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In this article, you’ll find details of my personal experience on becoming a UX/UI designer at a big tech company (full-time position) with no previous work experience or related degree.

First, I would like to clarify that I never took any class or workshop related to design, as it is a rather expensive option. Instead, I chose another path: learning by myself.

Here are my key takeaways if you aim to do the same.

Prepare for a marathon, not a sprint

I was definitely in the right mindset for learning and making changes, and I was ready to start a study period which normally takes a long time before becoming successful. Therefore, I knew I had to prepare for a marathon, not a sprint. This is why I decided to not only learn about design but also about philosophy to keep a positive mindset. Thankfully, I successfully fought several flaws that were holding my learning back.

Photo by ben stern on Unsplash

My theoretical knowledge at this stage was basically nonexistent. For one year, I systematically went through tons of books, articles, blogs, talks, and videos—anything I could find about design—with a slight preference for emotional design and psychology.

During this period, I devoured as much theoretical knowledge as I could and stayed away from the practical aspect because I felt I wasn’t ready. You can consider learning design like Maslow’s pyramid: you first need a base of theoretical knowledge, followed by the practical.

Practicing the craft: Futility is the enemy

After having assimilated most of the UX basics, I started implementing them into practical aspects—obviously without stopping my theoretical learning. I experimented with popular UX/UI design software like Figma, Sketch, Axure, and Adobe XD. I found myself most comfortable with Adobe XD, likely because it was in beta, meaning a new feature came out every week, allowing me to grow my skills at the same rhythm.

I tried to apply what I learned previously. Importantly, I kept writing about how and why I redesigned any UI. It helped me maintain an objective point of view, allowing me to spot and correct weaknesses.

Photo by Fleur Treurniet on Unsplash

While in the process, you must stay focused and avoid distractions. As I said previously, you are running a marathon, not a sprint, so obviously you might have distractions like going out, sports, or social life.

The kind of distractions I’m talking about are the ones you bury yourself in to avoid dealing with the obstacles between you and your dream job. This could be digging into Dribbble to build a fake network, passing time on Slack channels, or redesigning your portfolio for the 10th time that month.

These can all be considered dangerous distractions because you feel like you’re achieving something useful for your career, but in fact, you’re not. You’re simply wasting time instead of actually practicing the craft.

Surround yourself with great people

At this point, I had a lot of work done, but how could I know if it met the needs of the design industry? Post it on Dribbble? Behance? Reddit?

Why not—but most of the time, you’ll end up with meaningless or stereotypical comments. No one is going to explain in depth how you could have considered an interaction or how you should direct your vision on future projects. At this point, it becomes hard to progress; you can expect to be stagnant, wandering without direction.

Having mentors solved these problems for me.

To find a mentor fitting your expectations, you must resonate with their work. You must understand and support their personality to have good communication. At the same time, you must feel challenged by their work so they push you outside your comfort zone.

I personally chose to have two mentors with different backgrounds:

• Stefanie, UX/UI designer (Freelance/Agency)
• Yura, UX designer (Electronic Arts)

Both had a different apprehension about design thanks to their working fields. Even their education paths were widely different. I was truly lucky to meet them because having successful people with different views on my work greatly helped me.

I communicated weekly with Stefanie & Yura. Whenever I had a question or needed advice on a project, I contacted them. With Stefanie, I also had a monthly Skype call where she advised me on my next project or what skill to practice for my portfolio.

Don’t slow yourself down because you have a mentor. Continue side projects, do more than they tell you to do, and explore every idea they give you. They’ll be glad to see how devoted you are. Don’t fall into laziness; it’s about respecting your mentors and your own career.

Also, most importantly: don’t forget that you’re responsible for your career. A mentor can show your work around and inspire you, but they will not network you into the industry for free. You must stay respectful toward someone sacrificing their time to help you.

Being a mentor doesn’t have monetary rewards; it comes from a kind gesture. So be grateful toward people trying to make you a better designer, keep an open mindset, and above all—never cease to thank them.

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FAQ: The Application Process

Here’s a follow-up since I got a lot of questions related to applying for jobs.

When to apply?

You need to be able to design any kind of project under professional needs. This means thinking quickly about a solution and possible alternatives, reconsidering your work to see the big picture (how your proposal solves future needs and profitability), and handling details (micro-interactions, copywriting). You should be able to merge what you learned with what the company wants you to do with as little friction as possible before applying.

If you have a mentor, ask them to try an iteration loop on a specific project and see how far you can push it while staying relevant. Stay aware of requirements by checking job positions and try to gather missing skills (but don’t be too hard on yourself; many companies won’t be harsh if you’re missing one skill from their list).

Make sure you have a portfolio with at least 2 projects: they can be UI/UX redesigns, case studies, or user interviews. Describe your workflow carefully: how you got these ideas, why you took decisions, and what your solutions are.

You can have a strict structure divided into parts—it can look academic—but do whatever you need to clarify your workflow. And do not forget to add an “About Me” section; your future co-workers will definitely want to know more about you.

Where to apply?

It depends on what you want: a specific industry or a general role. Be curious. Try to find people working where you’d like to work and ask them questions about the atmosphere to see if you fit in.

Don’t be afraid to apply. You have nothing to lose. If you experience rejection, it’s actually a blessing—you’ll be able to learn from it and correct what’s wrong for future interviews.

To apply, consider country-based websites, LinkedIn, and AngelList. Importantly, check the career pages of your favorite big companies regularly; you’ll often find open positions there even if they aren’t actively seeking on social media.

How to deal with the interview process?

From my experience, it was mainly 3 steps:

1. The Recruiter Chat: A first approach to see if your CV/portfolio is real and if you could be a cultural fit.
2. The Team Call: A call with the lead UX/UI designer, developer, or project manager. They’ll ask specific questions to see what your workflow looks like. Don’t feel illegitimate because you’re self-taught; use it as a strong point. It says you can fight the odds and aren’t afraid of challenges. Show that you have a wide spectrum of skills, are open-minded, and can adapt quickly because you are a quick learner.
3. The Interview: You will likely meet the people from the phone call and possibly a director or CEO. They’ll ask personal questions (background, current situation) and specific design-related ones. There is a high chance you’ll have to pass a test to prove you can do the work.

Most of the time, it’s a rapid test (20 minutes). It can be a discussion solving quick user problems or a redesign exercise where you sketch rapid wireframes on paper. If they like your way of thinking, your workflow, and your knowledge, you should get an offer pretty soon.

However, if not, learn from it. Identify what went wrong and correct it, but don’t be too harsh on yourself. You cannot fit into every company. Also, consider that you need to be at the right place at the right time; good opportunities can take time to appear.