How to Apply and Secure a UX Job

Submitting UX job applications can feel stressful as you submit your professional work for evaluation by strangers over and over again. But it doesn’t have to be. This article offers useful tactics to help you create polished application materials, use generative AI effectively, and thoughtfully evaluate potential employers and job offers.

Check out the other articles in this series on UX job seeker advice:

Preparing Your Materials and Answers

Fix Your Portfolio and Resume

Your portfolio (and, to a lesser extent, your resume) is your career passport to future UX jobs. Be sure to review our best practices before you spend an excessive amount of time revising these materials.

Check out these resources for resume guidance:

Refer to these resources for improving your portfolio:

Customize or Edit Application Materials with Generative AI

While there are AI vendors that target job-seeker workflows, many are not free or prioritize to a quantity-focused approach to job applications. Generative AI (genAI), on the other hand, can assist with crafting high-quality, tailored materials — but it first needs to learn about you and your achievements. One way to bridge this knowledge gap is by creating a detailed work chronicle.

A work chronicle is a document that comprehensively captures your post-secondary education and work history, including all quantitative and qualitative achievements earned.

Think of a work chronicle as a raw version of your resume used for planning job applications. Include every job you’ve held, the skills you used, the achievements you earned, and all your educational details, such as degrees, certifications, GPAs, and dates. Document this information truthfully and in as much detail as possible.

Because a work chronicle is raw and unpolished, it should never be shared directly with employers. Instead, pair it with a job posting and provide both to a genAI tool. Prompt the genAI to create a reverse-chronological listing of your work and education history to address the requirements and qualifications found in the job posting. Additionally, have the AI indicate a list of job posting responsibilities or qualifications that are gaps it could not directly address based on your work chronicle. Review these gaps to identify any missing information in your work chronicle.

Treat the genAI’s output as a rough draft to get you started on the workflow of fully customizing your resume. Customizing resumes to highlight skills and experiences that address a job posting’s specific requirements is a long-standing recommendation that many find tedious and time-consuming to do. By working from the genAI’s draft, you can quickly create a resume that is more targeted and aligned with the job’s requirements.

Create a Presentation of Your Best Portfolio Case Study

Some teams ask candidates to deliver a presentation, which is often a case study from their portfolio. Instead of scrolling through a page from your online portfolio and attempting to present it, reuse the assets from your best case study and structure it into a proper presentation to appear more professional.

Practice Answering Interview Questions

Weak communication skills during interviews have undermined many aspiring UX job seekers. Do not fall victim to overconfidence! Considering the span of your career and how many hours you devote to working at jobs, you comparatively get only a little practice engaging in job interviews. You must hone your storytelling skills with feedback to succeed in these critical moments.

The best approach is to practice delivering well-structured answers to a human. Try a 30-minute mock phone interview with a senior UX professional from your network or a mentor. Ask them to surprise you with 5 interview questions and have them share their critique of your answers afterward. In addition, record the interview and transcribe your verbal answers. Edit your responses for clarity and conciseness, then rehearse your revised response aloud.

For a more convenient option, try the NN/g UX Job-Interview Coach, described in our resources for job seekers article.

Choosing Potential Employers

Favor Quality over Quantity

Sending out hundreds of applications is a tempting strategy. More chances to get lucky with a job offer, right? However, receiving callbacks for job opportunities from employers misaligned with your values and preferences is counterproductive. In addition, these job opportunities will inevitably demand time-consuming interviews or assessments (further discussed below) that will test your patience and your already low motivation.

Applying to as many job postings as possible is like net fishing – casting a wide net and hoping a few edible fish are caught amongst many inedible ones. Instead, think of your job search as spearfishing. Use intentional effort to thoughtfully apply to jobs that align with your analysis of yourself, your constraints, and your goals. It may sting whenever these tailored applications are declined. However, when you are successful, you will be more motivated and interested to see the process through and receive a job offer you’d gladly accept. That genuine motivation and effort is what the UX hiring manager will be looking for in their ideal candidate.

Research Employers

Employer review platforms like Blind or Glassdoor can give you insider information on recent events within that employer, salary estimates, and even interview process. Even though an organization may offer an exciting UX job opportunity, be cautious to apply if it has dismal ratings on these platforms. You might be applying for a job you’ll quickly regret if the employer predominately operates contrary to your values and job constraints.

It’s also important to remember participation inequality — most employees don’t post on these platforms, so you may receive a skewed perspective from highly motivated past or present employees. Focus on aggregated scores and look for recurring themes grounded in factual statements from UX professionals.

Read the Job Posting Thoroughly but Don’t Rush to Disqualify Yourself

Did you find a dream job that meets all your job constraints? Great, but be careful about scanning through the job’s requirements and potentially prematurely ruling yourself out of applying.

A study by Leonie Nicks and colleagues found that women tend to make harsher holistic judgments about their qualifications compared to men, which could lead them to inaccurately rule themselves out before even applying.

Job postings are often an optimistic wish list of requirements by hiring managers; you can be less than 100% qualified from your perspective and still have a chance. By evaluating your qualification for each requirement separately, you’ll more accurately determine your chance and invest your time wisely. This analysis may even nudge you to apply for an ambitious role that feels like a stretch but probably isn’t.

(If you want to learn how qualified you are for various job requirements, then download and use our job-requirement decision aid from our resources for UX seekers.)

Use a UX-Savvy Recruiter

Partner with recruiters specializing in filling UX roles, such as Aquent, Creative Circle, or Robert Half Technology. These recruiters will have more contacts with hiring managers seeking UX talent and will be better able to position and match you according to your skills. A good recruiter should offer you advice on your application materials, give you coaching on their most frequent clients, and even help negotiate a job offer. They also shouldn’t cost you anything, as the employer pays their fees if they hire you. Prepare to be more flexible on some of your job constraints, as they may have more contract or contract-for-hire opportunities.

Applying to Job Postings

Apply Early and Directly Through the Employer’s Career Site

Apply only to jobs posted within the last 2–3 weeks, as you cannot be sure if their hiring process has ended. Directly apply on the employer’s career site and be prepared for an experience that may be more time-consuming than on job boards or aggregators. Your effort will signal a higher interest in the role and may result in a more accurate and detailed application in the employer’s applicant-tracking system.

Track Your Job Applications

Once you start applying, you can easily miss critical instructions or deadlines in your email inbox. Use a simple spreadsheet or another free template to track all your job-seeking information in one place. For example, the productivity app Notion has many free job application tracking templates that you can quickly customize and use without recurring fees.

Submit All Materials Requested

Always submit all materials requested or suggested in the job posting (resume, portfolio link, cover letter, answers to preliminary questions), even if described as optional. Rarely, clever UX hiring managers will add an instruction in the job posting (e.g., “Include the slogan ‘Keep it Simple!’ in your cover letter”) to differentiate who is applying intentionally and who is applying en masse. A complete submission reflects your attentiveness and, once again, effort — qualities you want your application to convey to the UX hiring manager.

Avoid “To Whom It May Concern”

In any cover letter or correspondence, always attempt to identify the UX hiring manager or recruiter and address them directly. Sometimes, you can find this information within the job posting. If it’s not there, email an HR contact asking for clarification (don’t wait more than a day or two for a response, though). Attempting to address the decision maker (even if you’re slightly off) will differentiate your application from others who are applying en masse.

Be Willing to Do the “Homework”

There is great consternation in the UX industry regarding “homework,” such as presentations, whiteboarding challenges, or design exercises, as part of a job application. There are 3 points worth mentioning regarding these assessments:

1. Many of these assessments suffer from poor design, stressful timing requirements or delivery formats, biased evaluation, or excessive length that’s exclusionary.
2. Standardized assessments probing job-relevant competencies are a valid and valuable part of the hiring process. Due to the collaborative nature of many UX projects, a portfolio alone is often insufficient to accurately appraise an applicant or differentiate them from other applicants.
3. In bad job markets, the UX hiring manager has more leverage. Applicants have far less. In addition, employers with strong brands will always have the leverage to request these assessments of their UX applicants, regardless of market conditions.

These points create an unfortunate situation: many UX hiring managers lack training in conducting their hiring practices and design poorly planned assessments that are a chore to complete. But you need that UX job. Check for these signs that an assessment is worth doing:

• The communication received as part of the job-application process provides some advanced notice about the number and nature of any upcoming assessments.
• The assessment asks to perform a task relevant to the job, derived from previously completed projects or situations.
• The assessment provides a standard subset of materials to work with, like presentation assets or an interview transcript.
• It gives clear instructions and submission deadlines.
• It can be completed in about an evening (less than a few hours). For example, a 5-minute presentation based on some provided raw data or materials.

There are also signs that an assessment, and perhaps the job, should be avoided:

• Assessment answers would be valuable to the employer’s current projects (unethical behavior).
• Instructions are minimal or open to broad interpretation, with no standardized materials provided. (Ambiguous instructions will make it difficult for the employer to evaluate candidate answers fairly).
• The assessment requires on-the-fly, real-time problem solving with an observer. (This is a stress test masquerading as an assessment and is unrealistic for the day-to-day work at many UX jobs).
• It requires more than a few hours to complete.
• Compensation is offered for your time (Paying you appears ethical, but this is the lazy way out of time-boxing and designing a practical and professional assessment. Make an exception for this situation if you’re unemployed because some income for your effort is better than no income.)

Attempting to negotiate to avoid an assessment is an unhelpful tactic, as any well-trained UX hiring manager should disqualify you for unstructuring their hiring process. If an assessment feels like too much work — even in a difficult job market — then this resistance is a sign that the job is perhaps a poor fit. Trust your intuition, politely withdraw from consideration, and move on.

(A template of the message that you can use to withdraw your candidacy is included in our job-seeker resources.)

Always Send Thank-You Notes to Interviewers

Writing thank-you notes to each of your interviewers will never guarantee a UX job. But doing so could be a tiny, subtle nudge that tips the hiring decision in your favor if the job offer comes down to you and an equally qualified rival.

Thank-you notes demonstrate your interpersonal skills and attentiveness to detail. Once again, genAI isn’t especially helpful when writing these. Keep the message concise and focus on 2 aspects: cite something you learned about the interviewer during their interview and mention something that qualifies you for this job. 

(A template of a thank-you note is included in our job-seeker resources.)

Ask for Feedback (but Don’t Expect to Receive it)

Job hunting is made more difficult by the lack of actionable feedback we receive while engaging in it. If you make it to the end of the hiring process but don’t receive a job offer, try one polite attempt to ask for feedback from the UX hiring manager. Do not expect to receive a response, as some HR policies advise managers against sharing feedback due to concerns over legal liability, so don’t take it personally.

(A template message for asking for interview feedback is included in our job-seeker resources.)

Handling Job Offers

You finally got a UX job offer! Congratulations! However, don’t let the excitement and relief of this moment distort your judgment. Career decisions are consequential, and you might need more information about the job to make a good choice.

Take Time to Think

Never accept a job offer immediately, no matter how desperate you think you are. You need time to receive the benefits documents, confer with family members, or review your job constraints and any necessary tradeoffs. Always think it over for 1–3 days or over a weekend. If necessary, request this time from the UX hiring manager.

Use Reverse Interviews

You have a bit of leverage with a job offer in hand. During the hiring process, you may have received a minimal perspective on the employer, the UX team, or their work. Request 1–2 remote “reverse interviews” with the UX hiring manager or likely future collaborators. Ask about the organization’s relative UX maturity, the hiring manager’s management practices or onboarding process, or more details about your planned projects. Since they’ve already expressed interest in hiring you and want you to accept the offer quickly, the hiring manager will likely oblige. You’ll also get more candid and informative answers to your questions to help you decide.

Negotiate Job Offers Pragmatically

It’s the dream of any job seeker to pit two competing job offers in a bidding war. This scenario could happen with a considerable amount of fortunate timing, but this is incredibly unlikely in a rotten job market. Have a good sense of what your labor is worth and balance it with your flexible constraints. Here’s how to navigate job-offer negotiations in a tight market:

• It’s okay to negotiate the job-offer details, and most employers will expect at least a little negotiation. Don’t let the fear of losing the job offer hold you back from any negotiation. A paper by Einav Hart and colleagues found that candidates significantly overestimate the risk of having job offers withdrawn during negotiation. The hiring managers they studied rarely recalled a situation involving a rescinded job offer. If an employer revokes an offer for merely attempting to negotiate, it’s revealed a red flag about its culture.
• Entry-level UX candidates have limited negotiating power, especially with little UX experience. However, candidates for UX-leadership positions could creatively negotiate beyond salary, like securing productivity-related commitments for essential tools, hardware, or research budgets for the UX team they may lead.
• If you’re between seniority levels (entry-level, senior, lead, etc.), consider carefully whether to negotiate for a more senior title. Meeting the higher expectations of a senior role could be overwhelming. Sometimes, excelling in a lower-seniority position can lead to a faster promotion that will reflect positively on your resume.
• Benefits packages are typically standardized by role or other criteria in mid-size or larger organizations. These aspects aren’t often a highly flexible point for negotiation.
• Salary bands or ranges often limit base-pay negotiations at larger employers. If the compensation is low, ask for one-time perks: signing bonuses, relocation expenses, or priority for a professional-development opportunity (perhaps some UX training courses or a certification). These one-time concessions are more likely to be considered as they don’t affect the employer’s long-term compensation plans.
• When negotiating, use precise numbers over round ones ($91,304 instead of $91,000). Research by Mason and colleagues found that precise numerical requests result in counteroffers closer to the desired value, but only if you can demonstrate your research to justify that specific amount. Research current UX-salary ranges using Glassdoor, LinkedIn, or even the UXPA to bolster your case with data.
• Nondisclosure agreements are common but clarify how you can document future work you may create in this job in your portfolio.
• Be wary of signing documents with noncompete clauses, which could limit your future employment options for months or even years. Don’t feel pressured to sign a legal document you don’t understand. Read it thoroughly, decline to sign it, or push back and attempt to negotiate its scope or duration.
• If it’s important to you, confirm working arrangements (remote, hybrid, onsite, work schedule) in writing. This does not cost the employer anything upfront, and it guarantees nothing, but it might buy you time to restart your job search in the future if policies change.

UX hiring managers typically cannot unilaterally alter their job offers, and negotiations will likely require them to confer with HR or other leaders. Remember that you’re negotiating with your potential future boss. Multiple rounds of negotiation over minor offer details that delay the hiring manager’s process and result in an equally qualified finalist bowing out of contention will not inspire goodwill towards you during your onboarding, should you accept the offer and join the team.

Decline a Job Offer Professionally

Declining a job offer may seem absurd in a bad job market. However, you might need to do it if you used the quantity-based approach to your application process or if your analysis and intuition suggest you turn the job offer down. Never “burn a bridge,” as the UX hiring manager you’re declining today might be one you work for tomorrow. Always frame your message around how the current job offer at the current stage of your career lacks alignment with your current needs. Clearly decline the job, but word your message so that you might say yes if these conditions change in the future. If you share a reason for declining, keep it very brief — it’s probably evident to the UX hiring manager if you tried negotiating over it or had a competing job offer under consideration.

(A template message for declining a job offer is included in our job-seeker resources.)

Conclusion

When it comes to applying to UX jobs, remember these P’s: probe employers, personalize materials, professionally communicate, pragmatically negotiate, and above all: persevere. The job application process can be stressful and uncertain, but with these tactics, you can overcome the challenges and achieve the last P: prosper.

References

Einav Hart, Julia B. Bear, and Zhiying (Bella) Ren. 2024. But what if I lose the offer? Negotiators’ inflated perception of their likelihood of jeopardizing a deal. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 181, 104319. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2024.104319.

M. F. Mason, A. J. Lee, E. A. Wiley, and D. R. Ames. 2013. Precise offers are potent anchors: Conciliatory counteroffers and attributions of knowledge in negotiations. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 49, 4, 759–763. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2013.03.015.

Leonie Nicks, Filip Gesiarz, Lourdes Valencia, Tim Hardy, and Johannes Lohmann. 2022. Gender differences in response to requirements in job adverts. Behavioural Insights Team. Retrieved December 13, 2024, from https://www.bi.team/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Gender-differences-in-response-to-requirements-in-job-adverts-March-2022.pdf.