July 20, 2021

Resume tips for UX/UI Designers from an overwhelmed hiring manager

Searching for a job is a painful process. It is full of administrative work like updating our resumes for a position, filling out online applications with information that is in the resume or LinkedIn profile. It is likely that we will go through many rejections or not hear back from most companies. It is hard not to take some of the rejection personally, but we feel the pain of it, shake it off, and keep on searching. All we need is someone to see our potential and give us an opportunity to prove ourselves, right?

On the other side of the search, as a team manager it is time consuming. Large organizations maybe have resources to look through and filter candidates to find the right one for the position. In smaller organizations it is most likely the hiring manager. I have spent countless hours looking through resumes, LinkedIn profiles, and portfolios in search of a Designer and have learn too quickly look at a resume and know whether I would like to learn more about the candidate within the first few seconds. In my experience I have worked both as a designer and web developer and have been on both sides of searching for a job and searching for candidates.

When looking at candidates here are few of the tips I wish I could have given to the hundreds of candidates I have reviewed but never pursued.

You are a designer, design your resume

I cannot tell you how many resumes I have looked at that looked like complete trash. If that is you, forgive me. I am not trying to offend anyone, but think about it. You want to stand out. If the first thing someone looking at your resume sees is line upon line of text without a clear information architecture, it questions whether you really have the skills of a designer. While writing your resume, follow design principles and usability heuristics. This is not the same as making your resume a poster. Simple still works. Think of how your potential future manager will consume your resume. What information do you want to highlight that makes you different from other candidates. They are most likely looking at dozens of resumes in one sitting. Use information architecture principles to design the key information in your resume. It is the first impression. Keep it simple, but design it well.

Make sure all links work

UX Designers are suppose to make the life of end-users easier. Don’t make it difficult for someone looking at your resume online to find your portfolio or LinkedIn profile. You are less likely to be looked at if your links have to be copied and pasted. While it is a small point and it is not difficult to copy and paste, it is all about impressions.

The halo effect is when one trait of a person or item is used to judge that person or thing when making fast decisions. Think of how many times you have judged a business based on how employees dress or the cleanliness of the facility. A simple star rating on an app like Yelp will make us think twice or convince us to buy from a business. At that point we do not know anything about how the business handles complaints or whether their food is good. We make up our minds from a simple first impression based on small traits. Broken links are frustrating.

Fix your portfolio website

Depending on your development skills you may decide to build your own portfolio website. If you do, make sure your portfolio website is not broken. While it can be overlooked because many designers are not expected to be developers, it is up to you to know whether you will take on the task of building a website. If you don’t feel confident, pick a prebuilt solution. The goal is to show case what you are capable of and provide a good experience for those reviewing your work.

Stop writing your entire design process

This point could just be me and I would encourage you to get feedback from others on this topic. In my case, I do not plan on reading through an entire case study of how someone went through an entire process to redesign one page. If that was the case for every single candidate I review, it would take days to review 10 candidates. This conversations usually come up when speaking with a candidate. It is also a bit of a flag that a designer is very junior. Personally I see this format in portfolios from candidates that recently finished a design bootcamp like General Assembly. Do not get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with General Assembly. I personally work with great designers who entered the design world through them. As a manager I want a quick look at the before and after. I want to know how your work improves the experience and the business goals. All other information is secondary.

This goes back to the point of designing your resume. Design your portfolio the same way. Show your potential new employer the win and then expand on it with secondary supporting information. I was a photographer for the U.S. Navy for 6 years. During that time I recall a course I took on journalistic writing. One of the principle that carried over to design was the idea of writing the most important facts of the story at the top. This would allow different editors to truncate the text to fit the publication without losing the main points of the story. Readers could also read the first couple of paragraphs, learn the facts, and decide whether the rest was interesting enough for them. The first couple of sentences hook the reader, do not burry it at the bottom of the page. In your case, display the win at the top. If readers have time, they will dig deeper, do not make them search for it.

Designer are story tellers too

You have to think about getting hired as companies view the entire customer experience. That includes your resume, portfolio, and in-person contact. Think about it the same way you would think about the experience when designing a product. The experience in the customer journey starts the second someone makes any kind of contact with the business. Where are the touch points of your relationship with your user? Design each one of those and view it as a wholistic user experience. Marketers speak of customer journeys and sales of the sales funnel. Designers think of it as the user journeys. What journey are you taking your future hiring manager through and what story are they hearing of you from that journey?

Iterate every part of the journey

It would be accurate to say that a product is never done. There is always something to improve. The same is true for your resume, portfolio, and the rest of our online presence as a candidate for a position. Optimize that experience. When the interview didn’t go well ask why. Most managers would be glad to provide feed back. As for specifics. What made them want to call you? What in particular made them not want to move forward? Iteration is in the DNA of the designer, do not overlook it when you are searching for a new opportunity.

Our experiences are never straight forward. Think about optimizing as a way of depositing good or bad feelings in the minds of those looking at you as a candidate. Every single step that is pleasant adds a positive feeling towards your account in the bank of their minds. An easy to read resume adds a positive point. Working links add positive points. Your website being broken withdraws from the account. Help make users make positive deposits as much as possible. If you find a negative experience, iterate. That’s what designer do!