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

If you’ve ever considered joining CSL (or any career development program, really) you’ve likely wondered if it’s for YOU. In this episode, Sarah shares reflection questions to ask yourself to help discern if investing in a program is right for you. 1:20: Today I want to invite you to consider three questions to ask yourself instead of this common question 2:14: In design, we rely on research to make decisions all the time, and it's smart. 2:44: There is probably no perfect case study. No perfect example I could give you that is going to fully convince you that this will work for you. 3:45: Everyone has different circumstances and skills and variables and strengths that. Impact how they got to their end result. 4:38: The 3 types of people we support in CSL. 5:38: How to get access to the 4C Training. 6:20 Imagine we're in a workshop together and I want this to be very interactive. So grab a piece of paper, pause this if you need to. 6:50 I want to invite you to take a moment and do a quick little career assessment, if you will, and think about your career story so far. 6:58: How did you get to where you are today? 7:45: Notice what comes up as you start to think and reflect on your career story so far. 9:18: Question number one is, what are other times in your life or career when you've taken on some type of challenge and come out successful on the other side? 9:56: Question two is what other projects have you started and actually gotten your desired result? 10:41: Think back and imagine how you felt when you actually did those things right? That's gonna give you some confidence that you can do hard and challenging things in the future. 10:54: The third question I want you to ask yourself is, what is an example of something else you've learned? 12:21: When you have evidence from yourself about you, that you have the right character traits to do stuff, and you combine that with the testimonials of people similar to you then I can say with confidence that Career Strategy Lab, or frankly any other program or thing you do in the future, it will likely work for you.🎬 Watch Sarah's free UX Job Search Workshop and learn how to stand out in today's UX job market👉 Join Sarah Doody's 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.

Explore strategies for overcoming barriers in the job search process with a focus on mental health. Learn about the Job Search Checkpoint Methodology to improve interview success. Discover the importance of aligning resume content with interview skills for job offer success.

In this episode of The Career Strategy Podcast, Sarah talks to hiring managers from Gusto, Meta, Shopify, IBM, and a recruiter who works in the field of user experience to share some of their top advice to avoid making major mistakes and increase the chances that you stand out in the sea of candidates. 1:20 You have to think of the users or stakeholders involved in the hiring process and just like users and stakeholders of projects you work on. 1:47 The three stakeholders in the hiring process. 1:54 Stakeholder 1: Human resources and recruiters 3:06 Stakeholder 2: Hiring Managers 3:53 It's crucial that your cover letter, resume, and LinkedIn are filled with rich examples of what you've already done. 4:04 Stakeholder 3: Interviewer 4:57 People who are from other teams are less focused on your qualifications and more focused on your character. 5:34  Tip 1: Cover letters make a difference. 5:40 Amy Thibodeau, Head of Creative at Gusto on the power of cover letters. 7:14 Tip 2: Customize your materials and connect the dots. 7:32 McClean Donnely, Professor of UX Design at SCAD, on the principle of, "don't make me think" and how that principle applies to your job search. 8:49  The value of adding video to your career materials. 11:20:  Tip 3: Sweat the details of layout and design. 12:21 Tyler King, Senior UX Researcher on being cognizant of font, typeface, weights, etc. 12:57 Tip 4: Job descriptions are a wishlist. 13:04 Alec Brundrett, a product manager at Meta, on how job descriptions are written, why sometimes they aren't written very well, and why candidates need to see job descriptions as a wishlist and not a hard set of requirements. 15:09 Tip 5: Your career materials and interview skills are a preview of how you'll perform on the job. 16:40 Your portfolio is another deisgn asset with Lois Siegal, Director of Recruiting at UX Hires. 17:03 Your portfolio is just never done, you're always tweaking it, but get it to a point where you're proud of it. 18:40 Regardless of what you're interviewing for, you have to think about the steps that you're taking through the process and be able to articulate it.🎬 Watch Sarah's free UX Job Search Workshop and learn how to stand out in today's UX job market👉 Join Sarah Doody's 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.

Is it time to redefine what it means to "work in tech"? In this episode, Sarah shares how to find excellent jobs outside of the typical FAANG companies tech professionals tend to set their sights on. 1:11 Layoffs can be scary whether you have a job or not. 1:58 Regardless of your role at a tech company, your skills and expertise are valuable and can transfer to many other industries. 2:10 Just because your last job was at a tech company, that doesn't mean you can't get hired in another sector and honestly, maybe even with a salary increase. 2:25 It might be time to redefine what it means to “work in tech”. 2:58 Candidates often have a really narrow-minded aspiration of working at well-known tech companies. 3:35 Hiring has been a challenge for smaller, less well-known companies for years. 4:17 According to the US Bureau of Labor and Statistics, over the next decade, the healthcare industry alone will add 2 million new jobs to the economy. 4:48 Finding tech opportunties in other industries may be easier than you originally thought. 4:54 And if you can check your ego at the door and be open to working at companies that you hadn't considered before or maybe have never even heard of, you'll be applying sooner than you think. 5:09 Grab a piece of paper because here are the three practical things you can do to find tech jobs outside the tech industry. 5:30: Tip 1: Expand your job search beyond tech companies. 5:57: Tip 2: Leverage your previous experience. 6:23: If you had prior experience before switching to tech, you wanna consider looking for a tech job in your previous industry. 7:04: Tip 3: Use job boards that give you more control. 7:26 Check out Built In. They allow you to filter by industry or category. 7:46 Your skills as a tech professional are in demand at companies outside of the big tech giants. 8:04: You may even find these companies have a better work-life balance and offer higher salaries to retain their talent that for them is really hard to find. 8:20 Recap time! 🎬 Watch Sarah's free UX Job Search Workshop and learn how to stand out in today's UX job market👉 Join Sarah Doody's 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 episode of The Career Strategy Podcast, Sarah breaks down the 3 questions to ask yourself to discern whether or not an investment in career development is right for you. 1:03 Today we have 3 questions for you to ponder to help gain clarity around whether or not you're ready to invest your time and energy to grow yourself and your career. 1:12 It's normal to have big feelings when it comes to career. 1:59 Instead of trying to overcome the thoughts and feelings, consider embracing them. They might be shining a spotlight on things that are important to you. 2:22 Get clear on where you are now before asking yourself these questions 3:03 Career switchers, climbers, and launchers. 4:11 Many people go through their careers and never invest in themselves, and that is completely fine. 4:55 Are you willing to show up and do the work 6:46 You get to define what career growth means to you. 6:53 Career growth is not for everyone and that's ok. 7:48 This isn't about career growth at any expense. It's about career growth that makes you feel seen, expressed, heard, valued, and really purposeful in your work. 8:42 Career development is  a long-term investment. 8:56 Are you truly open to feedback? 10:24 Asking for feedback requires vulnerability 11:08 Be strategic about who you ask for feedback. 11:36 Sometimes you have to let go of ego in order to get where you're trying to go. 12:31 You are your ultimate asset. 13:27 When you're willing, open, and committed it's very hard to fail.🎬 Watch Sarah's free UX Job Search Workshop and learn how to stand out in today's UX job market👉 Join Sarah Doody's 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 episode of the Career Strategy Podcast, Sarah talks about the REAL reason most candidates get overlooked when applying for jobs and what to do about it. 1:17: If you didn't get an interview, you need to understand the root problem and not just the symptom. 2:30: Standing out when you apply and during interviews goes way beyond wordsmithing, bullet points, and massaging pixels. 3:12: If what you're talking about only scratches the surface, then you're gonna sell yourself short. 4:13: No amount of rewriting or redesigning can help if your story isn't solid. 5:19: What you need to do is, number one, review the job description for the jobs you are applying. 5:27: Second, you need to identify the skills and experience the companies are looking for. 5:34: Number three, you need to thoughtfully consider your previous experience and identify examples. 5:51: Step four is working those examples into your resume, portfolio, and interview answers. 6:14: Don't be afraid if your process had twists and turns and didn't follow the traditional way that you think something should have been done. 6:44: The perfect UX process does not exist, and you do not have to strive to represent that if it didn't actually happen. 6:56: This is your permission slip to showcase the messiness. 6:59: Go beyond just the 'what' of your work experience and let people in on the process.🎬 Watch Sarah's free UX Job Search Workshop and learn how to stand out in today's UX job market👉 Join Sarah Doody's 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 episode of The Career Strategy Podcast, Sarah shares 3 tips to help let go of self doubt and increase confidence for the job search. 0:15: If you've ever felt like you'd lacked confidence in the job search, this is for you. 2:00: The key to building confidence is getting clear on what you can and cannot control. 2:48: Are you a switcher, launcher, or climber? 3:55: Stop playing the numbers game. 4:32: Stop sending your resume all over the internet clicking apply to every job that has the word UX or design in it, and instead take the time to get  crystal clear on who you are and what you want in your future. 5:03:  Just like in the world of dating to meet your match, you might have to work on yourself a little bit too. 5:22: To help reduce that self-doubt and build more confidence is to improve your career materials. 5:43: Improving your career materials does not mean throwing your resume in a template that you got from Etsy or Canva or elsewhere. 6:15 The effort it takes to reflect on your career and pull out all those meaningful stories is also the process that builds confidence. 7:37 To minimize that self-doubt and increase your confidence, get support. Stop doing it alone. 8:08: Being in a community of people who are on a similar path is so valuable because it fosters accountability, momentum, and knowledge sharing. 9:42: Get support and surround yourself with people who provide you with inspiration and insight as you go.🎬 Watch Sarah's free UX Job Search Workshop and learn how to stand out in today's UX job market👉 Join Sarah Doody's 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.

🎬 Watch Sarah's free UX Job Search Workshop and learn how to stand out in today's UX job market👉 Join Sarah Doody's 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.