User experience is a booming field that I get asked about a lot. After hearing about what a user experience designer does, most people want to know how they can become one. There are really only four main steps to land a job as a user experience designer:

Step 1: Use College Resources

Find an on campus job as a UX Designer. Campuses across the nation have IT departments or maybe even “Customer Experience” departments, as mine is called. These departments will often have openings for UX Designers to work on college websites or apps. Depending on the program, this can be an excellent opportunity for learning new skills related to UX.

Campuses across the nation have IT departments or maybe even “Customer Experience” departments, as mine is called. These departments will often have openings for UX Designers to work on college websites or apps. Depending on the program, this can be an excellent opportunity for learning new skills related to UX. Look for clubs and courses related to UX design. The courses will often be labeled as Human-Computer Interaction or Interaction Design. They are most often found in the cognitive science, computer science, or design departments. Some schools, like mine, even offer specific courses called User Experience/User Interface Design which focus on coding through HTML/CSS and designing through both Sketch and Adobe Creative Suite.

The courses will often be labeled as Human-Computer Interaction or Interaction Design. They are most often found in the cognitive science, computer science, or design departments. Some schools, like mine, even offer specific courses called User Experience/User Interface Design which focus on coding through HTML/CSS and designing through both Sketch and Adobe Creative Suite. If your university offers none of these courses, take education into your own hands. Find online resources: visit Coursera, Udemy, Youtube, etc. and start learning on your own time. My first introduction to UX was through a Stanford Human-Computer Interaction course and it was still the best course I have taken on the subject to this day. Not only are these courses interesting, but they will also help you decide if a career in UX is for you.

Step 2: Get Social

Create a twitter (this is a big one) — twitter is not just for memes and FreddyAmazin influencer accounts. Twitter is a useful tool for finding like-minded designers and people interested in tech. Twitter is a platform that will allow you to make friends with people interested in the same things as you. Notice I didn’t say network. Don’t focus on networking and being “professional” — just be friends with people. Be cool.

(this is a big one) — twitter is not just for memes and FreddyAmazin influencer accounts. Twitter is a useful tool for finding like-minded designers and people interested in tech. Twitter is a platform that will allow you to make friends with people interested in the same things as you. Notice I didn’t say network. Don’t focus on networking and being “professional” — just be friends with people. Be cool. Learn through Twitter by following people in UX. Twitter will help you keep up with thoughts from people in the industry. If you don’t know who to follow, start with me :) and then follow my followers, and so on.

Twitter will help you keep up with thoughts from people in the industry. If you don’t know who to follow, start with me :) and then follow my followers, and so on. Start posting on Medium. This will show employers that you are serious about the field and have thoughts that are worth sharing. It can also help you to expand your mind and focus on new areas of UX.

This will show employers that you are serious about the field and have thoughts that are worth sharing. It can also help you to expand your mind and focus on new areas of UX. Get on Dribbble. You need an invite code to make an account and start posting, but it’s valuable to browse the site daily. This will help you keep up with current design trends and get you familiar with designing for different platforms.

You need an invite code to make an account and start posting, but it’s valuable to browse the site daily. This will help you keep up with current design trends and get you familiar with designing for different platforms. Go to meetups in your area. Meetups are useful for connecting with people in your immediate area that are working in UX. Many projects and relationships have been made through meetups.

Step 3: Start Creating

Download the free trial of sketch and start re-designing popular apps. This will help you apply your theoretical knowledge from classes to real products. It shows that you not only know UX methods, but you can make a product with “design thinking” throughout it.

This will help you apply your theoretical knowledge from classes to real products. It shows that you not only know UX methods, but you can make a product with “design thinking” throughout it. Look for hackathons and startup weekends in your area. This will expose you to working on a team environment with real deadlines. You will be creating a product in a short amount of time, hopefully building friendships in the process.

This will expose you to working on a team environment with real deadlines. You will be creating a product in a short amount of time, hopefully building friendships in the process. Start building a portfolio. Only do this when you have a good amount of work to show for it. I am still currently working on developing a decent portfolio — don’t rush it. You want to showcase good work, not half-done projects.

Step 4: Start Applying

Apply for internships. Big companies are always looking for new hires, apply whenever you feel you have a decent amount of work to show for. If you did twitter and medium right, you should have a lot of friends in the field that you can reach out to.

Big companies are always looking for new hires, apply whenever you feel you have a decent amount of work to show for. If you did twitter and medium right, you should have a lot of friends in the field that you can reach out to. Look for work year-round. I’m a big believer in working throughout the year. Even if it’s just freelance work or an internship doing UX for your university, you should always be working on something. I even wrote an article on this here.

Not a Step: Have Fun