22 | Hiring a Designer or Getting Your First UI / UX Job

In this episode, Amy and James talk about all the components that make up a good designer. If you're hiring, how to interview a designer and what to look for. Or, if you're trying to land your first design job, what to expect in the interview process

Sponsors

Vercel

Vercel combines the best developer experience with an obsessive focus on end-user performance. Their platform enables frontend teams to do their best work. It is the best place to deploy any frontend app. Start by deploying with zero configuration to their global edge network. Scale dynamically to millions of pages without breaking a sweat.

For more information, visit Vercel.com

ZEAL is hiring!

ZEAL is a computer software agency that delivers “the world’s most zealous” and custom solutions. The company plans and develops web and mobile applications that consistently help clients draw in customers, foster engagement, scale technologies, and ensure delivery.

ZEAL believes that a business is “only as strong as” its team and cares about culture, values, a transparent process, leveling up, giving back, and providing excellent equipment. The company has staffers distributed throughout the United States, and as it continues to grow, ZEAL looks for collaborative, object-oriented, and organized individuals to apply for open roles.

For more information visit softwareresidency.com/careers

DatoCMS

DatoCMS is a complete and performant headless CMS built to offer the best developer experience and user-friendliness in the market. It features a rich, CDN-powered GraphQL API (with realtime updates!), a super-flexible way to handle dynamic layouts and structured content, and best-in-class image/video support, with progressive/LQIP image loading out-of-the-box."

For more information, visit datocms.com

Show Notes

• 0:00 Introduction
• 5:10 Interviewing as a Designer / Hiring a Designer
• 5:43 Job Titles
  • Graphic Designer
  • UI
  • UX
  • Product Designer
  • Marketing Designer
• 9:23 Career Paths
  • Junior
  • Senior
  • Art Director
  • Creative Director
  • The Making of a Manager by Julie Zhou
• 12:46 Sponsor: DatoCMS
• 13:39 Components that make up a great designer
• 14:20 Design Process
• 15:32 Visual Design
• 16:49 Consulting and Communication
• 17:49 User Experience Design
• 18:05 Implementation
  • Free Code Camp
• 20:18 Leadership and Mentoring
• 21:07 Sponsor: ZEAL
• 22:20 Business and Sales
• 22:54 User Research
• 23:35 Group Facilitation
  • Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days
• 24:16 Product Thinking
• 25:22 The importance of a Portfolio
  • looking for a specific kind of work
  • what to do if you don't have work you can include
  • bartering
  • Dribbble
  • Behance
• 30:06 Sponsor: Vercel
• 31:21 Specific interview example
• 33:59 Is it worth having a design degree?
  • Episode 2: Amy's Origin Story
• 36:15 Soft Skills: Are they a good culture fit?
• 36:32 Resources for leveling up UI / UX
  • Refactoring UI
  • Shift Nudge
  • Learn, Build, Teach Discord Server
  • BeginnerTailwind.com
• 38:59 Picks and Plugs
• 39:30 James's Pick: Headphone Stand, USB Charger Combo
• 40:12 James's Plug: James Q Quick on Twitch
• 40:24 Amy's Pick: Wireless Charger from Anker
• 40:52 Amy's Plug: SelfTeachme Twitch Channel
  • Weekdays, 9am - 10am CST