This was an invited talk to help user experience practitioners create resumes and portfolios that will help them land that first or next UX job. The UX Fair is an annual event put on by UXPA Boston to mentor and support both experienced practitioners as well as those new to the field.

1. CRAFTING YOUR UX RESUME AND
DESIGNING YOUR PORTFOLIO
Jen McGinn
Head of UX, Veracode

2. 2Jen McGinn Nov 15, 2018
What is your goal?

3. 3Jen McGinn Nov 15, 2018
To get that first UX job or your next UX job

4. 4Jen McGinn Nov 15, 2018
But why should you listen to me?

5. 5Jen McGinn Nov 15, 2018
I’ve been mentoring since 2004. I’ve mentored Bentley MS HFID students since 2008 0r 2009.
And I’ve co-led the Boston UXPA mentoring activities with Bob Thomas since 2012.

6. 6Jen McGinn Nov 15, 2018
And I’ve been a hiring manager since 2013. I’ve hired
designers, researchers, writers, and interns.

7. 7Jen McGinn Nov 15, 2018
As a hiring manager, I was frustrated that we weren’t getting the kind of
candidates we were looking for, so during one of our hackathons, I
wrote a Medium article to help UX practitioners be more successful.

8. 8Jen McGinn Nov 15, 2018
Because my goal is to help you succeed at getting that next job.

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So as you look for that first job or that next job, there are a

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Your resume

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Your portfolio

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And the presentation of your work

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https://blog.prototypr.io/5-secrets-to-design-an-excellent-
ux-designer-resume-and-get-hired-981628826946
Reasons to reject a candidate
• Objective doesn’t match job
description
• Cover letter is for a different job
• Job hopping
• Too many pages
• Inconsistent typesetting
• Sloppy design
• Typos
• Poor grammar
• Bad writing
• Poorly designed portfolio
website
• Lousy portfolio

14. THE RESUME
Goal: get the recruiter to call you

15. 15Jen McGinn Nov 15, 2018
Do some competitive analysis
First, I’d expect you to do some competitive analysis

16. 16Jen McGinn Nov 15, 2018
Google “great UX design resume templates”

17. 17Jen McGinn Nov 15, 2018
Resume tips
• Find examples of resumes that align with your design
aesthetic
• Buy and modify a template that you like
• Know your fonts
• Do not borrow the design of your friend or colleague
(that just sounds lazy. because it is.)
• Secret: you do not need to have EVERY qualification in
the job description

18. 18Jen McGinn Nov 15, 2018
Resume content
• Name, contact email, phone number, portfolio link, link to
blog (if you write one)
• Objective/summary needs to align with the job you are
applying for
• Job titles, companies, dates of employment all need to be
clear and in order (don’t confuse the recruiter)
• Include relevant education & coursework
• Should be consistent with your LinkedIn profile

19. 19Jen McGinn Nov 15, 2018
Resume content
• All signal, no noise
• Tell the truth
• “responsibilities included” -> Challenge – Actions –
Results
• Focus on what you do at work, not what you do outside
of work
• “Lead” vs. “Led”
• Typos! (get proof-readers)

20. 20Jen McGinn Nov 15, 2018
Resume design
• One to two pages
• Layout is well organized
• Advanced organizers/titles/groups
• Descriptions should be brief and scannable
• Use Gestalt principles – alignment matters
• Sufficient white space
• Sufficient contrast between type and background

21. 21Jen McGinn Nov 15, 2018
Resume design
• Clean, readable font
• Use color intentionally and sparingly
• Use images and photos cautiously
• A gradient drop-shadow logo is not going to get you a UX job
• If you use a photo:
• Take out the background or have a head shot taken for this
purpose
• Use the same photo as you have on LinkedIn
• The interviewer should be able to recognize you in person from the
picture

22. 22Jen McGinn Nov 15, 2018
Resources
5 Secrets to Design an Excellent UX Designer Resume and
Get Hired
How to design your own resume
10 Amazing Designer Resumes that Passed Google’s Bar

23. THE PORTFOLIO
Goal: get the interview by showing you can do the job

24. 24Jen McGinn Nov 15, 2018
Do some competitive analysis
Again, I’d expect you to do some competitive analysis

25. 25Jen McGinn Nov 15, 2018
Google “great UX portfolio”

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Portfolio tips
• All the design tips from creating your resume, PLUS
• It’s a website, not a dropbox, not a google drive, not paper
in your hand (could be a slideshare)
• Use a website template that aligns with your design
aesthetic
• Customize it yourself
• Or get help from someone with web dev skills and/or visual design
skills
• If you use a vendor’s portfolio site, be sure you love
their UX

27. 27Jen McGinn Nov 15, 2018
Portfolio content
• All signal, no noise
• Name, contact email,
link to blog
• PDF resume
• About me
• Photo
• can be more personal or
creative than your
headshot
• How you define yourself
• Skills/work summary
• Design/research
philosophy
• 2 paragraphs, max

28. 28Jen McGinn Nov 15, 2018
Portfolio content: work samples
• Zoom out, blur areas, use fake data to protect your
previous employers and their customers
• Tell a story:
• Design: before, during, after
• Research: Goal/challenge, method, impact
• No proprietary information
• No customer names
• No slides marked proprietary or Confidential or Internal Only
• No user research results

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Portfolio design
• Work samples should be labeled and organized by type of work
• The URL should make sense to the recruiter/hiring manager
• Your name
• Easy navigation
• No “creative” interactions
• Piles of images
• Non-clickable buttons
• Giant fonts
• Mobile layout on the web
• Animated logos

30. 30Jen McGinn Nov 15, 2018
Resources
10 Tips for a killer UX portfolio
Three tips for creating a better UX portfolio
Great UX Portfolios
How to wow me with your UX research portfolio
8 UX Mistakes To Avoid On Your UX Portfolio Website
UX Portfolios: How to tell your story

31. THE PORTFOLIO
REVIEW
Goal: demonstrate to the team that you can do the job

32. 32Jen McGinn Nov 15, 2018
Portfolio review content
• Curate: Tell a few good stories from your portfolio
• 3 to 5 things that you are proud of
• Story has 3 parts:
• beginning, middle, end
• challenge, action, results

33. 33Jen McGinn Nov 15, 2018
Portfolio review design
• Do you re-use your portfolio site? What if you can’t get on
the wifi?
• Slides – another opportunity to show your information
design skills and design aesthetic
• Keep it clean and simple
• Love the slide template you use
• If you have visual design skills, use them
• If you have photography skills, use them

34. 34Jen McGinn Nov 15, 2018
During the presentation
• Know how to work your computer
• We all get nervous
• Let the portfolio be the only thing open and on the desktop
• Bring a dongle if you’ll need one
• Bring a backup (or two)
• What will you do if there’s no wifi?
• What will you do if you have to use another person’s system?

35. 35Jen McGinn Nov 15, 2018
During the presentation
• Manage your time effectively
• Talk about your work, not about the product
• Be the expert on your work
• Make eye contact with everyone
• Answer questions that are asked
• Consider the feedback being offered

36. 36Jen McGinn Nov 15, 2018
Interview tips
• Be friendly
• Be enthusiastic about your work, the role, the company
• Ask questions about the role, what it’s like to work there
• At the end
• Ask what the next steps are
• Ask for feedback
• Write thank-you notes or emails

37. I know that was a lot – but I want you to reach your goal

38. THANK YOU!
@jenmcginn
jmcginn at veracode dot com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifersmcginn