Jumping into a new career can be scary, especially if the design industry is a new territory for you. Did you know that one benefit of enrolling in UX Academy is gaining access to the Career Services after you’ve finished your coursework?
At Designlab, we aim to provide continued support for all graduates as they start their job hunt, providing access to career coaches, interactive workshops, career-focused curriculum, and more!
In short: Career Services marks the end of your journey with Designlab, and the start of your career as a UX designer.
That’s why we spent time with Nicole Locklair, head of Career Services and Recruiting at Designlab, to talk more about:
- What Career Services at Designlab offers to students
- What students should expect from Career Services
- How to make the most of your experience in Career Services
- General portfolio and job application dos and don'ts
You can watch the full recording of the webinar here, or scroll down to read the highlights.
About the presenter:
Nicole spearheads Career Services and Recruiting for Designlab. After a career leading creative recruitment at digital agencies and product companies, Nicole is now using her experience to help the next generation of UX designers launch their own careers in the field. She also uses her talent acquisition skills to hire for Designlab’s internal team as they continue to grow.
Fun facts about Nicole: Houseplants outnumber people in Nicole’s home at a rate of 15:1, she’s an avid distance runner, and an ideal day starts and ends at the beach.
What Career Services Offers Designlab Students
Career Services is available to all UX Academy students who have completed Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the program. Although it is not a requirement, 99% of our graduates do choose to go into Career Services in order to gain access to:
1-1 Support from a Career Coach
All students who enter Career Services are paired with a career coach who has direct experience in hiring or recruiting designers. This allows them to provide tangible feedback to help you through the interview process.
You'll work with your career coach every week for 30 minutes in a 1:1 capacity, and you also have the flexibility to combine sessions to meet for an hour at a time, if you find you prefer longer in-depth sessions.
Structured Job Searching
We use a job seeking tool called Huntr, which helps you track your jobs so that you can save them and apply later. Not only does this help keep your own process organized, but it allows the Career Services team to support your progress and send relevant jobs your way, whenever applicable.
Support in UX / UI Design Networking
Networking continues to play a major role in ensuring the success of your job search. Because of this, you’ll find support and constructive encouragement for your networking efforts as a part of your time in Career Services.
Networking can involve reaching out to people on LinkedIn or using ADPList to connect with professional designers, developers, and product managers to ask about their careers and how they got there.
There may also be in-person networking opportunities that you might want to pursue in your local area, which you can find through Meetup, our Slack community, or your local UX professional organizations.
Interested in learning more?
Watch the full recording to hear more insights on job hunting as well as specific Q&As from webinar attendees like:
- What does a mentor session in Career Services look like?
- How do you answer interview questions that ask about specific design project experience if you haven’t been employed as a designer yet?
- And more…
Are you ready to start your journey and make the most of what Career Services has to offer? Check out UX Academy, an intensive online program that not only equips you with UX/UI design skills, but also connects you with a team of mentors and coaches who will help you land your first design role.
