UX Designer Jobs and Where to Find Them

UX Designer Jobs

There is abundance of UX designer jobs out there. The problem is they are not always labeled as UX.

I put together a short guide to help you navigate confusing world of UX job titles and descriptions, and compiled a list of 20+ job boards where you can find a UX designer job locally or remotely. Hope it will help kickstart your career in UX Design (or advance to the next step)!

Where to look for UX jobs?

There is a number of general job boards that have tons of postings for UX designers. These will probably be the best source of UX job postings if you are looking to work locally.

There are also some specialized boards for UX and design job postings. There are also boards that specialize in remote work.

General Job Boards

General job boards might still be the best place to find a UX job.

Make sure to check several (if not all) boards. You will likely see lots of cross-posted positions, but you will also find some new opportunities. The set of posting will also change from board to board depending on the region you are in. Employers in your area might give preference to one board over the other, so take note of which boards tend to have more and fresher postings.

UX and Design Job Boards

There is also a good number of job boards that focus on UX and design job listings. Again, try as many of them as you can to see which one works

Local job boards

There might be some smaller job boards specific to your area. Google for them, or asked around. They might be a good source of career opportunities for you.

How to find UX jobs?

Good place to start looking for a UX designer job postings, is by using keyword UX Designer. You will probably get a bulk of relevant postings that way. But don’t stop there.

UX Designer Job postings on Indeed.com
UX Designer job postings on Indeed.com

When looking for a UX designer job keep in mind that different recruiters and companies might not use UX Designer for the job title, but rather use variations like:

  • Product Designer
  • UI Designer
  • UI/UX Designer or UX/UI Designer
  • Interface Designer
  • Web Designer
  • Usability Engineer
  • UX Architect
  • UX Engineer
  • Full-Stack Designer

While these titles can be used for a very specific job, they are often used interchangeably. Use them to extend your search, and make sure to check job descriptions for exact requirements. In some cases best way to learn about the job is during the job interview.

Do not rely on the title alone. Make sure to check job description for exact requirements.

If you are looking for entry level or junior position pay special attention to modifiers like “senior”, “principle”, etc. These job posting are definitely targeting experienced designers. There is no harm in studying them to see how you stack up against experienced candidates, but I wouldn’t recommend applying for these jobs.

Local vs Remote Job Opportunities

Most website will force you to select a geo area before running the search, so make sure you select an area where you want to work. This doesn’t apply to remote job opportunities.

Experiment with local searches to see if perhaps there are posting in nearby cities where you could potentially move to, or commute.

What to look for in a job posting?

Once you find some promising opportunities, it is time to look deeper into the job description.

Job description

Typically posting will contain a short snippet about the company and the job description. Sometimes it will be fairly general, and sometimes more specific.

By reading through the job description you can get an idea of what project the company is hiring for and what your day to day might look like.

If you are not familiar with the hiring company, it is a good idea to do some research. Visit their website, and social media profiles. Take a look at reviews on sites like Glassdoor.

Sometimes the posting will state that it is an entry level position. Most of the time you will have to figure it out yourself by reading the experience and education requirements.

Experience and Education Requirements

This is often the most intimidating part of any UX job description. You start evaluating yourself against the requirements, and the imposter syndrome kicks in.

It is important to stay cool and ration. Don’t be intimidated by the list of requirements, but study them thoroughly, and assess your chances.

Many postings will ask for 2-3 years of experience in the field, or relevant education. Don’t immediately dismiss these postings if you don’t have that many years of experience, nor specialized education.

Some (mostly large companies) are looking for specialists in a particular area, like User Research, or Information Architecture. In that case the job titles are typically accurate, and they mean exactly what they say. If you are going to apply for a specialist job be sure to have something to show for that particular area of expertise.

Specialist jobs will also typically call for a specialized and advanced degree, like MA or even PhD.

I suggest you evaluate each posting and weigh your chances to see if you might have something the employers will want. It might be that little experience you have matches the company’s needs perfectly and outweigh the lack of years or education requirements.

Skill Requirements

Most postings will also list required skills. You will find that most UX jobs call for a very similar skill set.

Most jobs will require some UX research and user testing skills, design skills, knowledge of particular tools like Sketch or alternatives, and some technical skills (most commonly HTML/CSS and JavaScript). However the depth of knowledge and experience in each area will vary from job to job.

Many companies are looking for generalists (full-stack designers), or T-shaped designers (designers with broad experience, but good at a particular aspect of design). This is true especially for junior and intermediate level designers.

Requirements for Job Application

And lastly, make sure to carefully read instruction and requirements for job application.

If they are asking for your resume as a PDF file, make sure it is a PDF.

Make sure your resume and CV (cover letter) are formatted nicely and have no typos. Make sure all the links work, and your portfolio is up and running.

Now you know where to find UX design jobs and what to look for in UX job descriptions. Hope it will help you land a great UX job! Let me know how it goes for you!

If you are just getting into UX Design, check out my guide on how to become a UX designer. I’d also highly recommend browsing through the UX design job postings to see what skills and experience are required to get noticed and hired, and start working on those.

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