Changing UX jobs during the pandemic: mission impossible or a good idea?
Are you thinking of changing jobs? Does it feel like an overwhelming undertaking? Add pandemic to the mix, and it can feel like mission impossible. However, it does not need to be that way.
I changed UX jobs during autumn 2020, just before the second wave (did the first wave even stop?). During the search, I was confronted by statements, such as:
- What if companies have not opened new roles?
- What if the competition for the open roles is too fierce?
- What if I am making a career mistake?
Long story short, when I look back at my experience, it has been a rewarding one. Nevertheless, it takes real courage and planning to embark on such a journey. You can do it. This is how you make sure that the returns are worth it.
How to approach job change in a pandemic? 🔍
Have you ever heard the phrase ‘passive job seeker’? This term describes employees, who are not actively looking for new opportunities but consider them if something interesting comes their way. Many articles state how advantageous it is to be in such a position because the best companies are actively pursuing this lucrative group. This belief was reinforced by many people I know, too.
However, from my experience, I can tell that believing that a dream job will land in your LinkedIn inbox while doing nothing, will stay just that.. a dream.
So, you need to push and plan. One of my best decisions was to get a career coach. My mentor helped me to understand what I want my next step to be. She gave me the best interviewing, networking and confidence-boosting advice. What really made the difference is that my coach challenged my old and unnecessary career beliefs. I never thought I needed such guidance until I got it. This was the incentive that transformed me from being a passive character to an active actor in my career journey. I managed to open up the UX job market like I never thought was possible and eventually land a UX job.
Justyna’s Pro Tip find a career mentor, invest in this relationship, listen to new advice, become active in your career decisions.
How to find a new job? 👀
Did you know that approximately 73% of new jobs are not even listed on job boards? Yes. You can’t find those openings on LinkedIn, on job boards, or in newspapers. So, if seven out of 10 jobs are not even advertised, where are they?
This is where the adage of ‘your network is your net worth’ applies. Yes, exactly, that friend of a friend, who you met at a conference once, might be looking to expand her team. The company she works for has not yet advertised that role, but the opportunity has already been created. 7 in 10 jobs are in such state at any given moment. The only challenge is to find them and unlock them. But how?
If the word ‘networking’ gives you a feeling of unease, try to reimagine it from a different angle. For example, the way I approached career networking is to envision it as a game and myself as a successful LinkedIn influencer. It might sound trivial, but it helped me to change my mindset on how I saw networking. How can my ideas get noticed? How can I find likeminded individuals to discuss trends that I am passionate about? Who are the people in my field that I admire? If I approach them, would they spend 30 minutes to chat with me? Guess what, they did!
Another useful idea is to find the perfect recruitment agency for your search. Agencies often hear about jobs first before they are being advertised. If the recruiter thinks you are a match for the role and company they will let you know first. Also if you are on the shyer spectrum when it comes to constant networking, recruiters are your best allies.
Justyna’s Pro Tip approach your job search as a job in its own right, start active networking, reach out to specialists you admire, work with recruiters.
What is different due to the pandemic? 🧐
Pluses ☀️
Having invested significant efforts in identifying opportunities, I can truly say that there were many UX opportunities in the market. Organisations, which operated pre-dominantly online before the pandemic, had even more open vacancies than usual. I was glad to see this heavy investment in good UX specialists. Other organisations realised they had to supercharge their digital transformations and needed UX expertise. So don’t believe the naysayers, your new dream role is also out there.
With regards to competition, it felt fierce but not fiercer than usual. If I applied for a job advertisement a few days after it was announced, I wouldn’t usually get an email back or the opportunity would even be closed after having received 200+ responses. However, if I reached the right people at the right time, there was always a chance.
Another pleasant discovery was that my current location and my future job’s location didn’t have to be the same. In the long run, I would need to relocate, yes, but for the first 2–3 months, the companies, which I applied for, were very flexible. I could start almost anywhere in the world.
Minuses ⛅️
Everything was virtual. On the one hand, I enjoyed it, as I didn’t need to leave my living room to have job interviews. However, it was also more difficult to form a sense for an organisation and the team I would be joining. In this new reality, many of us will have to trust our instincts when accepting an offer from a company, as we wouldn’t have met anyone in person. When in doubt, ask for additional conversations before making a final decision. They are much easier to arrange virtually and may just give you that final bit of detail to make up your mind. Good hiring managers also recognise this and go the extra mile in getting across the company culture in virtual interviews.
Summary 🤓📝
If you feel like you are ready to embark on a new career journey, don’t let the pandemic stop you. Be active in your career decisions. Maybe a career coach will give you a new, fresh perspective. Don’t be afraid to network and ask specialists in your field to have a virtual coffee with you. People are more giving than we sometimes believe. If you find it difficult to spend numerous hours on finding the next career step, consider contacting a recruitment agency. Lastly, the job search during the pandemic is different but it is not automatically worse. There are great opportunities out there and I am confident that you will find them.
