The No-Ask Policy (for Job-Hunting & Networking)

Let’s talk about what I refer to as the "No Ask" Policy 💡

During my job search in 2022, ~80% of my interviews were a result of direct outreach to job posters: whether it was the hiring manager, recruiter, or a potential teammate for the role. My big secret? The "No Ask" Policy™️😆 I also used this approach when job searching in November 2023 and, though I received way fewer direct responses, I still interviewed with 9 companies, most of which I cold applied to.

How did I come up with this? My mentor, an engineering manager who has worked in tech for over 10 years, helped contextualize the purpose for outreach. If the goal is that you want to get your name and information in front of someone, then there’s no reason to ask a question just to ask a question. And, even if you have a genuine question to ask, he still cautioned against using this initial outreach to do so: “Is this question absolutely necessary to ask at this juncture? Could it wait until an interview?”

In many ways, his advice was very human-centered —

Respect people’s time and attention
Provide job posters with information that may help you both (like giving them a short elevator pitch)
Don’t force someone to answer you by asking a question you actually don’t need the answer to currently.

So, what exactly is the "No Ask" Policy?

Whenever someone posted a role I was interested in (on LinkedIn or elsewhere), I'd shoot them a message with a brief elevator pitch - mine was just 8 sentences - tying my background to the role. But most importantly? No requests or questions or "asks". No "can we chat?" No "can I pick your brain?" No "do you have time for a coffee chat?" No obligations or expectations. Period.

It might sound strange and maybe even counterintuitive but I think the "No Ask" Policy brings a breath of fresh air to the often transactional nature of networking online. By not demanding a response from job posters, you show respect for their time. You offer information they might find useful BUT with no strings attached. This low-pressure tactic can actually encourage more genuine engagement. By removing the obligation to respond, you allow the person on the receiving end the choice of whether to engage with you or not. An example of this: In my job hunt in 2022, I received lots of responses and even offers for referrals, coffee chats, etc. — but most importantly, I landed interviews despite cold applying to a lot of roles. In 2023, despite not receiving ANY responses to my “No Ask” elevator pitches, I still landed interviews with companies I was cold applying to. I also have friends who have tried this out in late 2023 and found it effective in their job searches as well!

In terms of networking this strategy is also great because it not only landed me interviews but also helped me meet a bunch of awesome people, some of whom I’m still in touch with today. In fact, one of them is actually now my coworker because, though I didn’t end up working for her company back in 2022, she ended up coming to work with me!

I hope more people try the "No Ask" Policy! If you do try it out, I'd love to hear how it goes!

Search more blog posts:

Building a UX Research Portfolio

Lately, I’ve been getting a lot of questions about UX Research portfolios. Why do UX Researchers need one? Which projects should be included? How do you organize the information? Where do you even start? Well, I’m here to answer these questions so let’s dive into it!

Why do you need a UX Research portfolio?

Portfolios haven’t always been needed to apply for UX Research roles. Technically, they still aren’t “required” for most UX Research roles now. Some people even feel like UX Researchers don’t need a portfolio. What I’ll say to that is it’s ultimately each individual’s choice whether they want to create a portfolio or not. And, yes, maybe it is unfair that we need portfolios in the UX field when so many other fields don’t need one. But, in this job market, my stance is to do everything you can to position yourself to stand out as a candidate. When you view recruiters and hiring managers as your users, there are a few things you can do to make their lives easier:

Craft an elevator pitch to summarize your background
Create a resume that displays your experience
Build a portfolio that demonstrates how you think and problem-solve, which is what we’re here to chat about today!

As a UX Research hiring manager, having access to both a candidate’s resume and their portfolio gives me a much clearer picture of who a candidate is and how they think, before we even meet in an interview.

Which projects should be in a UX Research portfolio?

When deciding what projects to include in a UX Research portfolio, I would start off by creating a list of the projects you’ve worked on. If you haven’t ever created a portfolio before, this could be anything you’ve worked on in the last ~3ish years. This will give you a high-level overview of the types of projects you’ve done. You can even start bucketing (or affinity mapping 😅) your projects into categories such as:

Qualitative vs. quantitative
Foundational research vs. generative research vs. evaluative research
Information architecture
By methodologies used: user interviews, surveys, cognitive walkthrough, contextual inquiry, stakeholder mapping, service blueprints, card sorts, tree tests, etc.
Rapid research
And more!

Once you have a categorized list, you can start narrowing down what projects you’d like to highlight in a portfolio. I usually recommend 3-5 portfolio pieces. If you have more than 5, I would try to narrow it down because a hiring manager will spend maybe 10m on your portfolio the first time they look at it so make it easy for them to navigate and get the information they need.

When choosing your final portfolio pieces, I recommend showing diverse projects and methodologies to show the breadth of your capabilities. For example, if you take a look at my portfolio, you’ll see the following (as of May 2024):

Research-backed user personas for a cybersecurity company
Information architecture for a security admin console
Service design and process improvement for a small NASA contractor
Rapid research (2 mini case studies in one) showcasing quick research efforts that took between 2-4 weeks total
Management & mentorship - selected examples highlighting my experience in these areas, as well as speaking engagements

How should the information be organized in a UX Research portfolio case study?

There are many different ways of organizing your UX Research portfolio. To get some ideas, I highly recommend checking out Aona Yang’s YouTube video How to Create a UX Research Portfolio. Also, check out the portfolios of some UX Researchers you know/follow (if they have publicly available ones). This will help you finalize a plan for how you want to organize your portfolio case studies!

Taking into account research storytelling and the impact of research, here’s how I organize my portfolio case studies:

Project Summary: This can include your role, the high-level objectives, cross-functional partners, timeline, etc.
Background: Short but needed context to understand the project
Key Insights: 2-4 key insights and recommendations that came out of the research
Research Impact: How this research impacts the Business, the Strategy (product strategy, project strategy, etc.), and the Users
Methodologies: What methodologies were used during this research study
Reflections & Learnings: What did you learn from this project (highlight soft skills, conflicts, etc. here)

And there you go! You’re on your way to building your UX Research portfolio 🙌🎉

Crafting your Perfect Elevator Pitch: A Step-by-Step Guide

Intro

You're in a job interview and your interviewer says, "So, tell me about yourself." How do you normally answer❓ During my job search in 2022 (when I was first pivoting into tech), my mentor helped me develop an elevator pitch. 🛗 Now, it's my turn to share that advice with you!

How to craft your elevator pitch

📝 Let's write your personal elevator pitch in 5-8ish sentences:
1. 🗣️ Intro: Start with a brief introduction of yourself and your role. If you are pivoting, this should be the role you are looking to pivot into. (1 sentence)
2. 🗣️ Education: Mention relevant educational background or qualifications. You can skip this if this doesn't apply to you. You can also switch this with experience if your education is less recent. (1 sentence)
3. 🗣️ Experience: This is where you would highlight your most recent relevant work experiences and achievements, including any role-relevant methodologies and skills. (1-3ish sentences)
4. 🗣️ Other Relevant Methodologies/Skills: Discuss other specific methodologies, skills, or areas of expertise relevant to your role that you haven't mentioned yet. (1-2 sentences)
5. 🗣️ Additional Skillsets: Optionally, transition into any additional skills or experiences that complement your current role. This is especially relevant if you pivoted but have transferrable skills. Always tie it back to the role you're applying to. (1 sentence)

Example of an elevator pitch

🌱 My elevator pitch from 2022:
I’m a UX Researcher with a foundation in Service Design. I have a master’s in UX from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), where I focused on mixed methods UX research. In my current position as a Service Designer & Researcher at a NASA contractor, I have overhauled all corporate processes and procedures by building a scalable infrastructure to support future company growth. Throughout this project, I have employed various UX research methodologies such as journey mapping, user interviews, contextual inquiries, focus groups, user surveys, and usability testing. Prior to pivoting into UX, I had over a decade of experience as a visual designer, which has served me well in my UX career as I can take projects from planning and problem-scoping through generative research to ideation, sketching, and wireframing.

Further thoughts

💡 Use your resume to help you write steps 3 and 4.
💡 The longer your career, the more you *could* add to steps 3 and 4 but try to keep your elevator pitch to ~1-1.5 minutes. There will be plenty of time to get into the nitty gritty throughout a job interview. Your pitch should be a good high-level intro of who you are and your skills.
💡 Practice saying your elevator pitch out loud to make sure it sounds and feels natural!
💡 Use this elevator pitch for the "No-Ask" policy (if you're unfamiliar, learn more: https://lnkd.in/ewrcGTqP).

Outro

As you write your elevator pitch, remember: your story is your superpower. 🦸 I hope this guide helps you as you network and job search!

Navigating Layoffs: Advice That Helped Me in November 2023

I was laid off at the beginning of November 2023. It wasn’t my first time being laid off (the last one was January 2015), but it was still a huge shock. Maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised, given the tech landscape in 2023. But, to be honest, it really affected me on a deep emotional level. I had so many thoughts swirling through my head: Who am I outside of my job? Why does this feeling of not having control feel so triggering? What does “productive member of society” mean in late-stage capitalism?

About a month after my layoff, I put together a list of advice that were helpful for me in navigating life post-layoff and now I’m going to share that here with you all:

✨ TAKE BREAKS: Don't spend all day every day on LinkedIn. Get up and do things that feed your soul. Exercise, read a good book, watch TV, laugh with friends, cook dinner, play with your dog, make art. I made it a point to take Sundays off of job hunting, even though it was hard. But this helped my brain get some rest from the endless scrolling on LinkedIn and job boards.

✨ REMEMBER THE BASICS: Drink water and feed yourself. My former manager said this to me one day after my layoff and I was like 🤯 whoa. It might seem obvious but sometimes you get caught up and forget the simple things!

✨ FIND COMMUNITY: Despite the stress that comes from being laid off, there were silver linings. The outpouring of support was incredible. I got to spend time with + meet so many awesome, generous people during my job hunt after the layoff. ❤️

✨ CELEBRATE YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS: In prepping for interviews, I got to reflect on all of the awesome work I've done in the past few years. Acknowledge your skills and remind yourself, "I'm great at what I do." It's more important now than ever to reflect on that.

✨ FEEL THE FEELINGS: This might be the most important one. It's okay to be angry, sad, disappointed, nervous, and upset. That's normal and totally warranted. It's also okay to feel optimistic, excited, and refreshed. That's also normal and totally warranted. Every emotion is valid. And you will likely feel completely different day to day. That’s also normal and totally warranted.

If you're navigating a layoff right now, know that you're not alone, you're awesome, and you've got this 💪 I hope these small reminders can help during this time.

Taking Control: Strategies for Standing Out in a Difficult UX Job Market

I've seen a lot of posts on LinkedIn lately discussing hiring in UX, especially highlighting how tough the UX job market is right now. There's absolutely no doubt that we're in a difficult job market -- I myself was just recently job hunting and know how few fully remote UX Research roles there were.

We can’t control the nature of the market right now. But what we can do is focus on the aspects of your job search that *are* within your control to help position yourself for success (and get that initial interview!).

🗂️ Portfolio:

I know portfolios are newer for UX researchers but, in a market this rough, do anything and everything in your control to present your skills as a candidate. A portfolio provides another way to showcase your abilities so take advantage of that! Remember, a resume talks about your history, but a portfolio shows how you think -- this is what hiring managers are looking for, regardless of the type of UX role you’re looking for.

📄 Resume:

I always recommend following the "what I did, how I did it, why I did it (impact or projected impact)" formula for writing your resume bullet points. I did a whole post on it here. You can also check out my LinkedIn because the bullet points on my profile are written in the same format.

🤝 Users:

As a UX professional, approach building your resume and portfolio as UX projects. Who are your users? Recruiters, hiring managers, maybe even the ATS! What are their needs? Think about what a recruiter is looking for compared to a hiring manager. And then build your resume and portfolio case studies to be usable and skimmable for both of them. On an initial pass, no one can sit down and read every single sentence of either a resume or a portfolio, even in a "normal" job market. Right now, especially, every role has 100s of applicants! The easier your resume and portfolio are to skim, the better! If you want feedback, use adplist.org to sign up for free mentorship and have multiple mentors review your resume and portfolio.

I personally iterated on my resume and portfolio multiple times throughout my recent job search! Though this job market is a difficult one, I'm hoping that these tips can help you prepare as you search for your next role! 🙌

Writing Impactful Resume Bullet Points

When I was pivoting into UX and tech, my mentor gave me a piece of resume advice that I still use today (and always pass along to mentees) 🙌💡

This formula for writing your resume bullet points is super simple but extremely effective 👇

What you did,
How you did it,
& Why you did it (and/or what the impact was)

Here are a couple of examples (from my own resume):

Created service design frameworks to overhaul corporate processes, leveraging generative research methodologies (including stakeholder interviews and focus groups), to support company growth and increase bidding opportunities
Conducted user surveys using attitudinal research methodologies and survey tagging to identify potential areas for process improvement

This formula not only provides additional context to recruiters and hiring managers, but it also demonstrates your understanding of the purpose behind your work and how it aligns with user, product, and/or business strategies. 💪

So take a moment to revisit your resume and give this method a try! It will really make a huge difference in how you showcase your skills and accomplishments during your job search 🚀

Psst... You're Networking Wrong

Networking is Not Cold Calling ❌

New UXers are always advised to network, network, network! But many don't know how, especially in a virtual context.

So here's the big secret: Networking is NOT cold calling. ❌

Imagine you're at an in-person conference. You sit next to someone during a panel discussion and they ask a great question. You might lean over and whisper, "Thanks for asking that!" This could lead to you having a longer conversation later, grabbing a coffee, connecting on LinkedIn, and staying in touch.

Now, imagine you're at that same in-person conference. You see someone with a name tag: Sahar, UX Researcher. You walk up to them and say, "Hi, I'm looking for a role in UX Research. Are you available to get a coffee so I can pick your brain?" Maaaybe they'll say yes. But, more likely, it'll be super awkward because it will feel super out of the blue (and even pushy).

This applies to virtual networking, too. "Cold call" messaging someone and asking them for a coffee chat right off the bat can be very hit or miss. For example, I get so many "cold call" requests for coffee chats that I wouldn't have time to do anything else if I said yes to them all! So I generally have to decline and refer them to my ADPList waitlist.

So, How Should We Be Networking?

Here are a couple of my tips on how you can network successfully in a virtual environment:

Read people's LinkedIn bios to get a feel for their interests, even the things that aren't work-related! What is one of their hobbies? Do you like doing that, too? Boom, connection!
Adopt a "no-ask" policy: you can message someone, give them your spiel (or elevator pitch), and then NOT ask them for anything in return. Not asking for anything in return can actually make the person you're messaging more willing to connect with you. When I was job hunting, this was how I went about all of my messaging and I ended up meaningfully connecting with a ton of great folks (and was referred to many roles even without asking for that).

And hey, I get it. It is definitely uncomfortable reaching out to people you don't know. But the truth is that networking isn't about blindly sending out messages. It's about building genuine relationships and creating opportunities for collaboration. You are setting the foundation for a mutually meaningful and enriching professional relationship.

So, get out there and identify shared interests. Find ways to help each other achieve your goals. Offer value and show that you care about the other person's success. When you approach networking with this mindset, it becomes a lot less daunting and a lot more rewarding. So, the next time you're considering reaching out to someone for networking purposes, remember that it's not about making a sales pitch or asking for a favor. It's about building a connection and starting a conversation. And who knows? That connection could lead to an exciting new opportunity down the line.