The Best Way To Get Product Design Experience When You Have None
Watch & Listen:
Junior product designers know what it is like. To get a job you need experience; and to get experience, you need a job. How do you break free of this annoying circle? The internet is full of generic suggestions that do not really get you anywhere. Luckily, there's a better way.
In this episode of The Design Table Podcast, Tyler and Nick tackle the experience-job circle mentioned above. They skip the tired advice of redesigning a famous website and focus on what gets you real clients, real work, and real proof.
Tyler makes the case for doing free work the right way, from pitching local businesses a redesign in exchange for a testimonial to building a home services website before you even reach out. Nick explains why good outreach makes things easier for the other person, and shares the Loom and FigJam combo that gets him a reply almost every time.
They also get honest about timelines. Bootcamps promise a new career in weeks. Nick puts it closer to two years and Tyler caps it at one year if you're willing to make sacrifices.
Key takeaways
"When everyone answers 'a or b' with a or b, answer with 'how about c' — that kind of thinking is very impressive, and it's what actually sold my first real project."
"I'm offering free redesigns to my first three clients in exchange for testimonials—do the best work possible, best customer service, making sure your client's goals are met, and in the end you have the proof down on paper with a testimonial that you can actually do the work, which gets you a leg up above the rest."
Watch it on YouTube
Hosts
Tyler White
Tyler White is a Principal Product Designer with 15 years of experience in B2B SaaS and fintech, helping teams scope, frame, and connect design work to real business outcomes.
Nick Groeneveld
Nick Groeneveld is a freelance UX and product designers from the Netherlands. He started his design career in 2015 and has since then worked for startups, government agencies, and corporations.
