How to get hired in UX faster with Peloton inspired UX career coaching

Sarah Doody [00:00:00]: There is such power in community, and community often breeds accountability. And that is the key to getting unstuck and beating procrastination. Right? Because you are inspired and motivated by the people around you, even if you never meet them face to face.

Sarah Doody [00:00:18]: Hey, I’m Sarah Doody, a user, researcher and product designer with 20 years of experience. In 2017, I noticed something a little ironic. UX and product people, despite being great at designing experiences for other people, often struggle to design their own careers. That’s why I created Career Strategy Lab and this podcast to help you navigate your UX job search, grow in your current role, and avoid skill and salary plateaus, all in a chill and BS free way. So whether you’re stuck in your job search or wondering what’s next in your UX career, you’re in the right place.

Sarah Doody [00:00:56]: What do UX job seekers, Peloton and ironman athletes all have in common? A lot more than you think. And that’s what we’re going to dive into today. So a lot of people ask me, how did my UX job search accelerator, Career Strategy Lab, come to be, what inspired me to create it, what’s the backstory, et cetera. So I want to share a little bit about that, but first we have to go back in time to before Career Strategy Lab existed. So I lived in New York City years and years ago for about 13 years. I got into running there and I joined a run club called Mile High Run Club. And before anyone else was doing this, Mile High Run Club had these group running classes, indoor. And imagine a room with 20 or 30 treadmills in it, one instructor and everyone running for 30, 45, 60 minutes in a group class.

Sarah Doody [00:01:53]: No one else was doing this at the time. But now, of course, Peloton has very much popularized group running and of course cycling, et cetera. And I remember being in those running classes and being very, very inspired because I was very new to running, yet I was in the same room with Olympians, with people who were kind of elite runners, also people like me who are just kind of casual weekend runners, right? But was very cool about the literal user experience of being in those run classes inside with 20 to 30 treadmills all in a room. It was that even though we were all at different stages, we were all getting our butts kicked in those classes. And how is that possible, right? How can one instructor give instructions to people at a variety of running abilities and still manage for everyone in the class to have an awesome workout? It all comes down to the idea of perceived effort so for an Olympian, if the instructor says, we’re going to go run up this hill on the treadmill for three minutes and it’s going to be a perceived effort of 7 out of 10, let’s say, okay, the Olympian might be running at a speed of 10 on the treadmill, I might be running at a speed of 4 or something, right? Because the Olympians perceived effort of 7 out of 10 is much different compared to my perceived effort of 7 out of 10. And I remember being in those classes and thinking, wow, this is pretty incredible. And fast forward a few years, my inbox was exploding with people who wanted my help with their UX portfolio and then with their job search and their resume and all of these things. And I iterated various ways of teaching people, whether it was in short workshops, one on one, et cetera.

Sarah Doody [00:04:07]: And I quickly realized, wait a second, like this is not going to scale. I’m going to burn out if I keep taking on one on one career coaching clients. And in the back of my head I couldn’t stop thinking about my experience at Mile High Run Club. And then years later I joined Peloton and got the Peloton bike. And the idea of Mile High Run Club and Peloton was really the idea of group fitness at scale. And I’ve heard the backstory of Mile High Run Club and listened to countless interviews with Peloton instructors. And what really inspires and motivates a lot of them is the whole idea of group fitness at scale. And I thought to myself, well, why can’t I do group career coaching at scale, right? Because sure, someone may have 20 years of experience, someone else may have five years, someone else may have one year, but if I am giving them all the same set of instructions for how to make their resume, how to create their portfolio, etc.

Sarah Doody [00:05:19]: They can apply those instructions based on their perceived effort, meaning of course, in their job search, the perceived message and story that they want to communicate about themselves. Because someone with 20 years of experience is obviously telling a different story than someone with one year of experience. But the formula, quote unquote, to write an effective resume, bullet point, to lay out a slide in your portfolio, to apply for a job. The formula, so to speak, is the same Whether you have 20 years experience or one year of experience, right? The only difference is the content going in to the resume, going in to the portfolio. And in the same way that the running instructor was able to give one cue 7 out of 10 effort on a 3 minute hill, whether it was someone that had never run on a treadmill before or an Olympian, everyone could follow that same set of instructions. And that’s what was enabling Peloton and Mile High Run Club to do group fitness at scale. So that is one of the driving factors between how I initially came up with the idea for Career Strategy Lab and also how I have scaled it. All right, so now why does group coaching work? So let me tell you, number one, when you are in community with people, you’re probably going to be more motivated and you’re probably going to challenge yourself a little bit more, right? If I were just to tell you to go to a running track and run around for however many laps, etc.

Sarah Doody [00:07:14]: You’re probably not going to push yourself as much. You is if you’re in a room with 20 people also running however many laps or for however many minutes, right? It’s that slight, I don’t know, competitive nature that some of us have, being inspired by other people around you, et cetera. And so one of the benefits of group coaching at scale is that shared energy and higher motivation. And whether it was me running on a treadmill with 20 or 30 other people or even when I am literally in this office right over there on my peloton bike, though I am alone in this room. When I log on to a peloton spin class, I am in a virtual room with other people and there is a leaderboard on this screen and I can see people who are there in real time or that took the class two years ago, right? But I’m still, if I want to, I’m still competing and being motivated by people who are on that leaderboard. And the more I push, the more I might start to move up and kind of pass people on that leaderboard, right? The power of being in community and having shared energy with other people is so valuable. And honestly, it’s wild to think. But even like I said on the peloton, you might see people on the leaderboard who took the class a year or two ago, but it is still quite motivating when it comes to Career Strategy Lab and my UX job search accelerator.

Sarah Doody [00:08:55]: Let’s think about this idea of shared energy and higher motivation, right? So if you have ever worked on your resume, worked on your portfolio, been preparing for an interview or something, and you’re doing it alone, guess what? You’ve probably procrastinated. You’ve probably started to let the negative thoughts in your head play on repeat, you’ve started to second guess things, etc. You start to doubt your skills and experience. But when you are not alone, when you get in community with other people, amazing things start to happen, right? You’re motivated, you’re inspired, you’re encouraged. Maybe you don’t procrastinate as much because you see someone else got an interview or finished their resume and it kind of lights a fire under you to do the same. And so that is one of the things that I think is very powerful when it comes to group coaching, especially when it comes to our careers, is that shared energy and higher motivation that can come from being in a community. And specifically in the case of Career Strategy Lab, it’s our online community, part of the program, which is also where our kind of curriculum and training all lives and you’re constantly surrounded with other people, not to mention our weekly live calls and pop up events. All right, the second benefit I want to talk about when it comes to group coaching is the idea of normalization.

Sarah Doody [00:10:21]: Now I realize that may not be the best word, but let me explain. So when it comes to the running classes or the cycling classes, one of the things that I always loved the most is that because I’m in the same room as 20 other people on the treadmill or my yoga class, for example, 20, 30 people in my yoga class, it helps me normalize what is, quote, good. And here’s what I mean by that. When I am, for example, doing yoga by myself at my house, I very easily get frustrated with myself because I think, oh, my heels aren’t touching the floor and downward dog and I can’t do this move and I’m not so flexible and I’m so bad at yoga and like all that stuff plays on repeat in my head because I’m only thinking about myself, right? I’m alone in my living room doing yoga with no one else to look at. When I do yoga in person with 20 or 30 other people, I occasionally notice other people in the room and realize, oh, they’re struggling with that too. Their heels don’t touch the floor and downward dog. They can’t do that crazy stretch that they just told us to do. They can’t put their foot behind their head or whatever, right? And I find that when I am in a group like that, it helps me normalize that.

Sarah Doody [00:11:59]: It’s a process. It’s called yoga practice, right? It’s not called yoga perfection. In the same way with running and cycling, what is perfect, Perfect running, perfect cycling, et cetera. And so this idea of normalizing that you’re at where you’re at right now, and that’s okay. That’s one of the things I really appreciate when it comes to the various group kind of fitness things I do. But when that comes to your career, what does normalization mean? Well, it means things like you’re not the only one stuck on a case study or getting ghosted by recruiters or getting frustrated because you feel like you’re the only person that can’t do fill in the blank, right? And when you can stop letting that narrative of this is so hard, I am a failure, this isn’t working, etc. And you realize that, no, this is a struggle for everyone. And this is just, this is just part of life, right? That helps you lessen the stress, I think, on yourself.

Sarah Doody [00:13:14]: And stop really talking down to yourself sometimes and letting that eat away at you. And instead recognize, you know what? This is something everyone struggles with, and that’s okay. And I’m just going to keep going. Right? So number two is the idea of a normalization. The third benefit when it comes to this group coaching dynamic is very important, maybe the most important, and that is the idea of cognitive offloading. Because when you are in a group and there is a leader, quote, unquote, whether it’s the running instructor, the cycling instructor, me in the videos of Career strategy lab, when there is that leader, it means you don’t need to think to yourself, what should I do next? Right? You just have to listen to the person and do what they say. And what that means is you can spend more time doing and executing and less time figuring out what to do. Right? And you see this all the time when you go to the gym.

Sarah Doody [00:14:25]: You see those people sitting around on their phone. They haven’t moved in like 10 minutes and they’re still looking at their phone. And I think to myself, like, what the heck are you doing? Like, you’re wasting all this time. Why don’t you just go to Starbucks or something? And when I go to the gym, what do I do? I open my phone, I press play on a peloton super strength workout. And Adrien tells me what to do. He tells me we’re going to do three sets of squats with medium weights. And you know what I do? I just go do that. The only decision I have to make is how heavy are the weights going to be.

Sarah Doody [00:15:03]: I don’t need to think of, okay, I’m going to do three sets of squats with this weight and then I’m going to do this and that and the other. I just put in my earpods and I do what Adrian tells me to do. And it offloads that constant mental decision making of what do I do next? Because Adrian’s just telling me what to do, right? And I alluded to this. But that is one of the things that people say they really love the most about Career Strategy Lab is that they can spend all of their time executing and doing and less time, for example, Googling. What makes an effective bullet point. Should my resume be one page or not one page? How do I write an effective case study? What do recruiters and hiring managers want to see in an interview? Right. You don’t need to Google that anymore because it’s all inside Career Strategy Lab. So we are able to offload a lot of the cognitive effort and allow you to just do the thing, whether it’s riding the bike, running on the treadmill, doing your resume.

Sarah Doody [00:16:10]: All right, the fourth benefit, last one, is the power of community, I would say, and accountability and belonging when it comes to a group coaching environment. And when I think of running, cycling, yoga, etc. Maybe I am alone in this room on my bike over there, but as soon as I hit start on the workout and I see the people on the leaderboard, I no longer feel alone, right? I’m like, oh, I’m not the only one going up this seven minute hill or something like that, right? Or I’m not the only one doing squats with heavy weights for like five reps or something like that. The same applies to, to your career. There is such power in community, and community often breeds accountability. And that is the key to getting unstuck and beating procrastination, right? Because you are inspired and motivated by the people around you, even if you never meet them face to face. I know myself. I’m very motivated when I’m on the Peloton bike and I see other people and maybe I pass them or I see someone else in the yoga class and they’re maybe more focused or seemingly putting more effort than I am.

Sarah Doody [00:17:33]: And I’m like, oh, I better get my act together and like focus here on the yoga. So same thing with your career though, right? There’s such power in being in community versus doing it alone. And the natural accountability that can also come from being in a group. Okay, so now you’ve heard a little bit more about the backstory of Career Strategy Lab and how I designed my UX job search accelerator with the idea of doing UX career coaching at scale, similar to how Peloton or my mile High run club back in New York do group fitness at scale. Very powerful. Because it breeds community, it breeds accountability, it allows you to normalize challenges you run into. And honestly, it allows you to reach your goals faster because you’re less likely to procrastinate, slack off, etc. So I want to leave you with three really quick questions to think about when it comes to your career.

Sarah Doody [00:18:44]: So number one is think about your work or your life and think about what is one unexpected benefit that you have experienced from being in some type of group experience, whether that was a fitness class, whether that was a class you took for work, or you were learning French or whatever. But think back to that experience and think of some of the benefits that came from doing it in a group versus doing it on your own. If maybe you’d previously tried to learn French alone, for example. Right. I know for me personally, when I was training for my first couple of marathons, the first time I kind of trained with a group and then I ran the race alone, meaning I was in the New York City Marathon. But I didn’t run with what’s called a pace group. And a pace group is when you literally follow someone that holds up a sign for all 26 miles, 26.2 miles that says like target pace, 9 minutes per mile, for example. In my first marathon, I did not do that.

Sarah Doody [00:19:58]: I just ran on my own and it was fun and I had a good time. But you know what? My second marathon, when I ran the marathon with the pace group, I cut 20 minutes off my marathon time, which is like insane. I got it down to under four hours, specifically three hours and 51 minutes. And why did I. How did that happen? It’s because a group. I was with the group. I wasn’t alone. I maybe pushed myself a little harder than I would have if I was just running by myself.

Sarah Doody [00:20:31]: I was motivated, I was inspired by everyone else. Right? And I got down to under four hour marathon. All right, question number two is, have you ever been motivated by someone further behind you? Right. We, we often think when we have more experience, right? Whether you are an Olympian, Whether you have 20 years of experience in UX or product, you might think to yourself, I don’t belong in the same room with these people who are not runners, or I don’t belong in the same room as people who have one year or two years of experience in user experience. I really disagree because many times in my own career and life, I have been maybe on the more advanced end of the room and I’ve been inspired by other people, whether it’s in business coaching settings or fitness Settings. Just because you have more experience doesn’t mean you can’t be inspired by people who might be a few steps behind you or a lot of steps behind you. So think about a time in your life when maybe you were motivated by someone behind you. And if you’re currently on a DIY path, especially for your career, maybe think about the benefits that could come by getting into some group experience.

Sarah Doody [00:21:59]: All right, question number three. What is your version of showing up on the treadmill in your career right now? Right. Maybe it means that you need to stop trying to finish your resume all by yourself based on what random people are telling you on LinkedIn or whatever, or Google. And instead, how much faster could you make your resume if you were to just hop on the treadmill, so to speak, hit start and have the instructor tell you exactly what to do for that 30 or 45 minute running class. Right? Analogy. But you get my point, right? So that is our episode for today. Some of the things that inspired me creating Career Strategy Lab and how I was very much inspired by the idea of group fitness at scale. And now I think we can say I’ve done it.

Sarah Doody [00:23:02]: To be honest, if my team were here, they would probably agree with me in that we’ve had hundreds, possibly close to six or seven hundred people go through Career Strategy Lab and if it were just me one on one having sessions with hundreds and hundreds of people, that that would not work. But it really does work because we’ve taken the group fitness model and applied it to career coaching and we know it works because people get hired. So if you want to learn more about Career Strategy Lab or maybe this is your first time hearing about it and you’re like, what is a UX job search except accelerator, I got you. Go to the Show Notes, click one of the links in there or just go to career strategy lab.com and you will see all of the details. Or if you want to chat DM me on LinkedIn. My LinkedIn is also in the show notes or just Google it and very easy to find. And that’s all for today. I hope this has inspired you in your own career and I’ll talk to you in another episode.

Sarah Doody [00:24:06]: Thanks so much for listening to the Career Strategy podcast. Now make sure to follow so you don’t miss an episode and you can check out all of our episodes@careerstrategylab.com podcasts now to learn more about how to apply UX and product strategy to advancing your career, whether that means leveling up in your current role, getting a new role, getting freelance work or just being ready for the unexpected. Then I invite you to watch my free UX Job search workshop@careerstrategylab.com Hired. And please feel free to send me a DM on LinkedIn. I would love to hear from you. Hey there. Before I go, I want to speak to you specifically. If you’ve applied to 50, 100, 200 or more jobs and you haven’t secured an offer or interviews yet, first of all, I want you to know it’s not your fault.

Sarah Doody [00:25:03]: It is challenging out there and learning how to navigate the job search, interviews, negotiation, et cetera. It is not something that we are taught. Your boss is too busy to help you, your friends just give you vague advice. Your family doesn’t really know how hiring in UX works. This is why I created my Career Strategy Lab UX Job Search Accelerator. If you are tired of your DIY approach not leading to the results you want, then I challenge you to consider maybe it is time for a pivot. Just like products pivot, maybe your job search needs a pivot too. So head over to careerstrategylab.com apply to learn more or have a call with someone on my team or myself so we can answer all of your questions.

Sarah Doody [00:25:58]: Hope to talk to you soon.