r/uxcareerquestions

Hey everyone,

This is a bit uncomfortable to admit, but I think it’s important to be honest.

I’ve spent 15+ years in UI/UX design — worked on products, handled responsibilities, evolved with the industry… or at least I thought I did. But lately, I’ve been applying for roles and not even getting shortlisted.

No calls. No feedback. Just silence.

It’s making me question where the gap is.

Is it my resume not reflecting my actual experience properly?

Or have expectations from senior designers changed more than I realized?

I’m also wondering how much ATS and AI are influencing this now.

Is my resume getting filtered out before a human even sees it?

Am I missing the right keywords, or presenting things in an outdated way?

And honestly, with AI becoming such a big part of design —are companies now expecting senior designers to actively showcase AI integration in their workflow?

If you’re someone currently working in UI/UX, especially at a senior level, I’d genuinely value your perspective:

- What does a strong senior UI/UX profile look like today?

- What actually makes a resume stand out now?

- Has hiring shifted more towards referrals than cold applications?

I’m open to direct, even critical feedback.

If anyone is willing to review my resume, I can share it via DM.

Also, if there are any relevant opportunities or referrals in your network, I’d be really grateful if you could DM me.

You can also reach out to me on WhatsApp at the same number.

Trying to adapt — just need a bit of direction.

I’m a licensed Architect with a Master’s in Product Design and Innovation, and I’ve been seriously considering a transition into UI/UX design. I recently started the Google UX Design certificate to build out my portfolio (as I only had one ui/ux project prior), and I’ve been excited about the direction.

But honestly? The job market news and everything being said about AI has me second-guessing myself. I love the idea of this profession. Yet every week something shifts, and I’m wondering whether I’m jumping into a field that’s contracting rather than growing.

Is there still a meaningful future in UX, or is this transition going to be an uphill battle?

Hey, hoping someone here can give me some real talk because I’ve been spiraling a bit lately lol.
I’m a designer trying to figure out my next move and I keep getting stuck on the same questions. Maybe some of you who’ve been in the trenches (or are hiring) can help me out:

1. What are top companies actually looking for right now? Like beyond the polished case studies and Dribbble shots, what’s the stuff that genuinely makes someone stand out in a portfolio review or interview? I feel like the goalposts keep moving and I can’t tell if it’s me or the industry.
2. What if you have a gap in your career? I stepped away for a bit (life stuff, burnout, you know how it goes) and now I’m second-guessing whether to even mention it or how to frame it. Has anyone been through this and come out the other side? Did recruiters actually care or was it more in my head?
3. And honestly… how are people thinking about career strategy with AI changing everything so fast? Half the stuff I learned feels like it might be irrelevant in two years. Should I lean into AI tools and become “that person” on my team, double down on the human/strategic side, or something else entirely? Curious what’s actually working for people right now, not just hot takes on Twitter.

Any honest insight would mean a lot. Thanks in advance 🙏

I got a year left to get bachelor CS degree and I work so hard to just barely understand. I'm currently in Stats & Probability and Data Structures, midterm tomorrow for the latter. And I'm sitting here thinking, why am I working so hard for something I don't even enjoy?

I picked CS because back in middle school I did coding academy and I loved HTML and CSS and it was fun to me and I was good at it. I know it's not the most impressive.

Anyway my whole college journey has been consumed with Java, god I don't love Java. And I was looking at a different college and its degree for Interaction Design and the classes look so much more appealing to me. I'm an artist, I don't have a large following but I have an Instagram where I post my traditional and digital art. It just seems like a good degree to transition to imo.

But I've read a couple posts from here already about how the job market is absolute hell right now for UX. So what advice can you give me? Should I switch? Should I stay and tough it out?

I am 27 year old looking for job opportunities. I have done my b.tech 6 years and graduated in 2022. Initially I tried to do masters in USA but my visa was rejected 4 times, then i started preparing for government exams but found no luck here as well. Im right now exploring different career options and came across product designer/ UI UX designer. I would like to know what are the chances that I will build a good career in this and what are the qualifications that most companies look out for designers today for fresher roles. Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

Maybe I’m overthinking this, but I’m job hunting as a product designer and I’m not sure what’s expected anymore: should I just have a website portfolio, or also a separate deck / Figma presentation for interviews?

My current portfolio is pretty basic, because I am under NDA I cannot have detailed case studies in website. and I recently saw that some candidates were sharing detailed Figma case-study decks instead of just a website. Since most of my stronger work is in a confidential enterprise role, I’m wondering what’s more normal now, especially if you’re trying to move into a more design-mature company.

I’ve only had one design interview before, and it was years ago at a company with no real design team. I’m now trying to switch to a better org with stronger pay and an actual design culture, so I want to understand what format is most likely to get traction.

Would a strong website still be enough, or do most people now keep both a website and an interview deck?

It’s been 4 months since I started searching for a UX/UI Design job without real results.
Sometimes I ask myself: is the problem me, the market, the competition, or AI?

Every morning I open LinkedIn looking for opportunities, and honestly, the market feels harder than ever.
Everyone talks about AI and how it should become your “friend” instead of your enemy, and that’s exactly what I’m trying to do.

I built my own portfolio website, I keep learning and improving myself, but sometimes I feel frustrated, lonely, and mentally tired from trying so hard without clear results.

Some companies contacted me for internships, but deep inside I feel like some of them just want someone temporary and then say goodbye after the period ends.

I’m not writing this just to complain.
I genuinely want to know:
Are other people feeling the same way? And does UX/UI still have a future in the coming years?

I am 21
BBA FINAL YEAR STUDENT
I WANT TO GET INTO UXR
PLZ GUIDE ME HOW CAN I START MY CAREER IN IT

Hiya! I've been thinking about a career transition into qualitative research that will eventually lead to behavioral science (I know that's broad, I'm not sure exactly what it would look like).

Generally, I love topics on human connection, I love talking to people and observing behavioral patterns, finding out why they do what they do, how their motivations or emotions impact their behavior, love listening to Hidden Brain, Esther Perel etc etc. Now with AI, I've also been very interested in how AI will continue to shape human behavior - scary and fascinating at the same time.

I've taken a course on UX design but that wasn't quite it for me. I'm wondering if anyone has ideas on how to pivot into qualitative research or a similar field, I'm happy to volunteer or take hourly research assistant positions so I can get a taste of the work before considering any further investment. I'd love any other suggestions.

For context, I've been in tech (operations and program management) the las ~7 years, but the market is a zoo, and I'm also at a point where I'd like my professional life to feel more coherent with who I am.

Thanks in advance!

Hi!

For a university assignment, my group and I created a small prototype of a browser game inspired by games like The Impossible Quiz. We’re currently looking for people to test it and give feedback through a short survey afterxwards. The game is focused on tricky questions.

Playtime: few minutes

Survey length: around 2–3 minutes

Any feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks to anyone willing to try it out!

PS: Only playable on laptop/desktop or larger screen

I've recently been laid off and i'm struggling to find direction. I'm sad that my niche might not exist anymore and i'm looking for some support and advice if possible.

My Background

- 4 Year Bachelors in interaction design from a good school.
- 4 month UX internship during school, small start-up
- 1 year frontend dev with some ui/ux responsibilities, small start-up, in crypto
- 2 Years at a design agency, ui/ux/frontend designing and building wordpress-killer type sites with next and headless CMSs. Nothing super feature-driven in a backend sense, more content driven with a focus on brand presence, aesthetics, clear communication, scalability and a self-serve future for the client.

The Problem

I feel like I'm at a crossroads right now where I'm being told by some of my peers that I might have to make a choice between my coding skills and my design skills. Which for me would mean dropping frontend dev. I'm just not interested in becoming full stack, I'm more interested in design.

They tell me that UX/Frontend is a less important niche now than broader ux/design skills, or deeper dev skills. But then I have others telling me that being multidisciplinary between dev and design can be very desirable for agencies with more creative work!

Outside of my career I love 3D art and visuals, producing music, and human connection/mental health.

Interests

In that last job I was the whole web creation pipeline in one person. From client interviews, to distilling findings, to wireframing, to presentations and critiques, to hi fi design, to final development and launch. Everything except supporting UI design with my team's graphics and brand designer. Sadly that means all of my design research was just competitor analysis and secondary research. But despite not being able to user test, I still applied my UX thinking and design methods all the time to stay sharp and interested in my work. I mostly focused them on clear language writing, info arch / section mapping, interaction design, and of course final dev feel.

I liked that. Quite a lot actually. The cycles between design and dev kept my life interesting. Dev was fun and relaxing with interesting problem solving. Design pushed me in a lot of ways to always want to be better and impress the client with something flashy and useable. It always made me happy to make a client happy.

I love:

- Info arch, section mapping
- Good storytelling through both language and visuals
- Creative problem solving
- Finding fun or interesting ways to elevate a brand's presence
- Unique custom components
- Executing those components in the frontend
- Creative and unique websites
- Working with different brands with new aesthetics and requirements

Dislikes

What I don't like is feeling like a big fish in a small pond. No one around me did what I did. In my whole career I've never had true peers to guide me with code or design review and I'm kinda sick of it. I feel its making me atrophy.

I also hate AI deeply. I avoid it like the plague for the critical thinking side of UX like research interview prep, research synthesis, or design first-passes. I only reach for it to find design reference, add ideas after the design foundation has been laid, accelerate development, prototype and test designs, other mindless stuff, etc.

I hate being my own boss. I really don't want to freelance without gaining more real world industry experience. I feel I'm only learning from myself right now and I want to learn from others.

What Now

I'm scared my niche might not exist anymore. I'm worried I might not be strong enough of a UX/UI designer to excel solely in that, and that my value came from being more of a UX thinker with ui and strong frontend skills. Maybe I'm being hard on myself, but I know things are competitive out there.

Pivoting to pure UX or UX Research could be cool, it was my original passion before finding myself in frontend jobs because I was good at them. But I just don't know anymore. This is coming from a bit of a low point mental health-wise but I just see a future of my brain atrophying with AI if I stay in this industry. I'm here for interesting problems to solve and critical thinking. I want to become a master of my craft and be proud of what I make.

If you have any thoughts or insights on a direction I should lean, or a way to market myself that could help me find the work I'm interested in, or any other general advice, then your help and input is massively appreciated.

Thank you so much for your time even if you just skimmed, and good luck to everyone out there feeling lost right now. I see you, and I know we'll figure it out.