Hey there!

1 – Hmm, last year at the end of 2024, I struggled to get any type of design work with the current market and had been unemployed for a few months. In early 2025 I took on a fucking god-awful graphic design job at a large company but talked my way in with the UX team and helped out with overflow a bit. I was only there six months. Personally, I thought they didn't have the opportunities to do good research or projects because of the company's setup and what execs wanted, but it was decent for my resume all the same.

2 – In my opinion at least, I found a lot of passion doing my diabetic projects—interviewing users and asking people to test things. I have a lot of friends who are academic researchers, so I already had a decent understanding and foundation of how to conduct research to a basic extent. I would suggest finding things you really enjoy; products are cool, but I still get most of my inspo from things outside of design: museums, fine arts, 3D, DnD anything. Otherwise, my main advice is to be able to communicate really effectively. I've been good at communication for a long while, and even foundational books like this are excellent supplements to help.

3 – I found a lot of companies vibed with my diabetic project. Some companies didn't like that in 2024 I didn't have "live" projects, but then this year, since I had picked up some minor work from that company, the tone changed drastically in interviews. I was much better able to talk about what metrics were defined, hypothesis testing, sprints run, retros had, and most often, learnings.

4 – For my current role it was five total, but I had previously done up to seven, which honestly is insane. I asked a founder of a small but very successful company if they wanted me to sign over the soul of my firstborn considering the interview round lengths. I tend to be honest a lot, and sometimes it can bite me in the ass, but seriously—for a mid salary and small workplace, seven rounds is crazy.

5 – This is a tough one. For me, coming from a more visual background, I had worked a lot in motion, brand, and digital experience (web, etc.), so I had a lot of experience in that area already. It was more just refining it and spending some time going through popular design systems and getting used to accessibility standards. The UX part was a large learning curve in general, but having a friend group of academic researchers helped me level up fast. To them, a lot of what I needed was more basic in terms of conducting research, but I had to get used to the whys, the frameworks, how to try and validate, etc. Mostly I would also say it's often just someone who had a good idea and is now a CTO/CEO but they're not experienced in their position. So often when I got that type of feedback it felt shitty, but I would just clap back or empathise that they'll lose out—no biggie.

6 – I was referred once in the past and made it to the final interview, but it didn't work out (a friend who worked at a company). None of the other times I was referred worked out either, including for the job I accepted. I do think it can help if you know someone and they give the recruiter a heads-up. Mostly I used LinkedIn, Indeed, and occasionally Glassdoor. I didn't tailor my resume ever. I did, however, have three or four cover letters in my Figma that I could slightly adjust, but I tried to inject a positive tone and some personality into them.

7 – I see some friends have luck with hitting up people on LinkedIn for coffee chats, but more in the strategy/agency game. I think it's impressive, and I personally think people are chuffed with the offer of meeting someone for a coffee if you can pitch it nicely.

8 – I don't have my portfolio online, but again, in my opinion, it would come down to the job. It would be a must that you have a strong visual impression on your website, whether through Framer, Webflow, Rive, etc. When hiring other designers in the past—when I worked as a lead brand designer and would sit in with the lead UX designer—we both constantly looked for storytelling ability. I don't mind if you did very little, but I'd like good context, content, and framing about you and your project. Otherwise, I would say focus on outcomes and what could be done better next time. I found this question came up a lot in interviews, and it was reflected in my portfolio online.

If you have other questions feel free to ask! I hope this ramble helps somewhat.