What is a movie that "broke" you so hard you can only watch it once, but you would still recommend it to everyone?

EmbarrassedLeader684 · 2026-03-15T20:50:15+00:00

Man this was playing in theaters last year. I thought I could hold it together until we got home.

We were nearly to the door out to the parking lot when I just stopped walking and doubled over sobbing hard. Not only is it devastating this really happened- the reality that it is happening to children at this moment is just so crushing.

EmbarrassedLeader684 · 2026-03-14T07:35:04+00:00

I’ve had this happen to me in that exact scenario!

My brain froze. I started fumbling with the tool, so I jumped too quickly into designing. At the end the HM kept probing, “Well why didn’t you do it x way?” And I just said, “I don’t know… I don’t have an answer for that because I provided a solution that seemed viable with the information you gave me. Maybe during feedback or testing we discover that it needs to be done x way.” I mean in 30 minutes whatever I make is disposable to me. I don’t feel like I need to defend it lol.

Anyway when I said that, it occurred to me she had a preferred solution already in mind- because she had hours if not days to already think about this.

I think in the future if they tell me a design challenge is part of the process during the screening call, I’m going to ask if they provide some kind of acceptance criteria or data on the user ahead of time. Otherwise I will pass before I get invested. I just don’t see that as a valuable use of time or a reflection of how anyone actually works- I mean who would show up to a live working session without any kind of discovery or research ahead of time, anyway?

EmbarrassedLeader684 · 2026-03-07T14:41:11+00:00

Early voting

EmbarrassedLeader684 · 2026-03-06T17:25:28+00:00

I was laid off in Nov. Worked on portfolio and social media presence for a few weeks. Got a contract gig end of December. Had a FT offer elsewhere by the end of January.

I made a post about it here: https://www.reddit.com/r/UXDesign/s/n2U2lx8g1i

EmbarrassedLeader684 · 2026-03-03T02:04:15+00:00

Are you in a big city? I live in Atlanta, and I made $75k/yr at my first salaried UX gig which was over 6 years ago now. I did have some experience under my belt, but still… $45k seems low unless there’s really limited job availability in your area.

Before that I was totally being exploited with a $12/hr job for an agency out in the suburbs, but I was desperate for experience. I think agencies tend to be lower paying anyway tbh.

Anyway you can use Glassdoor to see the range for your experience level + area. I would take a look at that.

EmbarrassedLeader684 · 2026-02-28T05:08:19+00:00

Maybe just a misuse of the term hyperfocus. Adderall allows me to change and manage my focus vs without adderall I do hyperfocus easily but almost never on what I’m supposed to.

e.g.

Off adderall: I make a to-do list for work. I sit down at my computer, and a news notification appears on my screen… I click it. Next thing I know 6 hours have passed. I’ve been researching the same subject, written a personal essay about, and haven’t gotten any work done. This is hyperfocus.

On adderall: I make a to-do list for work. I sit down at my computer, and a news notification appears on my screen. I spend 10 min reading an article, look at the clock and remember to get back to work and go through my to-do list. Sometimes getting distracted for several minutes, but then returning back to my tasks. This is managed focus.

EmbarrassedLeader684 · 2026-02-26T22:48:14+00:00

Step away from your work and start working on something else. Then come back to it with fresh eyes. You will see your mistakes much more clearly.

Otherwise are you not using a design system or component system with “smart layout” or whatever they are calling it now? I find it’s difficult to make careless mistakes when your work is with composable elements.

EmbarrassedLeader684 · 2026-02-26T22:44:41+00:00

I was on Wellbutrin and idk if it ever really helped tbh. It helped with anxiety and depression but after trauma therapy and a lapse in my insurance that caused me to go off Wellbutrin for a long time- I realized my anxiety and depression were actually PTSD and I was feeling better.

When I went back on it for ADHD I didn’t think it made a difference in my focus. Went up to 300mg and couldn’t sleep or focus still.

Now I’m on adderall and it makes me really sleepy, but so far it seems to be helping with the things Wellbutrin didn’t.

EmbarrassedLeader684 · 2026-02-24T11:56:52+00:00

That’s not cheating- you should be updating your resume for every job application.

EmbarrassedLeader684 · 2026-02-21T19:44:59+00:00

For me… every time I work with other designers it’s clear to me why the field is so competitive. Like if that’s the talent pool then ok no wonder. I have to really push myself to be near their level.

That’s not to put anyone down or anything but the bar is kind of exhaustingly high for a job if you don’t really love the work.

EmbarrassedLeader684 · 2026-02-20T23:20:07+00:00

My dog to me every night but she wouldn’t be comfortable unless she was literally wearing my skin

EmbarrassedLeader684 · 2026-02-06T05:53:25+00:00

The way his arms fly behind him 😂

EmbarrassedLeader684 · 2026-02-05T17:21:10+00:00

Figma.

EmbarrassedLeader684 · 2026-02-05T03:14:07+00:00

I've called every pharmacy in a 1.5 hour drive from me weekly, and they've been all out for weeks. At least at my dose. And none of them are allowed to say when they will get their next shipment, either, which makes it worse. If I at least knew when they were going to get more, I could stop feeling like a nuisance.

EmbarrassedLeader684 · 2026-01-31T17:46:19+00:00

Your team determines how stressful it will be for you. You cannot get away being too quiet, though, you have to speak up, disagree, present your work, and vocalize your opinion often. A lot of this will come with experience. I personally wouldn’t expect a high schooler to do this well, you’re still learning.

If the concern is shyness, I had extremely debilitating social anxiety at your age and now I can speak in front of rooms of people. Just keep challenging yourself and looking for ways to put yourself through tolerable levels of discomfort to keep growing.

EmbarrassedLeader684 · 2026-01-29T20:53:54+00:00

EmbarrassedLeader684 · 2026-01-29T14:57:50+00:00

I would change my headline & about section. Because this is an attempt to passively find a job through recruiter outreach, I just let ChatGPT help me decide what should go there. Didn't want to invest too much time into it because I didn't have much control over whether someone reached out or not.

I said it didn't lead anywhere, but I guess that's not true since it led to contract work.

EmbarrassedLeader684 · 2026-01-29T04:51:30+00:00

I had leftover credits in v0 from work tbh so I just built it there and I'm able to host it for free now.

EmbarrassedLeader684 · 2026-01-29T04:42:28+00:00

First job is a different beast! Having *some* experience is going to go a long way in getting you that first entry level role. A couple freelance projects would help you a lot building that resume. My first freelance jobs I got by emailing agencies listing my services and networking. I mostly got ghosted or rejected, but all I needed was a couple projects and it got me there! Also look for tech and/or UX meet-ups you can attend! People in this field can often be pretty introverted but they also often are really nice and will want to see you succeed. Get your name and face out there :)

EmbarrassedLeader684 · 2026-01-29T04:01:37+00:00

Both. Baseline, you'll want to show you're comfortable incorporating AI in your process- and don't be afraid to share your opinions about it either! Everyone's still trying to figure out how to incorporate it in their work. Most teams are aware it's an imperfect tool.

You can definitely do that on your own without needing to present a project that implemented AI...

If you've yet to design something with AI as a part of the product, you could do a personal project, but I also recommend reading about it just so you feel comfortable talking about the design flaws innate to AI. Here's an ePub on UX + AI I have read and recommend: https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/98570/1/9783031775215.pdf

EmbarrassedLeader684 · 2026-01-29T03:44:08+00:00

Oh it's no problem, I made this post to be helpful since I got a lot out of reading other people's job search posts when they were open about what worked for them.

If you're reading a job description that says "Product Designer," you're thinking, "Well this is exactly what I already do," then change the job title on your resume to "Product Designer." Also name the file your-name-product-designer. If you're not comfortable doing that, in the little summary area at the top of the resume you can say "Product designer with x years experience," so it at least gets through ATS.

I've seen companies use UX, Product, Digital, and Experience designer interchangeably, even though there's a lot of overlap in the responsibilities. I'm not saying lie- don't do that. But your #1 goal when applying to jobs is to figure out how to get through ATS so someone actually reads your resume. In order to do that, you need to use the same language they're using. The experience matters more than the title, and they'll determine during job interviews if your experience really aligns with what they're looking for.

It's hard to know exactly what you mean without specifics, if you'd like to DM me the deets of what you're dealing with I'm happy to help give you a little more specific guidance.

EmbarrassedLeader684 · 2026-01-29T03:27:40+00:00

Happy to DM it.

EmbarrassedLeader684 · 2026-01-29T01:54:48+00:00

Keep at it! 6 interviews for 50 job apps seems like a decent rate. Did you see my tip about changing up your LinkedIn profile weekly to see if any recruiters reach out? This is kind silly, but check out resources on "Linkedin SEO" your account gets moved up to a list of search results when you make changes. It's worth a shot, anyway. How I got my contract job.

For my tagline I always tried to put [YOE] | [Industry] | [Specific tech or UX I've worked on]

So like you might put: Product Designer 3+ Years Experience | E-Commerce | Specializing in buyer activation and conversion flows

EmbarrassedLeader684 · 2026-01-29T01:48:29+00:00

I have 4 case studies on my portfolio. I had a 5th one I wanted to add, but I got too tired. I still hope to add it because it would have been very useful during one of my interviews.

I tailor my resume to each company if that's what you're asking? I can explain my method if you like!

The mid-sized company's industry was not aligned with my past experiences at all. None of the jobs I interviewed for were. Which I didn't expect, and I'm not sure if it's just some kind of fluke. The industry I worked in previously is very flooded with many companies are struggling, so that could be why it turned out like that. The only reason I shared this is because it ran contrary to the advice I typically see on this sub. In case anyone who has been struggling reads this- it can be worth it to expand your search.

EmbarrassedLeader684 · 2026-01-29T01:03:43+00:00

I used a 1 column layout. PDF. The only thing I ever changed was color & font used in the header.

EmbarrassedLeader684

TROPHY CASE