E-BOOK

GET HIRED, FASTER!

Overcome bootcamp bias and the
ine perienced gap.

b
Da e Lede a
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 UX REAL-WORLD SIMULATOR

I d c
You've just finished our intense bootcamp e perience. You have our portfolio looking
better than others. You have 3 a esome app ideas and are confidentl sho ing off all
the different design tools ou kno ho to use. You have a portfolio and cover letter.
Mone is tight, but ou are confident that ithin a month or so, ou'll hopefull be off
and running in our ne career. Ma be not 30 da s, ma be 60. But definitel sooner
than later.

Ma be ou graduated several months ago. You started off confident, but quickl started
to lose steam. The first fe months ou heard ver little from recruiters or hiring
managers. In recent months, ou've had a fe initial screens, ma be even a technical
intervie or t o. You did ever thing our bootcamp told ou to do. Despite having solid
visual design chops, for some reason no one seems to ant to move for ard ith ou.
And no ou can't help but onder if ou made the right career choice.

Or ma be ou haven't even finished our program. You're still knee deep in tr ing to
finish version #3774 of our portfolio and button up our capstone project. You're
confident in hat ou learned in our program, but ou're even more an ious about all
the things ou don't kno . And ou don't ant to end up taking months to land a job.

If an of this sounds like ou, ou're in the right place. This e-book addresses 2 things
that are mostl overlooked in the bootcamp orld:

B ca Ba I e e e ced Ga

Bootcamp Bias is the general The Ine perienced Gap is the

negative bias hiring managers
have about bootcamp
graduates. Aka: the think ou
kno just enough to get into
trouble. And the assume our
e perience is not relevant.
gap bet een the basic skills ou
learned in our bootcamp and
the basic amount of real- orld
e perience most hiring
managers e pect even for
entr -level applicants.

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 Most bootcamp grads take 6
to 12 months to land a job.
Wh ?

The people ho land jobs quicker often either have prior

real- orld design e perience, such as being a graphic
designer, or the did an internship or paid gig during their
bootcamp or soon after graduating. A ver small fe get
luck , such as being in the right place at the right time.

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 UX REAL-WORLD SIMULATOR

S ,a I c d ?
NO! You aren't scre ed. Even if ou don't have prior e perience as a graphic designer or
some other similar field, ou have skills and e perience gained from both our prior
career and our bootcamp project ork. If presented in the right a , ou can impress a
hiring manager and conve the sense that ou bring real value to a UX/Product Design
role. The ke is translating ever thing in a s that speak to real- orld understanding.

No , before ou go ask our mone back from our bootcamp, reali e the serve an
important role. The are designed to teach a broad range of people, ith a broad range
of technical capacities, a ton of foundational information. The give ou a basic
kno ledge of hat UX Design is and the tools ou are likel to use in the field.

The bootcamp industr is e ploding. Not onl does this mean there are thousands more
people all graduating ith the same basic degree of training that ou have and therefore
competing for the roles ou ant, but this means bootcamps are focused on tr ing to
meet intense demand. In other ords, the are focused primaril on being able to deliver
the same training the 've al a s provided.

Because there are more job applicants than ever and because an one ith access to the
internet can teach themselves the basics of an technical field, companies can be more
selective. Businesses also are less illing to take on trul entr -level applicants, ho
haven't et had some degree of real- orld e perience. While the assume ou ill need
training and guidance, the ant ou to hit the ground running or at least alking.

87,500 $772
E pected annual number of bootcamp E pected industr gro th for tech
graduates b 2025 bootcamps b 2025.

E e
I d
G

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 ''If ou remember nothing else,
remember this. Your resume,
portfolio, and even our intervie
responses are NOT about ou.
The are about sho ing ho ou
ill make the (technical) hiring
manager's life easier!"

T A
To Bootcamp Bias and the Ine perience Gap
While ever thing I've said so far ma sound incredibl over helming and a painful
catch-22, the truth of the matter is it doesn't have to be. Not if ou kno hat to do and
ho to do it.

At the end of the da , a hiring manager doesn't trul care hether ou have 1 ear of
e perience or 3 ears of e perience. All the care about is making life easier for them
and the rest of the team. And it's an added bonus to fill the damn position that is adding
even more ork to their alread full orkda .

Hiring managers assume if ou're spending our time talking about ho man hours
ou've learned at ABC Bootcamp or calling attention to ho ou kno hat a persona is
or a card sort, or ou came up ith some cool app idea ithout dealing ith an real-
orld constraints, then ou haven't necessaril made an one's life easier.

UX REAL-WORLD SIMULATOR
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 UX REAL-WORLD SIMULATOR

A b ca ba ?
Consider the follo ing statements:

On m resume, I use several lines to describe m bootcamp

e perience (e.g., ho man hours I studied, concepts learned)

On m resume, the first item under ork e perience has

nothing directl to do ith UX Design

On m portfolio, I have an opening section that sa s, "Hi, I'm

so-and-so, from so-and-so," follo ed b a line about ho
much I love creating ama ing designs, follo ed b 3 case
studies from m bootcamp

On m portfolio, m case studies all follo the same structure

- each are long and alk through m full design process

On m portfolio, none of m case studies talk about the project

constraints, such as time, mone , or client constraints

On m portfolio main page, I differentiate each case stud

b the app name, follo ed b a brief description of
hat the app does

On m portfolio case studies, I spend most of the time talking

about hat I did at each step, not m thought process around
h I did hat I did, insights, or impact on future steps

On m portfolio, I make statements e plaining the basic

reason h one ould use a given tool (e.g., "I then
created personas to help me get clear on users'
needs and goals")

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 UX REAL-WORLD SIMULATOR

A b ca b a (c .)

In m intervie responses, I feel uncomfortable ans ering

the question "Tell me about ourself"

In m intervie responses, I dra detailed attention to having

gone to a bootcamp and I often mention m e perience in
connection ith the ord "bootcamp"

In m cover letter, I talk more about m training as a

bootcamp student than the UX problems I've solved

In m mind, I don't believe the ork I've done qualifies as real

ork that ould count for a job

In m mind, I'm afraid of looking like I don't kno something

If ou ans ered es to an of the questions above, then ou are

likel falling into the a f igge i g he bia of a hiring manager
and c mi g ac a m e i e e ie ced than ou actuall are.

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 UX REAL-WORLD SIMULATOR

3P a O E -L A ca
All of the questions in the previous section arise from one of the 3 major pitfalls entr -
level applicants make ith their career assets or intervie responses. If ou avoid these
pitfalls, ou take huge steps to standing out as an applicant.

E -Le e P fa #1
Stating something basic to the
UX Designer role

There's nothing that screams ine perience more than stating something obvious to a
hiring manager. It's super common among bootcamp students. What it sa s to a hiring
manager is, "I don't reall have much e perience. But I've spent a lot of time learning. So
please take a chance on me, on our dime b the a , so that I can learn all the
challenging things about navigating difficult constraints."

Belo are some e ample obvious statements.

I ede ed e b ea a f c ab .
Reall ? Do ou ever redesign something ithout a strong focus on usabilit ? As a UX
Designer, it's implied ever single thing ou do involves a strong focus on usabilit .

I d d X, e Y. T e I c ea ed a e a .A d e I d d..."
If ou rite something like this, ou're tr ing to ke d-d , kind of like name-
dropping. Ine perienced people ke ord-drop all the time. What makes this reak of
ine perience is that either hat ou are sa ing is something no one gives much value
to in the real- orld (such as a sitemap) or ou fail to e plain the ke point of
value - h ou chose to create a sitemap and ho it influenced the
project moving for ard.

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 UX REAL-WORLD SIMULATOR

I' a a e ab e c e b c ea a a f e e e ce."
Be mindful of directl sa ing ou are passionate about an thing. Ine perienced
applicants sa this all the time. People ho are trul passionate conve their passion
in hat the do and ho the go about doing it. The conve passion b gaining cool
e perience. And as an applicant for a position lo on the totem pole, the sad truth is,
most hiring managers don't care hat ou are passionate about until the see ou offer
some value that ma make their life easier.

E -Le e P fa #2
Stating something that screams
"school e ercise"

Hiring managers do NOT care about school e ercises. The might be totall into a design
project ou are describing. The might be impressed b all our decisions. But the
moment the hear it as a school assignment, the immediatel lose interest. "Oh?"
the sa in the middle of the intervie , leaning back and looking a a disappointed, as
ou too sink back in our chair, feeling the energ of our hole intervie shift.

As ou'll see in the pages ahead, if ou shift our focus about our e perience
a a from "He look at me using this cool design tool and that cool design
tool," to "He look at ho I navigated this real- orld constraint and
that difficult challenge," ou'll cause that hiring manager to
lean for ard so much the might just fall out
of their chair.

Kee I Mi d
Fe e le ha e he ime ead a l ng ca e d ,
le al ne h ee. Ch e ne ca e d be
leng h ne ha de c ibe de ign ce .

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 UX REAL-WORLD SIMULATOR

Pitfall #2 doesn't just appl to intervie responses. You have to be mindful of talking
about things that people ith e perience rarel talk about or don't reall talk about in
the manner ou are doing so. A great e ample of this is sa ing something like, "I
designed a ebsite using a design sprint method ans ering critical business questions
through m design process." People ith e perience don't talk about sprints unless
asked directl . It's assumed most of the time. The moment ou emphasi e using a
sprint, ou are basicall sa ing, "I don't have much e perience ith sprints." People ho
have e perience ith sprints spend their time talking about the problems the solved.

E -Le e P fa #3
Making the hiring manager strain to
see the direct value ou bring

Hiring managers are bus . The ant to get the position filled ASAP. The more direct ou
conve our value to a hiring manager, the more the ant to hire ou. It's that simple.

Unfortunatel , most applicants for junior roles fill their resumes, portfolios, and
intervie responses ith all kinds of statements that make the hiring manager have to
think to see the immediate and direct value.

In the e ample on the ne t page, notice ho the first set of bullets sounds oka , but is
long and doesn't translate directl to UX ork. Be sure to take note of bullets #2 and #3.

Providing nightl overvie s, communicating unique guest concerns and assigning event
duties all sounds like great e perience. So does overseeing the development of staff. But
ou're not appl ing to a job in the event or HR industr . You're tr ing to land a UX
Designer role.

Put ourself in the shoes of a hiring manager. Does an of that jump off
the page as relevant e perience? Or does it make ou have to think
hat parts are relevant or transferable?

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 UX REAL-WORLD SIMULATOR

BEFORE

AFTER

See how the second set of bullets conveys value clearly and directly. It uses less words
and speaks right to relevant experience, such as leading and working with cross-
functional teams, iterating processes, and achieving goals. And it leaves more room for
adding bullets of value to the specific UX experiences you do have.

The process of editing down resume bullet points or verbiage on a case study is not easy
for most people. It takes practice and time. But this e-book will guide you through
all kinds of examples to help you really hone in on what to do with your
own content.

Copyright 2021 Amped Journey, Inc. All rights reserved.

 To a hiring manager,
bootcamp equals pretend
play time. Real-world equals
edge cases and always
adjusting to major
constraints.

Copyright 2021 Amped Journey, Inc. All rights reserved.

 UX REAL-WORLD SIMULATOR

S eak T "Thei " Pai P i

Whether you are talking to a senior UX Designer, Head of Engineering, Product Owner,
VP, or even the CEO, everyone you cross paths with en route to landing a job has 7
common pain points. These pain points may show up slightly differently for each
technical stakeholder, but at the core, they all are present. If you tailor your career
assets and interview responses to these pain points, you can stand out from the crowd
no matter who you are speaking to.

The 7 C i ica Pai P i

#1 ability to o k i h o manage di e e akeholde

#2 ability to iden if ain oin / ol ion

#3 ability to o k on/manage ojec i h igh deadline

#4 ability to con e o e en ke ma e ial /info ma ion

#5 ability to i e a e ojec o oce e

#6 ability to do an i a i e and/o ali a i e anal i

#7 ability to a di o e ie o k o en e ali

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 The Ke Q e i :
So if mentioning an thing abo t m
"bootcamp" risks triggering the bias of
hiring managers, ho do I go abo t
talking abo t m e perience since I
ha e er little real e perience?

The key question above seems like

another catch-22. But the critical reali ation
is that UX Design is UX Design is UX Design. What
I mean by that is solving a UX Design problem, say
a streamlined registration workflow, involves the same
underlying steps no matter whether you are a Director of UX
or an entry-level UX Designer. You must discern user pain points using
certain tools, devise a modification or new solution, develop it, and
deliver it to certain stakeholders.

The key difference between someone with experience and someone without much or
any experience is how they go about taking those steps.

AJ i De ig e fe i ake ...
Assumes there is a "right way" to do UX design, where there is only
1-way to go about doing the work

Fails to anticipate and be clear on project and company constraints

that might impact what makes an effective design solution

Overlooks how good UX design balances aesthetics and usability

with what's feasible across different user types and edge cases

UX REAL-WORLD SIMULATOR
Copyright 2021 Amped Journey, Inc. All rights reserved.
The key to overcoming the "Inexperienced Gap" and
avoiding "Bootcamp Bias" is to talk about any UX Design work
you've done as experience because it is experience. You need to truly
reali e and fully believe this because experience isn't simply getting paid to do
work, nor having some manager say you are now "experienced."

The rest of this e-book is devoted to helping you transform your resume, cover letter,
portfolio, and interview responses into material that will show hiring managers truly
how experienced you are. You won't need to exaggerate or lie about your experience.
You will simply translate what you say and how you say it to convey real-world points of
value - aka: help a hiring manager see how you'll be competent in doing things such as:

Designing around constraints Keeping up with shifting deadlines

Managing different stakeholders Future proofing & component-i ation
Balancing competing projects Determining level of fidelity
Navigating unclear requirements Presenting to senior leadership
Edge case considerations Rapid user research and testing

UX REAL-WORLD SIMULATOR
Copyright 2021 Amped Journey, Inc. All rights reserved.
 "A junior [designer] has a
bunch of great ideas on what
to do. A senior [designer] has a
bunch of experience about
what not to waste time doing."
-John Street, CEO of Pax8 and my former boss

Copyright 2021 Amped Journey, Inc. All rights reserved.