How to land a job for 40+ junior UI/UX designers?
Presentation: What bothers Art Director, CEO, 30+ UI/UX Career Beginner.

You should always stay relentless, stay courageous

Daniel: Well, I'm not that old. I'm not sure what I'm about to say. Either will be helpful. I guess it's the same for. Well, it's not really the same as someone who is actually young. I'd say, first of all, you should always stay relentless, stay courageous, like any other human. Who is trying to get a job at something they love. And I'd say, if it's a career change. Then you should consider. Maybe, point out your strengths. Like, what was your previous career? Maybe you can use it to your advantage here. So, maybe you are a junior designer, but you were in sales. You are obviously better in selling yourself, than someone who is not. So use it to your advantage. Like, show it to people. Or if you do marketing, or like you did marketing. Show you can design and create social media campaigns. Or things like that. Obviously it's not something you still want to do.

Build your brand as you. So people know you.

Daniel: Because, you've made that career change. But I think for a start, something that can give you the edge. Over someone who is younger, inexperienced. Let's say they are less confident in themselves. But yeah, other than that, just do what the most junior ui/ux designers do. Just build your portfolio, build up your circle, talk to people, go to events, socialise. Build your brand as you. It does not matter whether you are a freelancer. So people know you. Show your skills, show your strengths. And, yeah, don't be afraid to, I don't know, don't be afraid to fail. Because most of the people who succeeded they got the most NOs. You just don't know that. Get used to loving the word NO.

My interests really help me

Daniel: I do digital art, which, kind of, is related, but not really. Other than that I just found my interests really help me to land some cool projects. I really love sports. Bodybuilding which is something I love, fitness. And it helped land a fitness app project. This is the first one. I also love football. So for Americans, who are listening - soccer. It helped me, just as much, for another big client. Yeah, I just found, I was attracted to a lot of projects, because of my interests. And that helped me land them. Because I was already knowledgeable in the field. So I was not coming up as a designer who is like. Yeah, I need to understand the concepts. It helped me understand everything better, because I liked the general concept as a whole.

The client is likely to pick the one who is actually interested in the subject

Daniel: So let's say I work on a crypto platform. I mean it's fun for me, because I enjoy crypto, I love crypto and I understand. What it needs to be, and how it needs to function. Because I use it. Like, I'm the user as well. I don't really have something, or some skill that is unrelated to design. And it helped me with design. But I used my; How would I say this, I used my interest, yeah hobby interest, as my strength, when designing. Or when I'm trying to sell myself to a client.

Daniel: Because, imagine the client comes to a decision. When they need to pick between two designers, of approximately the same level. They will obviously pick the one who is actually interested in the subject. And comes with previous knowledge about it. So I think it's something that benefits both ends. Because, you get to work on something that interests you as a whole. And the client gets someone, who is invested just as much as him.

Daniel: Yeah, I agree. Although I think it depends on where you are in your journey. I mean, I would not recommend to someone who is a junior. And is trying to get a job. Don't be selective, just get as much job and experience as you can, as quick as possible. Though there will come a time, when you can be selective. Which is once you got that experience, and you know what's good and what's not good, what you like and what you don't like. So as a general advice, I agree, but specifically for juniors, I think they should be less selective with their work.

Daniel: I think so, yeah, because imagine you are being selective for weeks, until you find something that interests you. So it took you, I don't know, a couple of months. You could've done something else in those months. Until you get something that you love. And you could have one more project in your arsenal. So let's take, it's the same with someone who wants to rent a house. And they want, I don't know, as an example, 3k$ a month. So they want those 3k and it's set. And they won't look left or right. Even at people who wants to pay 2.5k. So, they can wait, let's say 1 month, they wait 2 months, 3 months, until they find that person who is actually willing to pay. And at the same time they had 10, 20 people who wanted to pay a little bit less. If they said yes, they would have that apartment rented for a couple months. And got paid probably the same amount, or probably even more.