I know LinkedIn gets a lot of criticism right now.Designers are frustrated with it. The algorithm feels unpredictable. The engagement can feel performative. I get it.But most hiring managers and recruiters are still using it every single day.When I work with designers on their job search, I usually point this out:Recruiters aren’t just browsing casually. They’re actively searching for designers daily. By title, by skill, by keyword.And hiring managers do something similar when they’re trying...
6 days ago • 2 min read
Early in my career, I thought that when I presented my design work it meant explaining all my design decisions.I would walk those stakeholders through my design process, show the screens, discuss the research, and explain why I made certain choices.Over time, I started noticing something.Different audiences were asking different questions:• Executives wanted to know how the work would impact the business.• Marketing wanted to to know if it would increase signups, or conversions.• Sales wanted...
14 days ago • 2 min read
I was working with a designer recently on her portfolio homepage.Her intro read: "I'm a UX designer."That was it. Clean. Simple. And completely forgettable.Yes, she was a UX designer but her intro told a hiring manager almost nothing. It described a job title, not a person. It said what she was, not what she brought to the table.We rewrote it together using a simple framework. Four elements, two sentences.The difference was obvious. A hiring manager landing on her homepage could now answer...
20 days ago • 3 min read
I just wrapped up my UX Portfolio class at Pratt Institute.Twelve classes. Four weeks. Three sessions per week. Every student building a portfolio from scratch choosing a platform, writing a case study, shaping their story, and connecting it all to their resume and LinkedIn before the final presentation.It was one of the best semesters I’ve had. Not because it was easy. It wasn’t. Building a portfolio is hard work, and my students felt every bit of that. But they showed up. They did the...
27 days ago • 2 min read
I've been working with a senior designer who has over 15 years in the industry.Talented. Experienced. With an expansive body of work.When it came time to interview for his next role he couldn't figure out how to present any of it.Not because the work wasn't there.It was. Fifteen years of it.The problem was crafting the narrative.Every project felt important. Every skill felt relevant. Everything deserved to be included.And when everything is included, nothing tends to stands out. The first...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
If you've been applying and not hearing back I just want to say:The market is hard right now. Positions are disappearing before they're filled. Every role has hundreds of applicants. Senior titles are being attached to mid-level budgets. Hiring freezes are very real.None of this is a reflection of your value.I want you to sit with that before we continue.The difficulty you're experiencing in this job market is not evidence that you aren't good enough. It is absolutely not. It's evidence that...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
A designer I worked with recently went through a multi-round interview process for a role she really wanted. She didn't have multiple case studies covering every type of project. She had only three, with one exceptional case study placed first on her homepage that she knew it inside and out.By the second round the entire conversation had shifted. The hiring team had her to go deeper on that one project. Her design strategy. How she collaborated across functions. How she approached the problem...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Early in my career I sat in a meeting that I still think about often. We were working through a project that wasn't coming together. The room was full of smart people talking in circles. And I had an idea that I genuinely believed would elevate the whole direction we were discussing.I didn't say it.I was new to the company. Wasn't sure my opinion would land the right way. I didn't want to say the wrong thing in front of everyone. So I sat there for the rest of the meeting and said nothing.The...
2 months ago • 3 min read
A few months ago I was working with a mid-level designer on his portfolio. He had great work and his case studies were well structured. But something was missing from every project- there were no results. No data points. No evidence of impact. Nothing that connected his design decisions to what happened after the work shipped.I asked him: what changed after this launched?He took a minute then answered "well the new platform workflow I designed actually saved the team a significant amount of...
2 months ago • 2 min read