In this episode of The Career Strategy Podcast, Sarah talks to real-life hiring managers from Gusto, Meta, Shopify, IBM, and a recruiter who works in the field of user experience. The hiring managers and recruiter share some actionable advice and tips to help you avoid making major mistakes and increase the chances that you stand out in the sea of candidates.
A few of the tips for candidates that we covered include:
- Cover letters DO make a difference
- It's crucial that you customize your resume (and portfolio) for each role
- The UX of your resume, portfolio, and LinkedIn profile matter
- You need to understand that job descriptions are NOT a set of requirements, they're really a wishlist
TIMESTAMPS
1:20 You have to think of the users or stakeholders involved in the hiring process and just like users and stakeholders of projects you work on.
1:47 The three stakeholders in the hiring process.
1:54 Stakeholder 1: Human resources and recruiters
3:06 Stakeholder 2: Hiring Managers
3:53 It's crucial that your cover letter, resume, and LinkedIn are filled with rich examples of what you've already done.
4:04 Stakeholder 3: Interviewer
4:57 People who are from other teams are less focused on your qualifications and more focused on your character.
5:34 Tip 1: Cover letters make a difference.
5:40 Amy Thibodeau, Head of Creative at Gusto on the power of cover letters
7:14 Tip 2: Customize your materials and connect the dots.
7:32 McClean Donnely, Professor of UX Design at SCAD, on the principle of, "don't make me think" and how that principle applies to your job search.
8:49 The value of adding video to your career materials
11:20: Tip 3: Sweat the details of layout and design
12:21 Tyler King, Senior UX Researcher on being cognizant of font, typeface, weights, etc
12:57 Tip 4: Job descriptions are a wishlist
13:04 Alec Brundrett, a product manager at Meta, on how job descriptions are written, why sometimes they aren't written very well, and why candidates need to see job descriptions as a wishlist and not a hard set of requirements.
15:09 Tip 5: your career materials and interview skills are a preview of how you'll perform on the job
16:40 Your portfolio is another design asset with Lois Siegal, Director of Recruiting at UX Hires
17:03 Your portfolio is just never done, cuz you're always tweaking it, but get it to a point where you're proud of it.
18:40 Regardless of what you're interviewing for, you have to think about the steps that you're taking through the process and be able to articulate it
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🐦 Twitter: / sarahdoody
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CAREER STRATEGY LAB
Career Strategy Lab is a job search accelerator and career incubator for UX, Product, and Tech professionals. Our clients have been hired at: American Express, Blue Origin, Home Depot, Microsoft, Salesforce, Wells Fargo, and many more companies!
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