Choosing a UX/UI career wasn’t always at the forefront of my mind. At times, I thought I’d become an architect, and other times, a filmmaker.

I want to make my story as actionable as possible for you. To do that, I’ll break it into phases of my UX/UI design career and include clear calls to action.

Freelance era

I stumbled into UX/UI design by accident. I was helping a friend create mobile app designs as a form of payment for rent. Soon, I realized there was significant demand for UX/UI services and decided to start freelancing. I was still studying at the time and needed some extra income. Additionally, I enjoyed the business aspect of freelancing and had the chance to explore various visual styles (I was completely immersed in the outstanding UIs showcased on Dribbble and Behance).

More importantly, I wanted my designs to have an impact. I loved helping people and felt a strong desire to be useful.

After about two years of freelancing, I decided to pursue UX/UI design full-time. I recognized the demand for my skills and knew it was the right path for me. That’s when I started looking for a full-time position.

Tips on How to Start Freelancing:

• Reach out to friends: See if any of your friends need design help.
• Search for freelance opportunities: Look on platforms like LinkedIn, Glassdoor, and Upwork.
• Showcase your work: Post your portfolio on Behance and Dribbble. Collect case studies that inspire you, and ensure your images are high quality. Don’t worry if your first designs are not satisfactory to you. Publish them regardless and make your next one better.
• Work you show doesn’t need to come from clients: You can also showcase personal explorations. Participate in daily UI challenges and post the results. You are the director of your portfolio, so treat it as your creative space. There’s no real limit to what you can display unless you've signed an NDA with a client and are unable to show the work you did for them.
  
• Mark yourself as available for work: On Behance, Dribbble, LinkedIn, and Glassdoor, make it clear that you’re open to projects.
• Keep improving your portfolio: Continuously enhance the quality of your posts on Dribbble and Behance. Doing this helped me get more exposure and attract new clients.
• Look for your style: Keep looking at profiles of other designers, and ask yourself, Why do I like it? This is how I gradually built my taste and understood which directions I wanted to dive deeper into.

Working on your portfolio as a freelancer will eventually help you land a full-time position — trust me!

UX/UI Design Course Era

Around the time I began searching for a full-time position in Amsterdam, I got the opportunity to move to California. I remember struggling to find a job, so I decided to take a professional UX/UI design course, hoping it would improve my chances — and it did!

I treated the course like a freelance project, using every opportunity to showcase the outcomes on platforms like Behance and Dribbble. I also wrote case studies on Medium. I was eager to build my portfolio with high-quality examples, and I genuinely enjoyed exploring new product ideas and visuals.

At the time, I was fascinated by blockchain technology, so I incorporated blockchain-related subjects into my projects. This allowed me to channel my creativity in a fun and productive way.

Every time you present or share your work with the world, you need to structure your thoughts and give your presentation a form. That is big! You train yourself to be a visual storyteller, but you also learn about yourself — What is my style of storytelling? How do I want to present my work? What is important to me and my audience?

Tips on Making the Most of Your Design Course:

• Leverage every project: Use each project as an opportunity to strengthen your portfolio.
• Document your process: Capture every step of the process and focus on producing interesting visuals.
• Explore creative ideas: Treat the projects as an outlet for your creativity — this often yields the best results.
• Publish your work: Share your projects on Medium, Behance, Dribbble, LinkedIn, and your personal portfolio website.
• Take advantage of internships: If your course offers an internship, don’t let the opportunity slip by. Aim for companies with a great reputation or those that will allow you to create another strong portfolio piece.

Full-Time Position Era

As soon as I completed my course, I began applying for jobs. I remember receiving a response from BCG not long after. The entire process was intimidating because I had never gone through something like that before.

When I was given a take-home exercise, I spent an entire week working on it. I made sure to research the subject thoroughly and explore multiple design options before settling on one. In the end, the recruitment process taught me a valuable lesson: when you have a good gut feeling about a job, it’s usually the right place to be. Consulting was the perfect fit for me because it allowed me to work on diverse products and industries. I discovered that I love working on complex projects, and my passion lies in helping engineers.

Tips on Landing Your First Full-Time Job:

• Use templates for your resume: It ensures consistent design, so you can focus on the content.
• Select a few strong portfolio examples: Choose your best work to showcase. When building your website portfolio, use existing templates like those available on Framer (Framer Portfolio Templates). This will help you display your work without worrying about designing the site itself.
• Organize your take-home exercise: When assigned a take-home exercise, use templates to present your process. Having a structured approach is a game changer!
• Save time with mockup templates: For take-home exercises, use mockup templates for your UX/UI designs so you can focus more on researching the subject matter.

I hope my experience and tips help you land your first job! I’m rooting for you! Let me know if there’s anything else I should include to help others in their job hunt.