advice from a successful UX Engineer Job Seeker

 

It's not perfect but I'm thankful I found something so quickly. If you are currently unemployed or maybe find yourself unemployed soon here are some things that helped me find a new role so quickly:

1. You WILL be taking a pay cut. The market is flooded right now. Companies know this and are taking advantage. The faster you accept this the faster you can move on and apply for roles with a lower salary. The way I looked at it was taking a pay cut is still more than collecting unemployment.

2. You may have to go back into the office (at least a couple days a week). I was very very lucky to find another completely remote role. This was NOT the norm out there. Every other company I was working with was hybrid, some of those were in Boston. I was prepared to do it but thankful I don't have to.

3. Look outside your role. Again I'm super lucky I found something directly within my current niche. I'll even be working with a design system but I was entertaining taking a QA role which is related but not a direct match to what I used to do.

4. You need to be sending at least 10-20 applications daily. Many of these jobs I don't believe were even real because I would get a rejection email within minutes of applying. I think some places are just collecting a pool of candidates. But you don't know which ones are real and which aren't.

5. Branch out from LinkedIn. I did use LinkedIn but I also used builtin, indeed and dice. I also looked up practically everyone I ever worked with to see where they were and if their company was hiring.

6. Lastly remind yourself it's not forever. I took a less than perfect role, but I don't have to stay here forever. The economy will get better and things will eventually go back to normal.