Career Coaching for Senior UX Professionals
You’ve worked in UX and product for years, and you’re awesome, despite sometimes doubting your experience … don’t we all?!
You may wonder, what’s next in my UX career?
Or, you may struggle to communicate your 10, 15, or 20+ years of UX experience in your resume, portfolio, interviews, etc.
You’re in the right place! Keep scrolling to explore career coaching for senior UX professionals.
Hi, I’m Sarah Doody! I applied my 22 years of UX experience to create the best career coaching program for senior UX people!
Some companies my UX career coaching clients have been hired at:
Facing any of these challenges as a senior product designer, UX researcher, or product professional?
Communicating 10, 15, 20+ years of experience
Figuring out the next chapter of your UX career
Creating a senior level UX portfolio
Facing a UX job search after years in the same role
Does your experience as a senior UX or Product person feel too messy to get hired?
Your 10, 15, or 20+ years of UX experience can be your superpower, not a liability. You struggle to communicate your UX experience because you’re too close to it.
- You've worn multiple UX hats: Having held many roles, how do you package your experience for today's UX job market?
- Diverse industry experience: How to highlight your transferrable UX experience is, regardless of industry?
- Worries about ageism in UX: Are you too old for UX? Will your experience make you seem over-qualified?
How senior UX and Product people re-write their career story
Most experience UX professionals get stuck in their job search, or reach a skill or salary plateau because of one thing:
They don’t have a roadmap for their UX career.
The products you’ve worked on had a roadmap, hopefully … but does your UX career have a roadmap?
If aren’t clear on where you are headed, it’s imposible to create a resume, portfolio, etc that lead to interviews and offers for UX jobs you actually want.
“Working on your job search, resume, portfolio, etc without a UX career roadmap is like writing an essay without a thesis.”
Sarah Doody
Founder of Career Strategy Lab
What career coaching looks like for experienced UX professionals
At this point in your UX career, you don’t have a qualifications problem, you likely have a positioning and visibility problem.
Our career coaching approach will help you stop underselling your value and experience as a UX candidate and:
- Stop feeling invisible by creating a resume, UX portfolio, and LinkedIn presence that make you the obvious candidate.
- Increase your visibility and have people start reaching out to you about roles because of your expertise and authority.
- Own your value by uncovering strengths you’ve been overlooking and likely, downplaying in your UX job search so far.
“The average salary increase of UX people who work with me and get hired is 5-figures.”
Sarah Doody
Founder of Career Strategy Lab
A Few of the Senior UX and Product People Who Got Hired
See how Sarah Doody’s UX career coaching program, Career Strategy Lab, has helped UX people like you get hired and advance their careers.
How Manny got hired as a Senior UX Designer at Fidelity in 77 days
But after a layoff, his UX job search hit a wall, despite 5 years of experience in UX and 10 in design. He spent weeks spinning in circles, tweaking his resume, second-guessing his UX portfolio, and applying to jobs that led to nowhere.
Laura got hired in 47 days as a Principal Product Designer because the CEO found her
In this interview with Laura Acosta, hear how she got hired with just 1 project in her portfolio. And, the role she was hired for found her. In other words, the CEO sent her a DM after he found her on LinkedIn.
Leon got hired in 3.5 months after getting laid off from a role he’d had for 11 years
Leon Barnard co-wrote the book, Wireframing For Everyone. But when it came to writing his resume and portfolio after a layoff, he realized he needed help. Leon got hired as a UI/UX Human Centered Design Specialist.
How Katie got hired as a VP of UX after an expected Google layoff and learned to own her career story
Katie struggled to articulate her incredible skills and career story. She said, UX career coaching made a huge difference.
She said, it gave her perspective and helped her see things in herself that she couldn’t see on her own.
Fritz got hired in 89 days at Amazon after a previous 2-year job search on his own
Fritz spent 2 years job searching after being laid off, stuck in a cycle of rejection and self-doubt.
After getting UX career coaching from me, he rebuilt his confidence, refined his portfolio and resume, and land a leadership role at Amazon in just 89 days.
Senior UX Strategist
Leon got hired after a layoff from a company he’d been at for 10 years
Leon hadn’t touched his resume or portfolio on 10 years. He got hired with just 1 project in his UX portfolio.
Senior UX Designer
Manny got hired as a Senior UX Designer at Fidelity in 77 days
After a layoff, Manny struggled to get interview. Manny pivoted his UX job search approach, and got hired in 77 days.
Vice president of ux
Katie got hired as a VP at JPMorgan after a Google layoff
After 5 years doing UX Research at Google, Katie was laid off and was left questioning her future in the UX industry.
Is UX career coaching with Sarah Doody right for you?
Consider yourself an experienced UX professional? Want to learn timeless, and proven, career advancement strategies you can use now, and for years to come, then then I’d love to help.
This is for you if:
- You want expert help and realize what worked in past UX job searches doesn't work in today's job market.
- You want to reach your goals faster and recognize your DIY approach may take you longer than you want it to.
- You're tired of your current approach and want to pivot your job search strategy.
“I put my 22 years of experience in UX Research & Design into creating the best UX career coaching program.”
Sarah Doody
Seciton about ROI of UX Career Coaching
Next steps for UX career coaching with me, Sarah Doody
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FAQs about UX career coaching
Have a question that isn’t addressed below? Use the chat widget on this page to ask and I’ll get back to you in 24 hours, or feel free to send me, Sarah Doody, a message on LinkedIn here.
How long does it take senior UX professionals to get hired with coaching?
Most senior UX professionals who get UX career coaching from Career Strategy Lab are hired in 6 months or less.
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32% are hired in under 3 months.
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35% are hired within 4–6 months.
The time to great hired in UX depends on many factors including your starting point when you begin UX career coaching. For example, if you haven’t touched your resume or portfolio in 10 years, it make take you longer than someone who’s already been applying for roles and isn’t starting their resume or UX portfolio from scratch.
Do senior UX designers still need a portfolio?
A UX portfolio is still valuable for senior UX professionals because it highlights not just what you delivered, but how you think and lead. Recruiters want to see your decision-making, how you approached problems, worked within constraints, and influenced stakeholders.
Even if you never present it in interviews, creating a portfolio equips you to tell your story with clarity and confidence.
How can a career coach help senior UX professionals?
A career coach helps senior UX professionals by turning years of experience into a clear, marketable story that gets the attention of UX recruiters and hiring managers.
Coaching provides the strategy and accountability to stop underselling your value, refine your portfolio and resume to highlight impact, and prepare for senior-level interviews or leadership roles. With personalized guidance, you gain the clarity and confidence to move beyond “stuck at senior” and position yourself for your next step.
What’s the difference between a UX mentor and a UX career coach?
UX mentorship often means getting advice from a manager, colleague, or community member who shares their perspective on different areas of UX and Product Design such as UX research, UX writing, product strategy, and career advancement. A UX mentor doesn’t always leave you with concrete tools to act on because it’s often a just a conversation.
UX career coaching, on the other hand, is structured and goal-oriented: a great coach gives you a plan of action and tools to execute that plan. For example, a great UX career coach can give you the advice, instruction, and templates to help you reframe your portfolio to show decision-making, sharpen your resume and LinkedIn for UX hiring, and build a strategy for moving from senior roles into leadership.
How can I get back into UX as a senior professional after a career break?
A career break as a senior UX professional will not ruin your career. Coming back into UX after a career break isn’t about proving you still have the skills, it’s about repositioning your experience so hiring managers see your value today.
The mistake many senior professionals make is trying to explain away the gap instead of owning their story. A UX focused career coach can help you reframe your portfolio and resume to highlight your decision-making, leadership, and impact, while weaving your career break into a narrative that makes sense. With a clear strategy, senior UX professionals return to the job market with confidence and get hired faster than if they try to DIY the process.
Can career coaching help me move into UX leadership?
Yes, career coaching can help senior UX professionals move into leadership by positioning you as more than an individual contributor. Chances are you’ve already been doing leadership activities, like mentoring teammates, influencing stakeholders, or shaping strategy, even without “leader” in your job title. A UX career coach helps you see those patterns and make sure they show up in your resume, portfolio, and interviews.
Coaching also helps you highlight UX leadership skills such as managing teams, driving vision, and making decisions under constraints. Instead of focusing only on UX related design deliverables, you’ll learn to tell stories that demonstrate impact at a higher level on the business and team. With the right positioning and a clear plan, you can confidently move from “senior” into lead, principal, or manager roles.
Can career coaching help me move back to IC work after being a manager?
Yes, UX career coaching can help you transition back to IC work by repositioning your leadership experience so it’s seen as an asset, not a liability. Many UX hiring managers worry former managers won’t want to get their hands dirty again. A coach helps you show that you still have the craft skills and decision-making needed for IC roles, while also highlighting how your leadership background makes you a stronger UX candidate.
Here’s how coaching supports that transition:
Reframe leadership experience so it shows relevance to hands-on design or research work.
Highlight IC strengths, like problem-solving, systems thinking, and UX skills.
Position you strategically to avoid being boxed in by your last job title.
With the right positioning, you can confidently move back into the UX work you enjoy while leveraging your leadership experience as a differentiator.
How do you deliver 1:1 coaching and personalized feedback?
I’m able to deliver 1:1 feedback through these parts of my career coaching experience:
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Critiques of your materials such as your resume, portfolio, and LinkedIn profile. You will be able to receive 8 critiques, included with your career coaching package. The critiques are done asynchronously through a tool called Loom. Critiques are conducted by me, Sarah Doody, and my team of UX career coaches who I’ve personally trained.
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Weekly Q&A and Mindset calls. Each week we have a live Q&A and a separate Mindset call with all the coaching clients who choose to attend. You can submit questions in advance and the calls are recorded. And, you’ll benefit from hearing our answers to questions that others have asked.
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Questions and feedback in the community. You may also post questions in the community and our team. Our coaching clients often say they value the feedback they receive from other coaching clients as well, especially if someone’s already working at (or interviewed at) the company where another member is currently interviewing.
We’ve been delivering 1:1 career coaching in a group experience since 2021. The mix of 1:1 feedback and group interaction means you don’t just advice – you also benefit from the accountability, connections, momentum, and motivation that comes from being in community with others who share a similar goal.
To be clear though, Career Strategy Lab doesn’t offer packages of 1:1 calls with Sarah Doody or any of the other UX career coaches.
Advance your career with the only UX career coaching program built by a UX designer with 22 years of experience.
