Alvin Tran

The company you've worked with before is hurting your chances of getting hired..... Monday, I attended the New Craft Society Retreat hosted by CoCreate and Design Buddies. Dinner was delicious, but the insights were even better. I was surrounded by designers, PMs, and founders who shared thoughts about how people are actually getting hired for Product Design and UX Design roles right now. Here's what I learned: 𝐔𝐧𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐛𝐢𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 Hiring teams form assumptions, if you didn't mention experience in a specific area. It's unfair, but it's the reality we're navigating. A PM shared two common biases: - Big tech → startup: If you're going from working in big tech to a startup. Teams assume you can't build 0→1 or move quickly. You counter this by: Talking about the number of projects you juggled simultaneously, tight timelines you met, and work you completed outside your scope. - Startup → big tech: If you're going from working at a startup to big tech. Teams assume you don't know how to work cross-functionally. You counter this by: Overemphasizing stakeholder management, like speaking with investors, influencing founders, aligning teams. You'd think people would ask clarifying questions. But when teams have multiple candidates, it's on you to overshare. 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚 Past experience with specific product types matters more now than ever to even get an interview. Related experience used to suffice. Now companies look for direct experience. Interested in EdTech? Design EdTech products. FinTech? The same applies. One of the coaches shared how working on a range of products at an agency helped him land his big tech role. Basically, build the portfolio that matches where you want to go. 𝐔𝐗 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐯𝐬. 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞 Founders shared something important: use "UX Design" on your resume when applying to startups, not "Product Design". Why? Founders at early-stage companies specifically search for "UX Design" because of how the role is traditionally described and what they think they need. So, maybe consider using "UX Design" next time you apply to a startup position. 𝐈𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮? Thank you Minh P. Leon Zhang Hannah(Han) Mei Grace Ling 🐰 for hosting! FYI: these are attendees general thoughts. What are yours on what hiring looks like for Product Design roles? #ProductDesign #UXDesign #DesignCareers #JobSearch #CareerAdvice #DesignCommunity #CoCreate #TechCareers

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