To avoid sounding generic, find your unfair advantage: Passion + Talent + Designer Skills The overlapping themes can be your narrative to explain your value proposition. For example mine is: New Ideas + Design Fast + Ship Products So my one-liner is: I help startups ship MVP to market, FAST
You just gained a new subscriber. To your question, I'm glad to hear hiring managers are looking for standout storytelling and I'm going to work harder to emphasize how my past experience informs my design decisions. Thanks for the concise, distilled advice.
Hi Femke, thank you so much for going through the examples with so much detail, I really appreciate it! As a junior designer, I've been hearing conflicting advice on what to include in case studies; in your video you emphasize the 3 main highlights (problem/opportunity, solution, and impact), but I've also been told to showcase how I worked with others, my specific contributions, and how I approach the design process. I was wondering what your thoughts are on this? Thanks again, you're a gem!
Hey! I think those are great topics to touch on in your portfolio presentation during the interview process, however I don't think they are as critical in a showcase piece on your website.
Thank you so much for your videos! You are adorable! You said super many great things and how you got excited about the portfolios! Lots of details were great too. I have to say though, so much text in each portfolio... it's less beneficial (people don't read).
I’m changing careers. I would love to hear more on ways to incorporate past experience and examples…at an older age/mid to late 40’s. I’m going from being in the electro-mechanical field to the design/developer field. I’ve always been an artist. So I’m into design & tech.
Gonna be straight with you - your chances at landing an entry level design job at your age and lack of relevant experience is near 0. Anyone who tells you otherwise are always referencing anecdotes and unicorns to support their toxic positivity. What I've learned from hundreds of applications is that "transferrable skills" simply don't compete with direct relevant job experience, not to mention a degree. Age-ism is also unfortunately a reality as it relates to job culture. Recruiters don't want to hire a middle-aged employee and toss them into a work culture full of 20-somethings.
I don't know much about the electro-mechanical field - but I struggle to see any adjacent or transferrable skills. My recommendation would be to go out and get some real world experience, however you can. Start a side project, freelance for a friend, volunteer. Nothing beats real world experience.
Following on from the current replies; pivoting is possible but it may feel like starting again. Shillington gives a decent education (though their locations are limited) for people of all different ages looking to get into design. Other avenues within the design-space could work as stepping stones, project management, research & analytics and client services, though if you can code already then you may be able to move into design engineering easier.
This looks as too much, but I've taken notes and made a to do list which now looks more simple than I thought. Some changes here and there aaaand done. Thank you! 😊
I love this so much! I'm interested on your personal preference and opinion on showing the work before anything else. A lot of the examples walked us through a few sections reviewing who the designer is and their impact they have made/can bring which is awesome to see and a breath of fresh air but something growing designers are told against. When I was a junior I was told again and again that kind of info should be in the "About Me" or after showing your work, so below or in a separate page. I'm open to hearing everyone elses' thoughts on this and hiring managers, if you're out there, please chime in (:
Thank you so much, I was about to create a portfolio of my work, and this video is really supportive.. great tip, I'Il go for showcase instead of creating long case study.
@@femkedesign please guide me I want to mention my contributions just as Sean Kennedy did. Like to mention product domains that I worked in. For example, I designed mobile wallets apps for local market. So i can write in three words Mobile wallet apps Now currently I design responsive websites for affiliate marketing agency that do comparisons of digital products/services of our client's brands Please tell me how can i shorten this domain to two to three words just as I done for mobile wallet apps
The problem and solution with design is that it is biased and subjective, one has to tune their communication that appeals to the respective market to get a shot into landing a job or gig. It is pretty confusing as to what others would like, so one must stick to what they offered as a solution to their existing firm in a way that is lucid and easy on the eyes to consume for the hiring manager/client. It can be frustrating when one is trying to find a solution to making a portfolio that appeals to the most and not be generic. The irony of the previous sentence can only be balanced by giving it time and careful planning which is again contrasted by the need to make a portfolio quickly so that one can move in the hiring process faster
I hear so much negativity regarding product design roles now like - gen ai will eat a lot of design jobs and this won't get better even after fed cuts the rate. what do you think?
great video! I do have a question regarding fresh graduates. Should I also arrange my projects only as showcase and not a full case study? I dont have "real world" projects and I only present school work...
Thank you so much. I have a question - How can I position myself for the role I want when I'm unsure what role I would like? I don't have any experience within UX yet, only my case studies.
Great video! I’ve got some real experience on small projects and few websites, but I’m starting to lose hope I’ll ever get a company role. To be clear, you need your website portfolio and a presentation style portfolio with slides for when or if you get an interview?
Thanks for the great insights on what to look out for in a design portfolio. For the designers who don't have any developer experience , would it work to provide a portfolio link that's designed in Figma? Fully functional design portfolio but not developed.
I don't have any developer experience either! There are so many tools out there that make it easy to build a portfolio website, without requiring use or knowledge of coding. I use and recommend Webflow: webflow.grsm.io/1125819 In the mean time, I think it's ok to link to a portfolio presentation in Figma.
This is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks @shrutikatkar6028 for asking this. I'm not sure why the industry expects a fully blown portfolio website from a designer instead of a portfolio created on Figma (or any design tool), which can help them assess their design skills. Anyways, great content, @femke. Thanks for your time and effort in creating valuable content for this community.
As a graphic designer aspiring to transition into product design, I don't find this video particularly helpful for beginners like myself. For instance, I keep encountering a lot of advice that emphasizes the importance of designers stating the impact of their project. However, how can you effectively communicate the impact of an academic project or a fictional case study?
You're right! This video isn't really aimed at beginners. This video might be helpful instead: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-i-b7_acZcAg.html
Today I'd say very important as it's the best way to showcase your skills and experience. I recommend Webflow if you're looking for a tool to get started! webflow.grsm.io/1125819
Great tips, fem! For someone who’s applied to 50 applications with 7+ years and $XXm in impact as a growth designer, would you say it’s my resume, portfolio or both not standing out? TIA 🙏
Companies are hiring, but that's not a universal fact. I've analyzed ML data on this, and subjective views on job markets shouldn't be reported as trends.
To clarify though, what they are looking for based on a lot of sentiment gradient scoring is quality over speed. They’re not being picky. They’re simply building direct and deliberate awareness and decision making. They’re becoming more targeted in their product goals which is how it should’ve always been. So don’t worry about standing out as much talking about the actual work that you’ve done vs copying what other people are doing or trends like these videos push on
I don't get WHY you liked Walker's webpage. the reason why I emphasize 'WHY?" is because you work on a TEAM and walker's 3rd bullet point is 'independent creative'. hmmmm... very confusing. Why? don't UXers function as a team? I could swear many designers, hiring managers, and recruiters would say that 'teamwork' is important...so WHY did you pick Walker's? not to bash the designer, it's just ... misleading, don't ya think? just wanted clarification why you chose it cuz 'if ' I was a hiring manager, I would not waste my time interviewing the designer. thanks.
I showed Grace's portfolio as a good example of a design portfolio - not necessarily as an example of someone that is a good candidate to hire into a full-time role. I see a lot of companies hiring contractors lately, so I do believe hiring managers could be looking at Grace's portfolio and considering her for a contract position on their team. Irregardless, Grace still has to position and market herself to find clients, so it's not too different!
@@therealjayzee Feedback is either positive or negative. Whatever the case, it has the right to exist. And for me it really does make a difference, because I felt the same. If I was to impress someone who praises portfolios like that... I would be doomed and would never know why I failed.
@@zvsvrerer2732 see that’s where the logic is faulty. How can you know exactly what to do from negative feedback that has no suggestions or guidance but is plain rude. Being rude is not cool, period. There’s no arguing there. How would you even know what is not “ugly” or “convoluted”? Feedback should always be constructive, and shouldn’t be rude. Whether that’s how you prefer negative feedback, rude and not constructive, is a personal preference and shouldn’t be projected onto others. All I was saying is that there are better ways to give feedback, positive or negative, but it should always be constructive.
