Jon Fox, Creative and UX Director at Idean, offers tips from his many years of experience as a hiring manager in product organizations and digital agencies on how to land the job you want in UX and Design. This talk was given at the UX Intensive at General Assembly Los Angeles in Feb. 2017.

1. How to Get Hired in Design
Jon Fox
UX, Product, Design Leadership
@JonFoxUX

2. ®
History

3. TITLE OF TEXT
3
meetup.com/NELAUX
Community

5. Who is Idean?
Confidential: for internal distribution only
The Leading Digital
Customer and User
Experience Design
Consultancy
17
years of experience
200
talented design
professionals
4,000+
projects delivered
successfully since 1999

6. Since 1999 our 8
studios have delivered
over 4000 design
projects with our
customers around the
world.
Idean Studios
San Francisco
Palo Alto
Los Angeles Austin
New York
Helsinki
Berlin
Tampere
2002
Design practice
established
2014
Austin and SF
Studios
2015
LA and NYC Studios
2012
Palo Alto Studio
1999
User research
agency in
Helsinki
2016
Berlin Studio
2017
Capgemini
Acquires Idean;
Idean will continue to
run autonomously

7. …and now with the
support of Capgemini,
we have 180,000 new
family members and a
presence in over 40
countries!
Idean + Capgemini
2002
Design practice
established
2014
Austin and SF
Studios
2015
LA and NYC Studios
2012
Palo Alto Studio
1999
User research
agency in
Helsinki
2016
Berlin Studio
2017
Capgemini
Acquires Idean;
Idean will continue to
run autonomously

8. Diverse Client Base
Confidential: for internal distribution only

9. Core capabilities
9
Ethnography
Qualitative Research
Quantitative Research
Usability Testing
User Personas and
Scenarios
Customer / User Journeys
Custom-built Design
Thinking Workshops &
Academies
Touchpoint Analysis
Branding & Re-branding
Signature Moments and
Interactions
Experience Blueprints
Experience Roadmaps
Omni-Channel Strategy
User Stories and Flows
Task Analysis
Information Architecture
Concepting &
Wireframing
Low-to-High-Fidelity
Prototyping
Pattern Library and
Design Language
Design Language
Visual Branding
Exploration and
Concepting Refinement
Illustrations
Data Visualization
Design and Asset
Production
Web(HTML/CSS/
Javascript)
iOS
Android
Windows Phone
VR + AR
Content Strategy
Editorial Services
Motion Graphics and
Animation
Live Action Film/Video
Storytelling &
Communication
Front-end
Development
Visual
Design
Interaction
Design
Customer
Experience
Design
Research
Web Mobile Wearable In-store
HMI & Connected
Vehicle
VR & AR AI
Confidential: for internal distribution only

10. Confidential: for internal distribution only
1. DISCOVER 2. DEFINE 3. DESIGN 4. DEPLOY
Confidential: for internal distribution only
Idean Design Framework

11. 20+ years

12. Some Topics of Expertise.
12
Design Leadership
UX Strategy
UX is a Business Function
The Power of Design Culture
Agile Scrum Software Development
Product and Project Management
Research Methodologies
Developing a Ladder
Hiring with Results

13. 13

14. TITLE OF TEXT
TIPS FOR GETTING HIRED
14
1. UX yourself.
2. Differentiate Yo’self
3. Show, don’t tell.
4. Be findable.
5. Research.
6. Play to your strengths.
7. Interesting… and interested.
8. Ask the best questions.
9. Be prepared to present.
10.Committed, not attached.

15. UX Yourself
15
Do you know who you are?
What are your strengths?
Where do you excel?
How would you find out?
UX yourself!
Get out in the community and ask smart questions.

16. Differentiate Yo’Self
16
Make yourself stand out.
Invent work if it shows your process.
Take everything you’ve learned and do something new with it.
Show your work.
Socialize.
Create your brand.

17. Show, Don’t Tell
17

18. Be Findable
18
Make sure your portfolio is easy to find.
Put it on your LinkedIn.
Link it in an email.
Reference it in your cover letter.
Make sure you come up on a web search easily.
Don’t make people work for it.

19. Research
19
Know everything there is to know about the job and the company.
Contact the recruiters directly.
Learn about the hiring manager.
Find out what makes them human.
Empathize.
What makes you the BEST candidate?
If you aren’t, how could you be?
Tailor your expertise to the job, but be honest.

20. Play to your strengths.
20
Do you know what you’re the best at?
Do you know what needs more work?
Do you know what you did versus what your classmates did?
Show what is great about you.
Don’t lead with what isn’t your strong suit.
Bad work hurts more than good work helps.

21. Interesting… and Interested.
21
Interviewing is a lot like dating.
You’ve got to be on your game lead the discussion.
Don’t come off as too pushy but be engaged.
Be genuine and show that you know what you
are talking about. No bullshit.
Being interesting is not enough.
You’ve got to be interested too.

22. Ask the best questions.
22
Conversations, not interviews.
Interviewers are busy.
Engage in dialogue.
Asking questions, is as much a part of the interview as answering
them.
And that you want it.

23. Ask the best questions.
23
Plan ahead.
Use your research expertise.
It shows interest and that you’ve done the
research.

24. Be Prepared to Present
24
You may need to do a design exercise.
This may be “on the fly.”
This may be a take home design exercise.
You may need to present your design solution.
AGAIN: Play to your strengths.

25. Committed, not Attached.
25
Hiring managers are busy doing their job.
Recruiters are fielding lots of inquiries.
Be patient.
The best opportunity for you will show up.
Be resilient and in communication.
Send thank you notes.
Do not worry.

26. You got this! But…
26
It takes more than what you’ll learn in this class.
How can you take it from here?
Use your downtime to enhance your skills, create something
and differentiate.
Dedicate time to this. Finding a job is a job.
You’ll be fine… eventually.

27. ThankYou!
QUESTIONS?
Slides?
http://bit.ly/2tV04E9