Thoughts after reviewing 163 UX job applications
By: Steven Ma
Tags: Job Hunting, Cover Letter, Portfolio, UX, Resume

Photo by Cookie the Pom on Unsplash

I have been reviewing a number of job applications lately for an intermediate level (4+ years of experience) UX designer position. I am writing this post to document some of the insights from this process with the hope that they will help those of you who are currently (or will be) on the same journey.

The cover letter

To be or not to be? A frequently-asked-question is: Do you need a cover letter when applying for jobs? That’s probably not the question you should ask. I’d reframe this as, “Does providing a cover letter give me an edge in getting a phone screen?”

A frequently-asked-question is: Do you need a cover letter when applying for jobs? That’s probably not the question you should ask. I’d reframe this as, “Does providing a cover letter give me an edge in getting a phone screen?” Less is more — Failure of providing a cover letter, unless it’s explicitly asked for, often doesn’t preclude you from an opportunity if you are good. On the flip side, if you don’t meet the minimum qualifications, having a cover letter not going to swing the vote either. If you are not prepared to provide a good one, you might just want to leave it out.

— Failure of providing a cover letter, unless it’s explicitly asked for, often doesn’t preclude you from an opportunity if you are good. On the flip side, if you don’t meet the minimum qualifications, having a cover letter not going to swing the vote either. If you are not prepared to provide a good one, you might just want to leave it out. Bad cover letter . It doesn’t happen often, but a really bad cover letter often spells the end of an evaluation. One time I saw a candidate time-stamping a cover letter with a date that precedes the job posting, while another candidate using the wrong company name in the cover letter. These show carelessness, and is a major cause for concern for the hiring team.

. It doesn’t happen often, but a really bad cover letter often spells the end of an evaluation. One time I saw a candidate time-stamping a cover letter with a date that precedes the job posting, while another candidate using the wrong company name in the cover letter. These show carelessness, and is a major cause for concern for the hiring team. Robots don’t get human jobs — Many people reuse their cover letter templates. I get that, we’re busy, but when you do that, you sound like a robot and the hiring team smells it too. It doesn’t necessarily eliminate the job applicant, but it certainly doesn’t inspire nor does it reflect positively on yourself, and you’ve just wasted your time as well as that of the hiring team.

Takeaways: Use your cover letter as a tool to differentiate and to stand out from your competitions. Be personable, be sincere, and be real. It needs not to be an essay. Don’t just “go through the motion”, treat it like writing an email to someone with a purpose. That is what a cover letter really meant for.

The resume

The first impression matters — a lot . You probably know that most companies use applicant management software like Greenhouse, Jobvite, and Taleo for managing job applications, but did you know that your resume initially appears as a tiny 200x260 thumbnail when the hiring team first meet your application? Those who have done this for a while know, but it’s amazing how much we can tell about a designer within the first few milliseconds we see that thumbnail — the visual clutters, the layout, and color. We judge the design of your resume too, not just the content. So make sure you put some thoughts into the design of your resume — not just the presentation of your case studies

— . You probably know that most companies use applicant management software like Greenhouse, Jobvite, and Taleo for managing job applications, but did you know that your resume initially appears as a tiny 200x260 thumbnail when the hiring team first meet your application? Those who have done this for a while know, but it’s amazing how much we can tell about a designer within the first few milliseconds we see that thumbnail — the visual clutters, the layout, and color. We judge the design of your resume too, not just the content. So make sure you put some thoughts into the design of your resume — not just the presentation of your case studies College email addy is not cool: Most people list their emails on their resume. I have seen applicants using their university email address on their resume. I do not understand the rationale behind this. The only thing it does it to convey that they’re fresh out of school and that they might not have much shipped-project experiences. It’s fine if you’re applying for internship roles, but for non-junior level of jobs, that’s really not a good look.

Most people list their emails on their resume. I have seen applicants using their university email address on their resume. I do not understand the rationale behind this. The only thing it does it to convey that they’re fresh out of school and that they might not have much shipped-project experiences. It’s fine if you’re applying for internship roles, but for non-junior level of jobs, that’s really not a good look. Modernize your resume: I’ve learned that the visual design of a candidate’s resume correlates significantly to their visual design skills. Very often when I see a MS Word-style resume I am not surprise to find the candidate’s not very strong in visual design. The resume is a piece of document that you have full ownership of. If it looks like a Word doc, then either you don’t care, or you don’t know how to design it properly. Either way, it’s not a good look.

I’ve learned that the visual design of a candidate’s resume correlates significantly to their visual design skills. Very often when I see a MS Word-style resume I am not surprise to find the candidate’s not very strong in visual design. The resume is a piece of document that you have full ownership of. If it looks like a Word doc, then either you don’t care, or you don’t know how to design it properly. Either way, it’s not a good look. PDF please! I have seen a number of candidates submitting their resume as a MS Doc file (.docx) Stick to you a PDF such that you don’t run the risk of having your resume presentation messed up.

I have seen a number of candidates submitting their resume as a MS Doc file (.docx) Stick to you a PDF such that you don’t run the risk of having your resume presentation messed up. Be concise and focus on your impact: When I see resumes of 3 or 4 pages, I do not see a candidate with a long list of accomplishments. Rather, I see a candidate who lacks the capability to communicate effectively. In resume writing, focus on what matters — i.e. your most recent and most important accomplishments that made a difference. What you did 5 years ago might be interesting, but for the most part, it’s largely irrelevant to the current role you’re applying to. Try to spend your writing capital wisely. You only have so much space, so make every word counts.

When I see resumes of 3 or 4 pages, I do not see a candidate with a long list of accomplishments. Rather, I see a candidate who lacks the capability to communicate effectively. In resume writing, focus on what matters — i.e. your most recent and most important accomplishments that made a difference. What you did 5 years ago might be interesting, but for the most part, it’s largely irrelevant to the current role you’re applying to. Try to spend your writing capital wisely. You only have so much space, so make every word counts. Signal-to-noise ratio matters: The problem with trying to document everything that you have ever done on your resume is that you produce a resume with lots of noises. Too much noise can drown out the signal (that one or two things that make you stand out) and now you’re just making the hiring team work harder to make a case for you. So really think hard about what your value propositions are, and wrap your writing around them. Remember, less is more.

Takeaways: Treat your resume as a design project. Apply design thinking to it. From the visual design to content design — every little detail matters. Iterate on it relentlessly until you can no longer improve it. The ultimate barometer to measure your resume isn’t what your friends tell you, but it’s whether it gets you into the job interview loops.

The portfolio

Quality over quantity. Always: For seasoned pros who have been doing this for a while, your challenge is to “let go” of the older, weaker projects. I have seen many designers who have put 15, 20, or even more case studies of their past work on their portfolio. Similar to my advice for resume — less is more. Pick out your best 3–6 pieces of work, polish and perfect each of them to make them shine. Having 10+ case studies with varying quality and inconsistency often backfires, especially if the hiring team opened the weakest case study as their first, and most likely last, one to evaluate your talent.

For seasoned pros who have been doing this for a while, your challenge is to “let go” of the older, weaker projects. I have seen many designers who have put 15, 20, or even more case studies of their past work on their portfolio. Similar to my advice for resume — less is more. Pick out your best 3–6 pieces of work, polish and perfect each of them to make them shine. Having 10+ case studies with varying quality and inconsistency often backfires, especially if the hiring team opened the weakest case study as their first, and most likely last, one to evaluate your talent. Consistency: Speaking of consistency, this is probably a by-product of valuing quantity over quality. I’ve seen designer portfolio where a case study would be multiple paragraphs long, while clicking into another I’d find a single image with only a few words of descriptions. If you have a case study like that, you might want to consider up-leveling it, or simply remove it.

Speaking of consistency, this is probably a by-product of valuing quantity over quality. I’ve seen designer portfolio where a case study would be multiple paragraphs long, while clicking into another I’d find a single image with only a few words of descriptions. If you have a case study like that, you might want to consider up-leveling it, or simply remove it. Curation is the key: I have learned that what makes a good case study — aside from the process and all that jazz — is what someone chose to say. Many things happened in a design journey. I’ve discovered those designers who can pick the right things, and at the right level, to highlight are the ones that have the higher likelihood to succeed. In a way, this in itself is a reflection on the candidate’s soft skill.

I have learned that what makes a good case study — aside from the process and all that jazz — is what someone chose to say. Many things happened in a design journey. I’ve discovered those designers who can pick the right things, and at the right level, to highlight are the ones that have the higher likelihood to succeed. In a way, this in itself is a reflection on the candidate’s soft skill. Not just what you say, but how you say it: An extension to the above (content curation strategy) is how you tell your story. Writing is difficult, but those who can articulate their journey’s ups and downs, and how they overcame the obstacles along the way enhance the authenticity of their experience, while helping the readers connect with, or relate to, what the designer had gone through.

An extension to the above (content curation strategy) is how you tell your story. Writing is difficult, but those who can articulate their journey’s ups and downs, and how they overcame the obstacles along the way enhance the authenticity of their experience, while helping the readers connect with, or relate to, what the designer had gone through. Google Drive is not your portfolio: I’ve seen a few instances where candidates provide a link to their Google Drive and basically put the burden on the hiring team to figure out what PDF files to look at. To this date, I don’t think I’ve moved anyone like that to the next stage of interview yet. Come on, show that you care about this job! If your case studies are all in a single PDF that’s probably ok, but sending a link to your Google Drive, that’s something else entirely.

I’ve seen a few instances where candidates provide a link to their Google Drive and basically put the burden on the hiring team to figure out what PDF files to look at. To this date, I don’t think I’ve moved anyone like that to the next stage of interview yet. Come on, show that you care about this job! If your case studies are all in a single PDF that’s probably ok, but sending a link to your Google Drive, that’s something else entirely. Entry-level designer’s portfolio has a unique scent: I can’t fully articulate it, but it’s often very easy to spot who is an entry-level designer and who isn’t just by looking at the landing page of a portfolio. Not saying it’s good or bad, just stating the common things I’ve seen from entry-level designer portfolios:

Have an generic branding/intro statement, like “I am a passionate, pixel-perfect designer who loves to craft simple user experience to build a better world” Case studies thumbnails that are visually pretty — often with heavy use of lottie files- or undraw-like graphics on top of pastel color background. Personable / passion projects involved many “redesign of” type projects, which often ignore real life considerations of ROI, cost, constraints, etc. A love for applying perspective transformation in their case study images, coupling with framing everything inside a iPhone template — often done to the detriment of the ability for the reader to actually see the screen details. Case studies follow the exact format that schools and bootcamps teach us: Problem — Research — Wall of Stickies — Persona — Wireframe— Prototype — Conclusion; and the persona document shown almost always use the same stock images Storytelling often focuses on the evolution of the visual artifacts, but not how it improved on the problem on hands.

Not to say that the above is wrong, but if you want to communicate that you have had some solid work experience under your belt, the above style typically doesn’t convey that to the hiring team. If you are looking to improve on yours, take a look at Taylor Palmer’s suggestion of “Show the mess”, but just as importantly, if you don’t have many shipped project experiences, look into acquiring them somehow. The competitions are strong out there, having practical experience is a major differentiator.

Fun fact / Weird stuff: I’ve seen a case study written up by a number of entry level designers — all claiming to have worked for this company at about the same time. Yet, they don’t seem to know each others, and in their case study they do not mention the others’ name. Just as interesting was that while their case studies looked similar, I didn’t see significant plagiarism. If someone can shine a light on this please DM me.

Takeaways: Your portfolio is probably one of the most important design projects of your life as a designer. Make it the best work you’ve done. Try to keep it fresh and up-to-date to present the best of you. You own the entire experience of your portfolio so there’s no excuse for it to be a subpar experience. Use your design thinking to make it great and keep on iterating. Finally, passion projects are great ways to hone your craft, but there are lots of serious competitions our there so you definitely need to have shipped projects under your belt.

What makes you different?

When we hire we want to find candidates who can do the job (the hard skills), are passionate about the role, and can fit nicely into the company culture (which often revolves around common qualities like ownership, collaboration, grit, etc, etc). That’s probably a separate blog post on its own. My parting message for this post is this: when you apply for a job you are competing against hundreds of candidates out there who likely have similar hard skills as you do. In a sense, knowing Sketch, Figma, Adobe XD, and can do user researches are just table stake that we expect all candidates to have. With this in mind, ask yourself how you can stand out in the sea of competitions. The answers often lie in how you present your experience on your cover letter/resume/portfolio, and how you conduct yourself in the interview process. This post of mine may give you some insight on how to achieve that.

Personal Promo

I feel dirty doing this (actually, no I don’t) but I teach UX job search strategy online through Eventbrite. And if you feel like this is an area (including job interview preps) you can use a lot of help on, you can take one of my classes by signing up here. It’s probably the best money you can spend to drastically improve your job applications. I am serious. It’s that impactful.