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Any advice for someone attempting a career pivot to UX research(2)?

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Anonymous

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Any advice for someone attempting a career pivot to UX research(2)? I have gaps in my work history and therefore use a functional resume format. I hear it doesn't work well with ATS so potentially my resume will never be seen by companies that use them. I have a BS in Bus. Admin with a concentration in marketing already. Given this pivot, I have had to take lower wage part-time roles so financially I had a base level of regular income. I also have found doing that slowly cancels out my 8 years of experience in a full-time role to make the resume 1 page.

One owner in an interview for a manager position told me that "given my resume it looks like I had not faced any adversity" which I felt was a cruel joke. I only list my last three-five roles but freelance gigs I don't list. I do a lot of gigs and I omit them because I believe this is something that makes me look flakey. I don't understand how one whom is in a constant state of seeking work given the effort it takes, is considered flakey. I've been told that can be the perception when trying to land full-time work after.

I also took a late gap year in 2016 and that is what interviewers constantly ask me about. I relocated to another country, so I have experience in travel (exposure to different cultures/economies/visas) and working abroad. Again, this entails short-term employment stints due to visa restrictions. I believe it's also what is preventing me from being able to be selected in addition to the resume. I always ask for what is a concern given my resume in interviews and the last one was that "given all my experience is that I will leave". I interpreted that as being over qualified.

I have CMS web design experience ( & run my 2 websites myself that I designed), a case study (that does a start to finish design process for a mobile app), and I have done many forms of research. I am at the end part of completing a UX certification as well. I am also considering taking a behavior science course as I hear that helps in research. I feel like I am more qualified than I think but when I look at jobs as a UX researcher they want 3 years of experience in the field that I don't directly have.

I want to be compensated correctly. I am 100% sure I have transferable skills that will fit within the 3 years. I feel like I'm doing too much and getting no where accumulating credits. Oh! And I don't have LinkedIn because the only resume format they allow is chronological. Where would be the best place to go next and/or what am I missing?

Is there just an over saturation right now?

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  1. Barb Hansen

    I hire UX analysts, researchers, UI and product designers (and I've played those roles across my career) I have a whole bunch of random thoughts:

    Why don't you list your freelance gigs? If that is where you UX work lies, then add them to your resume. You don't need to list all of them individually, but you can list them all under a "freelance" title? (or perhaps I misunderstood something you said above) . There is no shame in being a UX freelancer.

    Get a LinkedIn profile - immediately! See the above paragraph about not listing every freelance project as a separate job. UX Researcher, is your job title. Freelance is the company and you list the individual project/companies in the "about section" for that job.

    What jobs are your applying for? You said above that you were applying for a Manager role. A UX Manager role? If yes, that doesn't seem right. I would think you need a few years of actual work as a UX person and then move up to a UX Manager.

    Preempt a hiring manager's "you're too experienced and we think you will leave" thinking in your resume and in a cover letter (if you have to write a cover letter). Mention in your resume that you are pivoting into a new career, taking with you all of your experience with you and you want to grow in a UX Researcher role.

    A class in behavioral science is an excellent choice to help you become a better UX Researcher but I don't know if that one extra class will directly help you get a job.

    You may want to apply for jobs at organizations that have a UX team or companies that just do UX research where they have career growth opporunities, and a team that can mentor you. Getting a UX job at a smaller firm (where you might be the single UX person or one of a small team), may be more difficult as those UX people tend to be Jills-of-all-Trades (UX research, UI design, wireframe creators, sometimes front end developers).

    Web Design (and managing a web site) is not UX Research so although those are great skills to have, it's not really UX Research and it that is your goal, focus on that.

    I'm happy to take a look at your resume and give you my input (as a UX hiring manager).

    good luck - the world needs more good UX Researchers.

  2. Anonymous

    My freelance gigs are from promotional marketing not UX.
    I have not landed anything in UX/UI yet.

    The role where I was with a hiring manager who said their concern was that I would leave, was for an entertainment space. My resume mentioned my web dev. skills and website because they are my skills. Those skills didn't deter the hiring manager from speaking with me but given them I'm sure they were considered to the narrative in their mind. In that scenario, I was trying to secure the role given my attained management skills. I was at the third interview and in the first it was mentioned that they wanted to implement a couple of things involving AR/VR and Metaverse. I was under the impression they were looking for a person with ideas for on ramps that was familiar with the space but also had management skills to manage the space. It is a far cry from UX Research but AR/VR & Metaverse is a space I am also interested in as a hobby.

    I'm in a position where the jobs in UX say 3 years experience. I figure I could be a manager, freelance to build a great portfolio at the same time, and also provide value for other things. I would be looking for UX roles after 2-3 years because that is where I want to go. It's challenging because I want to get to UX Research but I also need more income. So, since the jobs are asking for 3 years, I don't believe its a bad idea to get another full-time job not related in UX by using my already attained skills so I can live properly.

    I don't see heaps of junior roles open. To be honest, with the gaps and ridiculously junior roles that are unrelated I've held given my experience, it will just look like I don't know what I want if I were on LinkedIn which isn't true. What would you do? If you needed to have more income and you have a degree. Would you not find a job with your degree still, till you can get to where you want?

    I believe being on Linkedin will get me stuck at this stage because I'd be under a magnifying glass. I rather people come to me for the story instead of creating one from the construct of LinkedIn at this stage. I'm not a bad person, I am working part-time, I'm technically a student again, and I am getting interviews but oddly I get more not being on LinkedIn. I rather go on LinkedIn after I have secured a role in UX so I can start fresh.

    I am finding that in some cases putting any tech skills that aren't related to the role I am applying on a resume is a reason of concern for non-tech roles which I am qualified for. I have better leverage at this stage customizing my resume per role where as I don't have that opportunity on LinkedIn in. I can only create one profile and it ultimately can disqualify me from roles where one can create a narrative that I'm too experienced with tech to want to stay in a non-tech role. I don't know what HR thinks when it comes to hiring but I am pretty sure they do consider retention and cost to hire. Am I wrong? Is 2-3 years too short to stay at a job till I leave?

    I don't write cover letters because of the use of ATS but I will start. I will take your advice and look for companies that have a UX team or a smaller firm. That sounds like a better position to be in beyond job hopping as a manager to live properly. Web Design while not UX Research initially, I did research to plan out it's construction. To me the web design communicates I am capable of working on a website start to finish given the design process but I see how that may not be interpreted as I assumed.

    Barb, thank you so much for your feedback!

  3. Barb Hansen

    I'm happy to take a look at your resume if you want to send it to me. I'm not a resume writer, I'm just a person who hires UX people. Sometimes a small tweak to your resume can help.

    You have a great background - bus admin + marketing is a great background for a UX research because you know the business side of the outcomes that UX needs.

    DM me if you want my email address.

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