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Get Into UX: A Foolproof Guide to Getting Your First User Experience Job
Get Into UX book is a career advice book written to help new and experienced designers get unstuck in their pursuits to get UX jobs.
The UX field has been booming for years, and as a result, a landslide of new talent has been flooding the market. All of the newcomers want to learn user experience design or research as fast as possible and get paid professional positions. However, only a fraction of them breaks into the field.
On the one hand, you have young designers struggling to find jobs, and on the other hand, managers who can’t find enough experienced talent. Often this is attributed to uninformed gurus, hasty bootcamps and other get-into-UX-quick schemes that overpromise, but never make anyone fully market-ready.
Why do they not work? As a discipline, UX is too complex to graduate into overnight. It requires months and often years of commitment to do it justice.
That doesn’t mean you cannot shorten this journey.
This book is a foolproof guide to correct course and help UX researchers and designers like you focus on the right things to get the job you want.
Every chapter is written to give you insights and practical tools that you need to:
- Set yourself apart from the majority of entry and junior-level applicants by genuinely understanding what UX is and what it isn't; It's time to distil user experience design into an effective workflow that adds clarity and pulls you out of the crowd of the unsure.
- Set up your UX career for long term success; learn the craft that is challenging, rewarding and futureproof. This means buckling up for the long term development but starting now.
- Overcome the self-sabotaging actions by focusing on the right things. Have you ever wondered why some UX designers get ahead quickly, and others don’t? Hint: it's rarely to do with external factors.
- Shorten your journey from beginner to pro by using field-proven strategies and specific tactics. You’ll learn how to go from awareness to 'can do' without getting stuck.
- Ace your UX portfolio, resumes, and interviews by showcasing your skills in the right way and for the right audiences. We'll unpack the essentials and the small yet critical detail to get your foot in the door.
In this book you will find a few sections with the following progressive to your journey chapters:
I: Understand what UX is and what it isn’t
II: Plan your future in UX
III: Gain a deep understanding of UX
IV: Practice UX and collect the evidence along the way
V: Demonstrate the evidence
VI: Get the job
VII: Build forward momentum
The UX field has been booming for years, and as a result, a landslide of new talent has been flooding the market. All of the newcomers want to learn user experience design or research as fast as possible and get paid professional positions. However, only a fraction of them breaks into the field.
On the one hand, you have young designers struggling to find jobs, and on the other hand, managers who can’t find enough experienced talent. Often this is attributed to uninformed gurus, hasty bootcamps and other get-into-UX-quick schemes that overpromise, but never make anyone fully market-ready.
Why do they not work? As a discipline, UX is too complex to graduate into overnight. It requires months and often years of commitment to do it justice.
That doesn’t mean you cannot shorten this journey.
This book is a foolproof guide to correct course and help UX researchers and designers like you focus on the right things to get the job you want.
Every chapter is written to give you insights and practical tools that you need to:
- Set yourself apart from the majority of entry and junior-level applicants by genuinely understanding what UX is and what it isn't; It's time to distil user experience design into an effective workflow that adds clarity and pulls you out of the crowd of the unsure.
- Set up your UX career for long term success; learn the craft that is challenging, rewarding and futureproof. This means buckling up for the long term development but starting now.
- Overcome the self-sabotaging actions by focusing on the right things. Have you ever wondered why some UX designers get ahead quickly, and others don’t? Hint: it's rarely to do with external factors.
- Shorten your journey from beginner to pro by using field-proven strategies and specific tactics. You’ll learn how to go from awareness to 'can do' without getting stuck.
- Ace your UX portfolio, resumes, and interviews by showcasing your skills in the right way and for the right audiences. We'll unpack the essentials and the small yet critical detail to get your foot in the door.
In this book you will find a few sections with the following progressive to your journey chapters:
I: Understand what UX is and what it isn’t
II: Plan your future in UX
III: Gain a deep understanding of UX
IV: Practice UX and collect the evidence along the way
V: Demonstrate the evidence
VI: Get the job
VII: Build forward momentum
- GenresDesignNonfiction
382 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 2021
103 people are currently reading
162 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
November 1, 2021
Thorough and specific. Very helpful!
Vy's book has incredibly specific and helpful advice to land a job and not just in UX. From guiding you through building your portfolio to walking through the interviewing process in detail and giving great advice (e.g. for how to deal with take-home assignments).
However, I think it's what comes before the hiring advice that is even more helpful, especially for someone who hasn't worked in the UX industry yet or in any job. Firstly, the book clarifies what UX is exactly (and what it isn't) which was a lightbulb moment for me as a Product Manager with a UX lean. Secondly, Vy teaches the reader to use frameworks when approaching design problems and to improve their communication. Doing so can immediately improve your performance and help you manage up well but when I first started working this wasn't obvious to me even with a uni degree. I had to learn this through trial & error while working with very senior stakeholders.
Vy's book has incredibly specific and helpful advice to land a job and not just in UX. From guiding you through building your portfolio to walking through the interviewing process in detail and giving great advice (e.g. for how to deal with take-home assignments).
However, I think it's what comes before the hiring advice that is even more helpful, especially for someone who hasn't worked in the UX industry yet or in any job. Firstly, the book clarifies what UX is exactly (and what it isn't) which was a lightbulb moment for me as a Product Manager with a UX lean. Secondly, Vy teaches the reader to use frameworks when approaching design problems and to improve their communication. Doing so can immediately improve your performance and help you manage up well but when I first started working this wasn't obvious to me even with a uni degree. I had to learn this through trial & error while working with very senior stakeholders.
November 2, 2021
I recently purchased this book, I manage to only read a few pages, but I'm already in love with it. As a recent UX graduate, I'm struggling to get my first job in the field. I already follow Vy Alechnavicius's channel, and his videos helped me tremendously when I worked on my portfolio. So this book is was a good addition to my shelf.
February 22, 2022
A very wonderful and inspiring Christmas gift from my manager: As a UI designer, who has dabbled in UX, it's definitely re-kindled the fire of my interest in UX. I have a new-found understanding of the subject that I don't think I would've found anywhere else!
There are also a lot of amazing points in this book that could be applicable to a variety of careers in development, engineering, and design. I've already recommended this book to friends who are curious about the field. Even UI designers would benefit from this book!
Just don't forget: your career is important, but life is life. I'm a big beliver that one should not live to work, but work to live
There are also a lot of amazing points in this book that could be applicable to a variety of careers in development, engineering, and design. I've already recommended this book to friends who are curious about the field. Even UI designers would benefit from this book!
Just don't forget: your career is important, but life is life. I'm a big beliver that one should not live to work, but work to live
November 16, 2021
A very great book and a must-read for beginners who want to enter and have questions on how to get into this field.
I bought an e-book version of this book and maybe because it’s an early version so it has a typo and some links aren’t be able to access, but overall, great content still!
I bought an e-book version of this book and maybe because it’s an early version so it has a typo and some links aren’t be able to access, but overall, great content still!
February 13, 2023
I read this book cover-to-cover. I've read more informative soup can labels.
While I believe the author had great intentions writing this, and while I truly cherish his YouTube channels and appreciate his effort in supporting the UX community, there is nothing profound or even really actionable in these ~300 pages (more like 220 if you're considering all the poor editing and extraneous literal whitespace; then take another 30 pages off when you count the space taken up by meaningless Miro charts). What's left of the 190ish pages of readable text is a few pointers to get the job in an ideal world, always capped off with a caveat something along the lines of "your situation may be different, figure it out," all written like it was voice dictated into a smartphone. The thing that frustrates me the most is that probably 10% of the book is written as a counter-argument to dissenting opinions and negative reviews such as this all from the perspective of a man who has made it to the top of the industry food chain attempting to conflate his experience starting out in the industry some indeterminate time ago with those at the bottom.
Again, I believe there was good intent on writing this book, but if I could do it over, I'd save the 20 bucks and stick to his YouTube content or any of the million other free online resources on this topic.
While I believe the author had great intentions writing this, and while I truly cherish his YouTube channels and appreciate his effort in supporting the UX community, there is nothing profound or even really actionable in these ~300 pages (more like 220 if you're considering all the poor editing and extraneous literal whitespace; then take another 30 pages off when you count the space taken up by meaningless Miro charts). What's left of the 190ish pages of readable text is a few pointers to get the job in an ideal world, always capped off with a caveat something along the lines of "your situation may be different, figure it out," all written like it was voice dictated into a smartphone. The thing that frustrates me the most is that probably 10% of the book is written as a counter-argument to dissenting opinions and negative reviews such as this all from the perspective of a man who has made it to the top of the industry food chain attempting to conflate his experience starting out in the industry some indeterminate time ago with those at the bottom.
Again, I believe there was good intent on writing this book, but if I could do it over, I'd save the 20 bucks and stick to his YouTube content or any of the million other free online resources on this topic.
December 28, 2021
A must-read for anyone looking to gain real knowledge about everything UX
Had been following Vy's youtube channel for a while when I saw his post on youtube saying his book is out. I just clicked the linked, bought it, and started reading.
This book is filled with knowledge you cannot get anywhere else.
It guides you through all the common shortcomings and mistakes people face in the biggening of their journey as an aspiring UX designer.
As an aspiring UX desiner/researcher myself, I was confused about the whole proses of finding valuable UX resources and preparing my portfolio, but this book answered most, if not all, of my questions from having the write mindset to what to expect during the multiple stages of interviews!
Had been following Vy's youtube channel for a while when I saw his post on youtube saying his book is out. I just clicked the linked, bought it, and started reading.
This book is filled with knowledge you cannot get anywhere else.
It guides you through all the common shortcomings and mistakes people face in the biggening of their journey as an aspiring UX designer.
As an aspiring UX desiner/researcher myself, I was confused about the whole proses of finding valuable UX resources and preparing my portfolio, but this book answered most, if not all, of my questions from having the write mindset to what to expect during the multiple stages of interviews!
August 13, 2023
I wish I read it earlier! As someone who is trying to break into UX research, this book has gave me great insights about the industry even though it addresses ux designers more, he mentions the importance of ux research and ux in general. The author covers every part of your journey to ux and has answered many of the questions I had. I would recommend it to especially those who are trying to break into ux or have just started working.
May 3, 2024
I follow Vy on youtube, it always gets me out of doubts with Axure.
I definitely recommend it for beginners and even for people who have been in UX for a few years, it supports being objective in communicating your thoughts, sharing your ideas.
I loved the schemes, the ease of reading and clear language.
My favorite chapter was interviews, definitely being clear if you and the company are aligned with the right questions is an excellent research skill.
I definitely recommend it for beginners and even for people who have been in UX for a few years, it supports being objective in communicating your thoughts, sharing your ideas.
I loved the schemes, the ease of reading and clear language.
My favorite chapter was interviews, definitely being clear if you and the company are aligned with the right questions is an excellent research skill.
August 30, 2022
Like a playbook. You need to put in effort to get the results you want.
Vy lays out the steps you should take to have a high chance of getting your first UX job.
He even talks about the things you should do after you've landed that entry/junior position.
Would recommend to anyone struggling to get into the UX industy.
Vy lays out the steps you should take to have a high chance of getting your first UX job.
He even talks about the things you should do after you've landed that entry/junior position.
Would recommend to anyone struggling to get into the UX industy.
January 6, 2022
Very interesting book on how to to start your career in UX. Unfortunately, there are a lot of links that drive the user to external free resources: making me think that I could have just watched his videos rather than reading this book.
February 19, 2023
Good advice provided particularly for the ones who are new to UX and are struggling how to start.
December 30, 2023
This a great book to start with if you're a junior designer and sometimes feel confused about why this person chose this design approach of another.
June 3, 2022
Perfecto, todo lo que deberías saber para comenzar una vida laboral en el mundo del diseño más en particular de diseño UX.
March 21, 2022
Very Informative. The Best Blueprint For Aspiring UX Designers.
This book is great for all UX Designers, whether you’re entry level or advanced. The concepts, tips, advice in this book are priceless and are very helpful in navigating where to start in your career or how to assess where you are and what your next step should be.
This book is great for all UX Designers, whether you’re entry level or advanced. The concepts, tips, advice in this book are priceless and are very helpful in navigating where to start in your career or how to assess where you are and what your next step should be.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews