Career Strategy Podcast with Sarah Doody | UX, Product Design, UX Research

You’ve done all the hard work of searching for a position, crafting your materials, interviewing, and you received a job offer! But then, the unthinkable happens ... the job offer is rescinded or withdrawn 😱 This is a sucky situation to be in and this week Sarah dedicates an entire episode to help you move through it. 01:12 You aren’t the only one this has happened to. 01:53 Ask the company if they have any other open positions you may be a fit for 03:02 Remember, you made it this far. You’re doing something right! 04:24 It couldn’t hurt to see if your old position is open. 06:06 Have a job search strategy that you work year round 07:57 If you optimize your LinkedIn profile, your job search can happen without you 08:50 A quick recap🎬 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.

Learn how to impress HR with your soft skills and storytelling in a screening interview. Avoid cliches and focus on detailed examples to showcase your achievements. Stay professional, ask questions, and be prepared for a successful interview. Join Career Strategy Lab for more career tips and guidance.

This week’s episode is a Q&A session with Sarah! Tune in to hear the number one thing to do in a saturated job market, how to share case studies that are flagged as confidential, whether or not AI is a threat to UX careers and more! 01:16 Do everything you can to be visible to the companies you're applying to or where you wanna work 06:57 Don’t focus on the quantity of connections, but QUALITY! 11:11 Most people are only scratching the surface of their skills and experience 15:24 AI is not going to replace UX researchers 19:38 How can you use case studies in your portfolio when they’re flagged as confidential? 22:45 Using an educational case study can be tricky 27:56 Be where your potential clients are to stay on their minds 31:41 Relay to the interviewer not just what you’ve done, but the skills you used to do them🎬 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.

Stop awkwardly approaching people to get career advice and use the strategies from this episode to connect instead! In this episode of the Career Strategy Podcast, Sarah introduces listeners to the informational interview and teaches exactly how to ask for one. 00:58 What is an informational interview? 01:59 Before asking someone, make sure they don’t cover your questions in their public work 03:23 How NOT to start your email 05:36 Tip #1: Breaking the ice 06:28 Tip #2: Be specific 07:57 Tip #3: Give them options for communication 09:38 A quick recap of how to ask for an informational interview🎬 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.

In this interview, Career Strategy Lab Coach, Erin Lindstrom, sits down with Katie Miller, an incredible Senior Researcher who was laid off who generously shares her path to finding her next role. Katie’s story is an amazing one that exemplifies everything that we teach. She shares how she got into UX, how she dealt with the mindset challenges of the job search, and how CSL has helped her land her new role. 03:51 How Katie first got into UX 10:37 The “pedigree” of working at a FAANG company 17:16 What if you stopped replying to every recruiter and focused on the once who are actually looking for YOU 26:15 You can have your best interview and not get the job 34:53 It can be difficult sometimes, but trust that you’re good at what you do 39:24 Make sure to give yourself breaks 46:01 When an opportunity comes to add to your tool box, jump on it 49:29 Inclusivity is important for the research processes to bring a diverse data set 53:11 It all comes down to being your own best salesperson 57:27 Confidence in yourself and your work takes practice but it’s so worth it!🎬 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.

Debunking the myth of one-page resumes, the host explains how limiting it can be. Advocating for longer resumes to showcase skills and experiences. Emphasizing the importance of detailed examples to stand out to recruiters and hiring managers.

In this episode Sarah discusses how to treat yourself and what you can offer to an employer like it’s a product. Do you know your core features? How are you marketing yourself? Are relationships important to “selling” myself? All these questions and more are answered! 01:16  I really believe that your career has a lot in common with a product and that the reason so many products fail is the same reason 05:23   Products can fail for three reasons:the design, the marketing, and the sales component 07:55  Every day you are trying to get people to buy into different things and the customers are your boss,  your co-workers, peers, etc. 10:59  It’s really important that you are doing small things to be marketing and selling yourself to stay visible 11:58  Do you have clarity on your core features? Products have features. You have features. 13:32 Question number one for you to ponder. Are you clear on the “design of you”? 17:55 Building trust with your audience is important. Without it, everything could come crumbling down based on your marketing choices 22:35  Recap🎬 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.

Sarah, an experienced UX professional, answers questions on job titles, product strategy, transitioning from internships, and portfolio tips. She discusses the difference between UX and Product Designers, importance of strategy, and the marketability of UX strategy. Sarah also provides insights on career transitioning, job opportunities, and the need for diverse project experiences.

In this episode, Sarah discusses the number one thing holding you back in your career, the benefits of a community, honing in on your goals, and so much more. 01:30 What does advancing your career mean to you? 05:34 What plans do you have in place to get you to your goals? 08:03 Every goal needs a why, a purpose, a motivation 10:00 Set aside some time to map out a plan. What do you need to do to achieve your goal? 11:45 You need a community of like-minded people to help stay motivated 17:28 You have to embody the plan and believe in it 21:00 You can take action without strategy, but eventually you will lose focus and exhausted yourself🎬 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.

Welcome to part 5 of the 5 part series on the Job Search. In this episode, Sarah discusses what it means when you’re rejected at different points of the hiring process,  reflecting on what is working and what isn’t, sparking relationships with employees, and accepting that sometimes rejection is a good thing. 01:35 Let’s jump right into how to deal with rejection in your job search 03:12 You’re not getting interviews, but who is rejecting you? An automatic system or a human being? 05:55 Now you’re getting interviews but still not getting hired. Well you’re doing something right! 08:37 Take a hard look at your skills and abilities and work on presenting them better. 10:57 Don’t compare yourself to the people getting hired, there are many considerations outside of your control 12:44 It can be valuable to build relationships with people at the company before you ever apply 15:20 Remember to go over the positive parts of your job search 17:28 I encourage you to find a community of like-minded people. It can help remind you of your worth in your career search. 19:24 A quick recap🎬 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.