Introduction
UX and UI design has always been a fairly lucrative career in India as well as the rest of the world. However, the demand for digital products have grown exponentially owing to the COVID-19 crisis and how it has forced a large part of the global population inside their homes. This has opened the door even wider, for more and more people to enter the burgeoning field of UI/UX design. The demand will only grow from here on out. But this shouldn’t be taken to mean that it will be easy for anyone to become a UI/UX professional. Companies are always looking to pick the best talent. With that in mind, a potential candidate should keep certain factors in mind to be hired to work for the leading companies in the UI/UX domain.
Get the basics right
Acquire the skills: First things first. It is incredibly important to build a strong enough foundation for anyone wishing to make a career in this field. In a fast changing, digital driven world, knowledge is everything. So, learning about UI/UX is definitely the first and the most crucial step in trying to find jobs in this domain. This equips the candidate with the kind of knowledge necessary to not only build foundations but also to bring about expertise in UI/UX design & development.There are various courses offered by a number of entities which one can pursue. Such courses are available both online as well as offline.
Build a portfolio: UX Design is a field where relevant skills matter more than the most coveted university degrees. And this is where portfolios come in. A design portfolio can go a long way in assuring an employer of the candidate’s vision and skill sets, as well as the range of their abilities. There are a plethora of online platforms that allow designers to showcase their portfolios. Carbonmade, for instance. It is a user-friendly and hassle-free portfolio website which offers visual-based themes and unique domain name services. Adobe Portfolio is free but is part of the Adobe Creative Cloud plans, and allows designers to create high-quality portfolios in minutes. Dribbble is another free-to-use online platform that is quite popular among UI/UX designers willing to feature their work. It offers Dribbble Meetups block which enables users to join various designer communities and activities. Over the years, Behance has emerged as the world’s topmost creative network, and is an ideal platform for a UX designer to showcase their work. A prospective UI/UX designer would do well to utilise the tools on Behance to highlight their skills and creativity.
Build a resume: A resume is one of the first things an employer notices about the candidate. And most employers take it seriously, taking their time to scan each word. So it is of utmost importance to have a well-crafted CV. The CV needs to include all pertinent information about their career, including client testimonials and references. The candidate needs to make sure it covers the high points of their career and showcase them in the best way possible.
Boost your social media profiles: Social media is no longer a fancy tech thing. It’s like having a passport or a PAN Card: everybody owns a social media profile, and more often than not, it reflects one’s personality, dreams and aspirations. For a creative individual, it can be even more reflective of their aesthetics. Employers are mindful of this and they often scan the candidate’s social media profiles, especially visual platforms like Instagram. With that in mind, a potential designer should utilise their social media profiles accordingly.
Identify the right jobs
What are some practical steps that a well-prepared designer should undertake in order to start looking for actual jobs? Assuming that the prospective designer has covered the bases mentioned above, they can employ the following measures to boost their job search:
Search Online: Once a prospective designer has decided which category of UX design they want to work in, they need to comb through the Internet for job listings and vacancies. Job sites like Naukri, Monster etc are good sources, but LinkedIn is also extremely important from this perspective. Also think smart, using a number of associated keywords and combination of keywords to find the right jobs. Various Facebook groups in the UX/UI Design domain can prove useful. Also, the candidate can look at the websites of the specific companies they want to work for.
Join the Community: Nowadays, more often than not, employers hire from within the designer community without necessarily announcing the vacancy publicly. So unless one is a part of these communities, it’s possible they might not even know of the vacancy. The designer must join communities and groups on Facebook, WhatsApp and LinkedIn. It is also imperative to follow the right influencers and creators on Instagram and LinkedIn. Some of these groups and communities may be exclusive, but if one can join the open groups, with regular participation one can get introduced to other members who can get them into these exclusive groups.
Reach out to the networks: Everyone has a network. Whether it’s a personal network, professional network, friends/ professors from college, they can be tapped for job search in this context. The prospective UI/UX Designer can circulate their resume and portfolio, to be shared with possible employers, whenever an opportunity presents itself. And if the candidate doesn’t mind talking about their job search publicly, they can post about it as well.
Network at Industry Events: It is a foregone conclusion that industry events are extremely important for networking and career growth. In the post-COVID world, it has become easier to attend most such industry gatherings, which are now organised virtually. Whether it is webinars, training or workshops, one should make it a point to attend them and increase their visibility.
Pitch your own job: There are a number of ways a designer can enhance their job prospects by showing off their work in the real world, such as finding ways to design an actual product and sell it on online marketplaces. One can find freelance UX design jobs, or collaborate with web development companies, delivering a part of the project with one’s own skill sets.
In summary, the designer of 2021 has to learn the skills, showcase their work, keep their eyes peeled for opportunities and be a part of the network. It’s important to keep one’s ears to the ground.