few offers over a couple of months and it has really helped hearing your thoughts on roles and how to differentiate between various opportunities. Thanks again definitely helped steer my career through this minefield.

[harry]

Great content! Thank you for sharing this with us. I have been self-learning UX design for a while, I stopped learning a couple of months ago because there was a lot of self-doubts, I have no design background or anything, so I wasn't sure if I could get a real job offer no matter how hard I try. However, recently I told myself to give it a go and worry about it later. So basically yeah, I'm restarting the learning process from the scratch. Anyways thanks for the inspiration, if anyone here has a similar experience?

[joshdotera]

I have a very similar story -- I got my first UX/UI job within the first month of graduating my bootcamp with a wonderful company! I think I only applied to about 5 companies but what ended up working for me was networking on LinkedIn

[joydeepchatterjee]

I want to see your portfolio. Please upload one video

[theado]

Very helpful for someone like me who's working on the first case study too. Thank you!

[ABSVabeautifulsunsetvlog]

I feel like having a technical background of some sort (IT related, architecture, graphic design, etc…) gives you a leg up with some employers as they are already impressed and probably looking for reasons not to hire you more so than reasons as to why they should. So assuming you interview well, if you’re coming from those types of fields these jobs are probably more yours to lose.

[angelacheng]

It was a really helpful video, Thank u! Please let me know when u are doing a portfolio review again. I would really like to share my portfolio and have your feedback on it!

[worldstop]

your videos teach us a lot. Thanks for it, we appreciate it, we are grateful .

[lalalala]

There was talk about all the think she should/could have included, but aren’t case studies supposed to be easily scannable and not included every step? Considering if he included all of the suggestions made it would be really long. So how do you know what’s the most important info to included?

[johnathanmontelongo]

I appreciate the comment on depth v speed, focussing on one great case study over three shallower ones, but this is the guy's first attempt ahead of searching for his first entry-level/junior role. Depth seems the luxury reserved for of a seasoned pro in a real-life situation.

Disclaimer: I'm transition from graphic design into UX/UI and haven't yet produced any case studies/portfolio, so probably just projecting my own anxieties and inhibitions.

[cindyluvbug]

Keep on swimming, swimming, swimming...

I can tell I'm getting somewhere, but I would have loved to be working 3 months out from school. I feel like some valuable lessons are being learned, perhaps the hard way, but learned nonetheless! 💪

[swagfel]

Man great Content I need to work on my portfolio however I got a opportunity to work for a big company in Europe for your advices

[cindyluvbug]

Because I am still in pursuit of that first "real" product design position, the first thing that stood out to me was that this portfolio, while definitely very appealing and engaging, seemed to have a very different focus from mine. I would love to know what the position was because I am starting to see why you sometimes say "it depends" when asked how a "top" portfolio would show this or that... is a great portfolio more of a contextual thing, with the key factor being the balance of UX to UI work the position entails? If so, does the same apply to level (junior vs mid)?

[alexandrabohmer]

Did he code this himself or what platform did he use? Impressive!

[starvemarve]

You teach us not how to design. But how to think.

[beeutiaddict]

does anyone know the template or website for the portfolio? I absolutely adore and would love to implement