Laura Landed a Principal UX Role in 47 Days Without Applying and Only 1 Project in Her UX Portfolio

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Sarah Doody: welcome. Happy Wednesday. Wherever you are joining us from in the world, um, we’re really excited you’re here.

I am Sarah Doody and I have Becca from my team with me in the wonderful orange. And Becca will be, um, chiming in in the chat for questions ’cause I only have one side of eyes, so Becca may be jumping in to answer questions. So just so you know, Becca is an official, um, team member of mine and you’re here today ’cause you are SVP for our UX job search q and a with three people, um, at various stages of their job search.

Um, we have someone that was recently hired, someone that is currently. Interviewing through multiple rounds and I will let him share [00:01:00] that company if he wants to. Um, and then someone else who is in the middle of getting all their stuff together and ready so that they can be applying soon. But honestly, they might already be applying.

Also, some of you know this, some of you don’t, depending on when you are SV ped for this, uh, q and a. But, um, we will give you the opportunity to actually join our UX job search program.

We’re gonna deal with that at the very end. Um, but if you need to leave early, rest assured we will give you that link and all the details in the follow up email with this recording. I know some of you had emailed us in advance and wanted to know like, how do you join, et cetera. So we’re gonna do the q and a first and then we’ll go into that.

I’m gonna give you a tour, show you our new AI tool, this new freelancing ux freelancing course, um, that [00:02:00] we’re. Essentially giving away right now, um, and a ton more.

Sarah Q1

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Sarah Doody: And really the goal for today is to really paint the picture for all of you of where each of these people was in their career journey, whether it was a couple months ago, a couple years ago, um, what they were struggling with, what was working, not working, what happened when they joined, uh, my program, career strategy lab and, and sought help with their job search.

And then how that kind of has impacted their confidence in their portfolio, resume, et cetera, in their ability to, in some cases, get interviews in their ability in, in, in other cases to get job offers. So first up, we have Melp and Melp. Feel free to unmute yourself and, or well definitely unmute and then come off video if you can.

Hey. Hi. There we go. Thanks for [00:03:00] having me. Yeah, and Melba is a, is a product manager, um, with six years of experience in UX research and software development and Melp. To start us off, why don’t you just share a little bit about, um, your career journey and situation. Let’s say before you. Heard about and joined Career Strategy Lab, like, just paint that picture for us so everyone knows kind of where you came from.

Laura & Jonathan Q1‌

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Sarah Doody: but we wanna also introduce Laura and Jonathan who have joined us, and Laura and Jonathan.

Um, we would love to hear from each of you. Maybe we’ll go Laura and then Jonathan. And we really just wanna get a sense of. Like where, what are you doing right now? But also, where did you, um, start in your job search in terms of what were you doing before you found Career strategy lab? How was your, your job search or your job [00:04:00] going, et cetera.

Um, and then tell us a little bit more about kind of where you are in your journey right now. So, Laura, why don’t we start with you if that’s okay?

Yeah.

And I, I think you are a, I gotta make you a co-host so you can put your video on, and then I’m gonna make Jonathan a co-host also. Oh, I gotta click that button 17 times to make it happen.

Okay. So let me go back to Laura. Make co-host. Make co-host, all right. So you should both be able to turn on your video. Awesome.

Laura A1

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Laura Acosta: Can you hear me?

Sarah Doody: Yes, I can.

Laura Acosta: Uh, hello everybody. Uh, I’m very happy to be here. Uh, I’m Laura and I’m gonna, uh, give you a quick overview of my journey because in, in my case, this is my second time, a career strategy lab.

Um, I, uh, I joined initially Career strategy Lab in 2023, uh, to start my job search. Um, before [00:05:00] that, like, the reason why I wanna mention this is because, um, my second time has been way easier because I kind of kept that same mindset that I like all the insights of the knowledge I gained here every first time.

So this second time was way smoother than, than the first time, um, before career started. Lab for me was like, again. Big imposter syndrome, especially because I have very unconventional background. I was a physician before being, uh, a UX designer, uh, totally self-thought boot camps, not like bachelor’s in fine arts or anything.

And, and I was like always struggling like, I’m good enough. Like that kind of like confidence thing that is very common in the industry. And it doesn’t matter how long you have been here, I feel it never totally goes away. Um, so it was like first changing that mindset. Second [00:06:00] like, yeah, I’m, I’m good enough, I know what I’m doing.

Um, I just need to refine my materials, um, to follow what it’s told to be done here. Like there’s a reason why the springs are the way there and it, I just draws a process, like there’s a framework. I see. I did my research as everybody do. Like, uh, does this work because there are a bunch of gurus out there.

And you never know, but I did my due diligence. I did my research. I, I decided to trust it. I followed like, what, like exactly the way it should, uh, been followed. And honestly, my first search ended up like being hired. I think it was like one and a half months after starting the program, one case study presentation.

I got a contractor role at Cisco that initially should have been three months in a three month engagement, and it ended up to be two and a half years. And then being at Cisco still, because you need to start like testing the environment and kind of, uh, looking at the red [00:07:00] flats, like what’s going to happen in the company when there’s reorganization happening.

I decided to join again even before being laid off. And I, I kind of like started that, that uh, uh, pushing myself again to like. Um, okay. This is, um, looking for a job mode again. So, um, when I was laid off, or my contract was terminated because in this case it was a contract, I, I, two, two weeks later, I landed another job.

And now I’m gonna talk a little bit about like, um, why that happened. Uh, and the reason that that happened is because, um, as I said, like to to other students in careers trial lab, I, I always kept that mindset like. I’m not comfortable where I am in the sense like, I’m not looking for another position. I’m happy in my job, but I need to be constantly testing my materials because you never know what can happen in this environment.

You need to [00:08:00] test your portfolio. You need to test your case studies. You need to test your resume. You need to know if it’s like good enough to being called for interviews. You need to, uh, keep in contact and reaching out people that, uh, making like meaningful connections in LinkedIn that you don’t know.

If at some point that person is in a different role, in a different company that you’re interested in. Like, again, like when you are in the search per se, everybody sees you as you are desperate. Like you, you, you are, if you’re reaching out to miss because you want a job because you have. You’re looking for a job, basically, but when you are not looking, it’s like you can establish meaningful connections.

You can give mentorship or people give you mentorship back or whatever. And it’s a meaningful connection that at the point when you really need it, it’s there for you to, I I call it activated immediately. And then the result, it’s, it’s, it’s awesome. It’s like I, again, like I just, um, spent two, two weeks between [00:09:00] like my contract ending, my new role that I started on Monday.

Um, and it was very smooth process because of that.

Sarah Doody: Wait, so you started this Monday, like two days ago? Or you’re started No, I,

Laura Acosta: I, I’ll start this Monday. I asked for two, two weeks in the middle because Yeah. I just wanted to take a little bit of time in between.

Sarah Doody: You deserve a vacation. Yes. You deserve a vacation.

And like you, your approach to this, your mindset, your strategy was so spot on. Like a couple of things. I just wanna recap because Laura told us so many awesome things. Um, the first thing is really around when you got hired in 2003 for that contract and one stigma I see out on LinkedIn and social media all the time.

It’s like. Contracts are bad and some guy just posted on my LinkedIn yesterday or something like, contracts just mean they’re gonna keep you and then fire you after that timeframe. Not true. [00:10:00] Mm-hmm. So often we see people get a contract and it turn into a full-time job, or it stay a contract for a long time, just as you said, yours was gonna be maybe two months and it turned into two years.

Mm-hmm. So, um, number one, don’t discount contracts. And then I think the other really important thing, if I could emphasize just two for the sake of brevity, um, is always testing the waters. Like you said, Laura, like testing the waters and maintaining relationships so that, number one, you know your worth, you know, um, if your resume can land, you interviews, if your portfolio can land you interviews and like you said, from 2003.

I think you said you had one project in your portfolio and you landed that, that Cisco contract, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Um, so listen to Laura, because Laura is a textbook example of, of [00:11:00] putting all this into practice, and so you’re gonna start on Monday. Um, and the other thing I wanna point out for everyone, like Laura works in a very, uh, specific niche of like networking and security and things like that.

And so just bravo to you for, um, making yourself visible in this job market, but especially when you were still full-time employed and just making sure that you were ready in case something happened.

Laura Acosta: Yeah, no, that’s, that’s another part I, I forgot to mention is like, um, the, the kind of specialization in this market.

Sometimes people feel like if I do everything, I will have more exposure and I will have more options in my experience because again, I’ve tested that. I do my own research and I, I, I keep like things like, okay, I also wanna know if [00:12:00] my portfolio and my background works for a healthcare startup. Hmm. It’s, it’s interesting who, uh, even when I’m a doctor by degree, I’m a physician, I don’t do well with, uh, healthcare companies.

They reject me all the time. So I have all that data that is like, kind of, I gather over, over time and then I finally say, okay, cybersecurity and network and telecommunication is a very specific niche where employees, uh, want like that domain knowledge because it’s very difficult to work there. If you don’t understand your users, you don’t understand the workflows, you don’t understand how.

The, what is the environment of that, uh, niche? So I decided, okay, I’m transitioning, uh, to that only, I’m only looking there, I’m only looking at companies I’m interested in, in that specific niche. First, it makes my search way easier because I don’t have to send a hundred applications, uh, my application like, um, to, to reply radio.

It’s, it’s extremely, [00:13:00] like, it’s, it’s very good. I, I don’t, I, I think it’s like five to three or something like that. Every five I send three people reply or, or, or ask me for, for an interview. And, and second, it’s like, as I’m saying, it’s less overwhelming. You’re a specialist in the field. Sometimes people even not, sometimes a bunch of people even contact you without you being applying.

Like, and my current role is an example like Cuba. The VP of product of CU CI, the company, I will start, uh, working, uh, in next, next Monday. Um, the VP of product reach out to me because he said like, I want this a specific role. I’m looking for people like you. Let’s talk. And then it was a long process. It it is not, it, it didn’t make it easier in the sense like, yeah, six interviews, two on sites and a bunch of things.

But the first contact wasn’t even an application. I never applied to a role and it’s a role, like a higher role than what I previously had because I was a senior product designer and now I was hired as a principal [00:14:00] product designer. So that, that’s also something that was important, uh, for me because I was looking like kind of more seniority in my role.

So

Sarah Doody: yeah, that

Laura Acosta: worked out well. Yeah.

Sarah Doody: And I have one question before we get to Jonathan, but the question is, you mentioned that, um, through everything you were doing, the CEO of the company you were hired at, reached out to you. Did they, how did they find you? Did they find you on LinkedIn?

Laura Acosta: It was LinkedIn.

Yeah. Okay. Okay.

Sarah Doody: Yeah, and that’s, that’s another thing that’s really important to emphasize is like when you take the time to get specific about what you wanna do and make sure that your LinkedIn reflects, that, your LinkedIn can essentially turn into like a magnet, for lack of better analogy, for, you know, the right people who are looking for someone like you to find you.

And then in, in Laura’s case, reach out to you, not even have you apply and start talking to you. So, [00:15:00] um, we’re, we’re gonna follow this up,

Sarah Q2

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Sarah Doody: So, um. Let’s continue on our discussion kind of with like a general question, and maybe we’ll go in the order of, um, Mel, Laura, and Jonathan. But, um, we talked a lot about kind of the, the transformation of some of your portfolio, some of the resumes, some of the results in in, in job searches, et cetera.

Laura A2

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Sarah Doody: Um, all right, so let’s go on to Laura. I’m curious, um, I know we kind of covered a bunch of topics there, but going back to the original question of like, how do you feel like you’ve kinda changed as a person, especially through the lens of, you know, you originally found and joined Career Strategy Lab back in 2003, and that’s when you got hired at Cisco.

And I think one thing I’m very interested in from your perspective is, was there anything that you did in Career Strategy Lab that you were able to apply to your actual job once you [00:16:00] were hired at, at Cisco in, in 2023 and for the past two years?

Laura Acosta: Um, yeah, actually, um, it, it’s not only like the confidence level that you gain in the program, it’s like, it’s going from, i, I know career started laugh, especially for, for people who are just joining fresh and they’re going from like, they’re just doing the fir the first sprints.

It’s like, okay. Um, there’s some doubt still. Like, I’m gonna make it or not. Like for me it’s like the second time was like, I know this is gonna work because I already did it. I know the process worked, the process worked and it’s just like, um, a matter of when. Right? And then, um, when I was in Cisco as an example, like the presentation skills you gain here, like the weight, like the storytelling, this is something that, um, goes with you wherever you go.

Like, okay, now I have to. Know how to present every single piece of something that you need to do inside your company. [00:17:00] You use the same approach, the same strategy to do it, and even in the way you move inside your company where you wanna be. Even for me as a contractor, um, I don’t know if every company is the same, but I wasn’t treated as a contractor.

I was pretty much a full-time employee, uh, without benefits. But like my team treated me same way as everybody else. I had leadership roles inside my company. I was mentoring junior people and, um. Again, it was a confidence, it was a presentation skills, uh, that I gained here. Um, and, and again, like, um, and also beyond, beyond my role at Cisco, um, the way you ha it is like you create your own framework for you.

That works as well. Like now you have to put another case study together, you know, the framework, like there are certain things you need to refine, but it’s very easy to jump to it because you have a way to do it. Before it was just like, okay, let me, let me see what of these million things that are out there to [00:18:00] create a presentation works.

Uh, I don’t know. Now I know what it works because again, like I tested multiple times, uh, I don’t have that mindset again. Like, oh, I need a website. Portfolio. I know my PDF portfolio perfectly fine. I, I’ve never maintained or keep like, um, a website whatsoever. I, I, I just use my, my PDFs and, and it worked perfectly for me.

So, yeah, that mindset shift, it’s, it’s very, it’s very huge.

Sarah Doody: That’s awesome to hear. And I think too, you know, the, the portfolio approach and framework that we teach, it could really just apply to any presentation. You know, at the end of the day, a portfolio is a presentation. You’re trying to communicate certain talking points.

You’re trying to make sure people, uh, you know, receive and remember the message in this case of, of your work experience. But whether you’re creating a research presentation, a pitch for a new, you know, idea for your team or [00:19:00] company, or a pitch to, you know, a potential freelance client or something like, at the end of the day, they’re all presentations.

And creating a presentation follows a pretty similar framework when you kinda, um, when you get beyond, you know, the, the message and think about the strategy of that. So I’m thrilled to hear that you’re able to use some of that in your day-to-day job.

Sarah Q3

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Sarah Doody: Yeah. When you take the time to really think through what you did beyond just pulling together a bunch of deliverables and throwing them into a portfolio and just giving really generic, vague explanations of it. Thinking through, you know, how this impacted the team, the company, the users, why you made certain decisions, how you handled that time when some stakeholder went off the rails or, you know, you ran into some problem with, uh, testing something that maybe you designed that turned, turned out.

Oh, no one could use it after usability testing. Like, how did you handle that? You [00:20:00] know, thinking through all of those things does exactly what you said, Mel. Like help you realize how awesome you are and then that comes through in all of your resume, portfolio, et cetera. And in those interviews too,

Laura A3

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Sarah Doody: Um, I have one final question, but before I do, I just wanna check in and see if Laura had any thoughts on portfolios. Um, given our somewhat deep dive into portfolios there.

Do you have anything or no pressure.

Laura Acosta: Uh, actually I wanted to, I wanted to share something else about your portfolio, and it’s usually like, we have this definition of when, when it’s ready, when it’s done to be out there. And, uh, I know Sarah, you, you, you said a lot like start applying before that you feel your portfolio is perfect.

Hmm. Honestly, like every time I needed like to apply for a job, my portfolio hasn’t been in the place where I want it to be. And I still apply [00:21:00] again, like one case study, maybe two, and the result, the outcome has been good. So don’t wait, don’t tell your portfolio. It’s, it’s perfect. Or when you feel like, because it’s, it is never gonna be like we are perfectionist.

Uh, the perfectionism is always there and we, we feel like this is not good enough. But again, like it’s an iterative process too. So, uh, that helps a lot.

Sarah Doody: Yes. I, I believe it was today I just posted on social media essentially saying. If you wait to perfect your portfolio, you are not going to know if you might be able to get interviews with the version you have right now, because as you’ve heard today, you know, you don’t need 3, 4, 5, 7 projects.

Laura had one. It doesn’t need to be perfect, et cetera. Um, so okay, my final question and then we’re gonna do our tour if any of you are curious.

Sarah Q4

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Sarah Doody: But, um, the final question is really, um, for what [00:22:00] advice would you have for anyone who’s kind of on the fence about jumping into something like career strategy lab and, or like, what would you tell them when they join?

If, if you had a tip for them, you can answer one or both of those questions.

Laura A4

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Sarah Doody: Awesome. Okay. Laura, how about you?

Laura Acosta: Um, I feel like, uh, first there should be some commitment to like, I’m gonna follow this and I’m gonna trust the process. Because if we don’t do that, if we go to like, okay, I’m gonna go straight to my portfolio without doing the comp statement, without knowing what you’re gonna do, what, what kind of, um, career goals you have, what, what is your next like, big thing, you’re gonna get stuck in the middle anyway.

So it’s like there’s a process for a reason and it’s because it works in the way that it was designed. Uh, so yeah, it’s like just dedicate the time to do it, do it in the order that you have to do it and trust the process. And that’s pretty much [00:23:00] it.

Sarah Conclusion

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Sarah Doody: Awesome. Thank you too. Jonathan Melp and Laura, big rental of applause.

Thank you for sharing like just so transparently and openly about your. Very personal experiences and your struggles and you know, how you really leveraged the process, so to speak, um, to get to where you are today. So I wanna let you both drop off if you want to, but we are going to dive into this tour because some of you have been DMing me wanting to see some of this.

Awesome. Okay, guys, well let’s wrap it up then. I’m, I, I am glad you stuck around with us, this one a little bit over, but hopefully you got so much from Laura and Mel and Jonathan around their experience.

Hopefully it just gave you some hope in the job market, et cetera, because I [00:24:00] think. You know, in general, negative stories get more likes, et cetera. Right. And I think it, it like pushes down all the positive stories that are happening in the UX and product world. And so that’s part of the reason why we do these, um, sessions to help you connect in a small environment like this with other people who are having success so you can hear what they’re doing to have that success.

And also to give you a tour of Career Strategy lab because there’s so much in it. And despite my ongoing never ending efforts to try and communicate the depth of the depth and value of this thing, I think sometimes it’s just helpful to literally see it and then hear it from, from people who are not me.

So, um, that is all. See you later. Bye Catherine. See. All right.