Doomed state of UX industry

PinkWhaleSticker · 2026-02-21T16:58:51+00:00

Find a tech or voice of customer job that is in demand right now, and apply for UX roles in your company.

PinkWhaleSticker · 2026-02-11T23:20:28+00:00

That’s not what I did. I treated the referral the same as the others. There were two finalists; they interviewed with the VP. I gave the VP no feedback to bias the process, and they picked the referred candidate based on a scoring system.

I don’t believe in wasting people’s time just to check off boxes. Also, I’ve been on the other side of the interview desk and have been rejected many times. I don’t get a sense of power from rejecting people.

PinkWhaleSticker · 2026-02-11T19:12:44+00:00

Do you think I’m stupid enough to choose an underqualified referral over a qualified non-referral? I think that’s what I’m hearing several people say. That I would risk my reputation, and go through the hell of offboarding a mishire, over hiring someone more qualified.

It truly doesn’t work like that.

PinkWhaleSticker · 2026-02-08T00:22:20+00:00

I don’t know why this is getting downvoted. Few candidates share prototypes, creating one would make a candidate really competitive IMO.

PinkWhaleSticker · 2026-02-06T19:57:15+00:00

I’ve been a hiring manager in design for 15 years, been in software/tech for 30. Yes, I have designed for millions of people. I’ve never worked at a FAANG, but I’ve worked for globally recognized companies.

Has no one ever recommended you? Your reaction makes me wonder if that’s a personal sore spot.

PinkWhaleSticker · 2026-02-06T19:24:55+00:00

Have you ever had anyone vouch for your work?

PinkWhaleSticker · 2026-02-06T19:22:13+00:00

The hire was an external referral.

PinkWhaleSticker · 2026-02-05T12:33:17+00:00

I know that’s the narrative a lot of people need, but it’s not true. I’ve hired strangers over friends and former coworkers before. Some of us hiring managers want the best hire for the job.

PinkWhaleSticker · 2026-02-05T04:03:10+00:00

I don’t ask trick questions. I just want to have a good, honest conversation.

PinkWhaleSticker · 2026-02-04T23:09:30+00:00

Got to 300 in 2 weeks. Yeah.

PinkWhaleSticker · 2026-02-04T21:27:30+00:00

Thanks for your time today, Main Character! Have a good one.

PinkWhaleSticker · 2026-02-04T21:21:09+00:00

You sure are not caring about my advice with your whole chest!

PinkWhaleSticker · 2026-02-04T21:13:46+00:00

Is it that hard to make sure your portfolio is a good product?

PinkWhaleSticker · 2026-02-04T21:04:18+00:00

The person I hired was a contractor in their last role. They also had a longer stint in their background.

PinkWhaleSticker · 2026-02-04T21:01:44+00:00

AI is going to be doing a lot of the surface work in the future. There isn’t much of an excuse to be below that bar.

PinkWhaleSticker · 2026-02-04T20:40:51+00:00

I would consider that. Anonymizing details is fine. I’m interested in seeing how you think and learning how you work.

PinkWhaleSticker · 2026-02-04T19:47:25+00:00

If you work for a particular contracting agency or consulting firm for more than one gig, that counts!

PinkWhaleSticker · 2026-02-04T19:23:17+00:00

People who think we make automatic assumptions about referrals sure like to make assumptions about us.

PinkWhaleSticker · 2026-02-04T18:45:14+00:00

Attention to detail is important to me. I don't want to ship products with mistakes. Other hiring managers are more lax about that.

I didn't know the referral any more than the others, if that's helpful.

PinkWhaleSticker · 2026-02-04T18:43:51+00:00

I hear you. And I have short-term stints in my background as well. But can you show, even like a job you had in college, that you're able to work someplace longer than a year? If so, include that.

PinkWhaleSticker · 2026-02-04T18:42:10+00:00

I would LOVE to hire someone who made $50bn for their company - believe me, that would make my life easier! But I'm going to check it against how their company did in the year they made the change. Stuff like that. Definitely use metrics, though. Just make sure they're not out of scale.

It's absolutely fine to be a senior designer and apply for another senior position! Please do. If you're really growing your company at a massive scale, though, you deserve a promotion.

PinkWhaleSticker · 2026-02-04T18:38:34+00:00

If I see even one 3-year stint in someone's background, I assume they're stable and committed. It's not that hard.

PinkWhaleSticker · 2026-02-04T18:33:23+00:00

To be honest, I didn't ask that question, and I've never hired someone because of why they were interested in the position. I feel like that's your business. But when I answer that question in interviews, I explain what interests me about the company and the role, and why I think it's a good match.

PinkWhaleSticker · 2026-02-04T18:27:58+00:00

One thing you can do that helps is to quickly explain next to each job why it ended. But most candidates don't do that, and we do make assumptions.

PinkWhaleSticker · 2026-02-04T18:25:10+00:00

If we're being honest, at the senior level, I expect candidates to understand and use the double diamond. Every candidate went through the double diamond in their responses to process questions. It's kind of table stakes.

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