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📝NEW UX ARTICLE
On your UX journey, should you take off time in between jobs? (read here)
For some reason, things happen around the same time in my circle. This season, everyone's getting new jobs and making big career changes.

Many of these career changes were preceded by a period of personal growth, whether that be travel, therapy or just going on a dope cruise. Which brings me to this question, asked by a fellow UXer going through career changes - "is it okay to take time off in between jobs? Will that "look bad" on my resume?"

In this article, I share two of my favorite ideas to help answer that question: Important vs Urgent, and Learning vs Earning. 

💩BAD UX EXAMPLE
Teleconferences that are hard to join
Besides the insufferable name, Blue Jeans is video conferencing software used by larger enterprises. I have two gripes with their meeting UX...

1. It's hard to find your personal meeting URL
Sending your meeting room URL is one of the most common tasks, especially when you're collaborating with others and setting up meetings. It should be obvious, right on the homescreen for the user to do one-click copy. The feature is hidden under "start personal meeting." 


where's my meeting URL? 

2. Got someone else's meeting URL? You have to open a web browser
Making users go outside of your app to go back in your app, for a task as common as joining a meeting, kills efficiency.


but my coworker just sent me a URL...where do I put that?

Instead, these fields should say "Enter meeting ID or URL" and the system should automatically parse out the URL for you. 

Got a bad UX example you want to share? Reply and I'll pick one to share (and credit you) in next week's newsletter. 

🗣 UX DISCUSSION OF THE WEEK
Graduated from bootcamp but no job 

The most popular discussion last week on the Facebook Group came from this post: 

"I did the General Assembly 10 week UX immersive in 2016 then looked for a job for 1.5 years. Nobody would hire me, even with 3 decent projects on my portfolio. I stopped looking in 2018. Should I try again?"

I really feel for people in this situation. You just made a huge investment in a bootcamp hoping for a career change, but it's taking forever to happen. If I had to choose only two pieces of advice, it'd be...

1. Become (even more) job oriented. Passion needs discipline. What that means is taking a realistic look at cold, hard job-hunting facts. How many jobs do you apply to every day, every week? How much networking, hackathons or informational interviews are you doing? Are you in a big enough market (e.g. city) where there are enough UX jobs? It can get overwhelming, and that's where discipline kicks in. Set yourself a schedule, grab an accountability partner, and become job-focused.

2. Get more feedback. Feedback is king when pulling off a career transition. It's likely that those who've been "stuck" have not sought enough feedback, or diverse enough feedback. The point of that feedback is to get an objective view of what's really holding you back. Whether it's being told that your visual design skills aren't up to snuff, or that you need to network with more industry professionals, that feedback is worth its weight in gold.

Shameless plug: a good UX career coach can shine a light on your blindspots and help you prioritize the highest-impact job search efforts. 

💎UX TOOL HIGHLIGHT
Usability Testing Exchange (free)
Usability.testing.exchange does not only have a unique URL, but also a unique business model: get your project evaluated for free, but only if you evaluate someone else's for free first.

If you're on a budget and don't want to shell out the big bucks for UserTesting.com, give this tool a shot. One caveat: must be website or web app (something with URL), not mobile app testing yet. 

📖 UX BOOK RECOMMENDATION
The User Experience Team of One by Leah Buley

UXers are often working in a "team of one," even if they're part of a design team. If you're the only UXer staffed on a project or working in a small company, UX Team of One serves as a playbook for how to manage complex design projects on your own. 

  • Highlight: "What makes [UX] interesting is the dramatic tension between needing to inspire through expertise and trying to build your own expertise at the same time.."
If you just landed your first UX job, that might feel oddly familiar. I love that Leah Buley summarizes the end of each chapter, often with a "if you do one thing, do this" type of actionable advice. Not ready for her full book? Check out an excerpt on conducting a strategy workshop

> Read my full UX reading list for the best UX book recommendations.
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Remote UX Jobs 💼

Interdax is looking for a Product Designer based anywhere in the EMEA region to help build a next-gen exchange (think crypto). 

Tendermint is a blockchain company (anotha one!) looking for a remote  UX/UI Designer to help build interfaces and tools for the crypto ecosystem. 

WePoll is a social polling startup looking for one of its first full time UX/UI designers. According to its listing, you'll be working 100% remote.

Quimbee is a e-learning platform for law students. They're looking for a remote Senior Product Designer to help them re(design) their platform to help more students pass the bar.

Intevity is a digital consultancy that's worked with the likes of Nasa and UnderArmor. They're looking or a remote contract Sr UX/UI designer to start a contract in Arlington, VA. So why include them? Intevity is a remote agency, so check back on their careers page for updates on remote-friendly roles.

Need helping landing that first UX job? 🚨
  • The UX Portfolio Course is now updated with new content to help you get to the finish line of portfolio work. 
     
  • The UX Fundamentals Course helps you learn the basics of user experience in new way: learn the business skills behind UX and the mechanics of doing it. 
     
  • Master the UX Interview teaches you the ins-and-outs of the interview game that has helped students land offers at Microsoft, Google and hot startups.


I also offer 1-on-1 UX career coaching. 90% of the designers I mentor make dramatic career transitions like landing their first UX job or switching to UX from a totally unrelated career.

Not ready to invest in training? Head on over to the UX Facebook Group to connect with thousands of other designers and potential mentors.

Thanks for reading :) This is a user experience newsletter from UX Beginner. A content strategist + UX designer named Oz runs this lil blog for fun, from sunny Los Angeles. 

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