114: From Laid Off to Senior UX Designer: How Sarah Landed Her Dream Role

Applied to 50+ UX or Product jobs & still no interviews or offers? Get UX job search help.

Welcome to the Career Strategy Podcast with Sarah Doody, a UX Designer & UX Researcher who founded the UX job search accelerator, Career Strategy Lab. She's been doing UX career coaching since 2017.

Follow Sarah on: LinkedIn | YouTube | Instagram

In this special Open House episode, Sarah Doody sits down with Career Strategy Lab (CSL) alum Sarah Page to discuss her journey navigating the UX job market. From being laid off as a creative director to landing a Senior UX Designer role in health tech, Sarah shares the mindset shifts, job search strategies, and portfolio insights that helped her stand out.

She also reveals the unexpected format of her interviews, how she positioned her diverse experience to appeal to hiring managers, and why letting go of what’s out of your control is a game-changer in your job search.

If you’re struggling with rejection, resume gaps, or feeling “overqualified” and “underqualified” at the same time—this episode is for you!

What You’ll Learn:

✅ Why job rejections often have nothing to do with you (and how to move forward)

✅ The power of a well-structured portfolio—and why Figma slides worked better than a website

✅ How to confidently position diverse experience (even across industries!)

✅ The mental shift that helped Sarah stay motivated through uncertainty

✅ How social proof (from hiring managers, peers, and CSL feedback) builds confidence

✅ The real role of interviews (hint: sometimes it’s just a vibe check!)

✅ Why finding the right company fit matters more than tweaking your resume endlessly

✅ How Sarah strategically approached salary negotiation and total compensation

Timestamps

01:50 Open House Overview

03:22 Success Stories and Strategies

05:47 Navigating the Job Market

09:15 Interview Experiences

13:45 Negotiating Job Offers

17:08 Advice for Job Seekers

20:45 Conclusion and Farewell

🎬 Watch our free UX Job Search Workshop and learn how to stand out in 2025

👉 Join Career Strategy Lab, a UX job search accelerator for UX and Product people.

👋 Say hi and follow our host, Sarah Doody, on LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube.