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Career Strategy Podcast with Sarah Doody | UX, Product Design, UX Research

Career Strategy Podcast with Sarah Doody | UX, Product Design, UX Research

Hosted by Sarah Doody from Career Strategy Lab

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Episodes

195

Latest episode

Aug 2026

Language

EN

About the show

Welcome to the Career Strategy Podcast, with Sarah Doody, a UX Researcher & Product Designer with 22 years of experience who is helping UX and Product people design their careers. You’ll learn how to advance your UX or Product career including how get hired in UX, stay hired, get promoted, and build a personal brand and visibility. You’ll also hear no BS tips to optimize your UX resume and portfolio, navigate your UX job search, and prepare for UX job interviews so you can stop being invisible and be seen as an in-demand UX professional. Get ready to UX your career, ironic, right?!

Listen to episodes

60 recent
August 10, 202612 min

187: UX Portfolio Myth: You don't need 3 - 5 projects in your UX portfolio (Myth 1 / 5)

UX portfolio advice is full of numbers that sound official but aren't backed by anything. This episode kicks off a five part series on UX portfolio myths, starting with the most common one: that you need three to five projects before you can apply.Sarah says the opposite is true. One strong, detailed project beats five surface level ones every time. She backs this up from an interview she did with Alexander Zeh, former Head of Product Design at ManyChat, who said he'd rather see one or two case studies that map directly to the job description than five that walk through every step of the design process without any real depth.The episode shares two specific examples. Laura got hired as a Principal Product Designer in cybersecurity with a single, unfinished feeling project still sitting in Figma slides, and was actually found and reached out to on LinkedIn before she even applied. Leon, laid off after 11 years at the same company and an author of a book on wire-framing, got hired after focusing on just one project instead of trying to rebuild an entire portfolio from scratch.If you've been stalling on applying because you don't have "enough" projects yet, this episode is a direct challenge to that belief, and a reason to ask where that number actually came from in the first place.Topics Discussed✅ Why the three to five project rule is a myth with no real backing, and where it likely came from✅ Why one detailed project beats five surface level ones, and what "confuse and lose" means for a UX portfolio✅ What a former Head of Product Design at ManyChat said he actually wants to see in a portfolio✅ How Laura got hired as a Principal Product Designer with one unfinished project, and was found on LinkedIn without ever applying✅ How Leon got hired after being laid off from an 11 year role, focusing on just one project instead of rebuilding his whole portfolio✅ Why working on your portfolio alone can make you more critical of it than recruiters and hiring managers actually are✅ The question to ask yourself if you believe you need three to five projects, and where to trace that belief back to✅ What Sarah says to look for in UX job descriptions instead of following a generic project countLinks & Resources🔗 Episode 172 of the Career Strategy Podcast, the full interview with Alexander Zeh, former Head of Product Design at ManyChat 🔗 Laura's episode, sharing in her own words how she got hired with one project in her portfolio🔗 Leon's book on wireframing for UX💸 See how you can get hired in UX with the help of my UX job search coaching program📋 Take a peek inside my UX job search coaching program👋 Follow me, on LinkedIn, Instagram, & YouTube

August 3, 202626 min

186: Why Positioning Is The Most Underrated Skill in the AI Era of UX

Positioning is quietly becoming the skill that separates people who stand out in UX and product from people who get left behind, especially now that AI can build almost anything in seconds. In this episode, Sarah makes the case for why the ability to build fast is no longer the advantage it used to be, and why knowing what's worth building, and framing it well, matters more than ever.Sarah traces this back to a belief she used to hold herself, that good work speaks for itself. It doesn't. She shares how she avoided a required public speaking class in college, only to realize later that the real skill was never about sounding polished or the delivery. It was about the thinking that happens before you say a single word, or type a single sentence, or design a single sales page.She also shares a recent story from her own business, where a team she hired to build an AI tool ignored the detailed context she gave them and rushed straight into building, producing a prototype that missed the mark entirely. She ended up building it herself, faster, because she had the clarity they skipped in the process. That story becomes the jumping off point for two ideas Sarah argues will define who stands out in UX and product going forward, knowing what's worth building, and framing the work so people actually say yes to it.If you've ever felt invisible in a meeting, passed over for a promotion, or like your UX job search ideas keep getting ignored, this episode reframes that feeling as a positioning problem rather than a skills problem, and gives a concrete way to start fixing it this week.Topics Discussed✅ Why "good work speaks for itself" is a myth that's quietly keeping talented people invisible✅ The real reason some ideas get funded, approved, or hired for in UX, and it's rarely because they were the best idea✅ A story about hiring a team to build an AI tool, and what happened when they skipped the thinking and rushed straight to building✅ Why knowing what's worth building is about to matter more than how fast you can build it✅ A real example of a stakeholder update that got buried, and the exact rewrite that would have gotten a faster yes✅ Why leading with the "so what" instead of the "what" changes how quickly people respond to your ideas✅ How the same positioning skill applies just as much to your UX job search, your portfolio, and a promotion conversation as it does to a pitch✅ A simple challenge to try this week on your next email, Slack message, or updateLinks & Resources🔗 Future Product Days in Copenhagen, September 22 to 24, where Sarah is giving a talk and workshop on positioning💸 See how you can get hired in UX with the help of my UX job search coaching program📋 Take a peek inside my UX job search coaching program👋 Follow me, on LinkedIn, Instagram, & YouTube

July 27, 2026

185: The one thing you can't DIY in your UX job search

DIYing your UX job search feels productive right up until you realize you've been doing it for six months, twelve months, or longer with nothing to show for it. If you've been telling yourself you're one tip away from finally landing interviews, this episode is worth sitting with.The core question Sarah asks is simple and a little uncomfortable: if you gave yourself three more months on your ux job search, your portfolio, or your resume, what would actually be different? Because more time doesn't automatically mean better results. More applications don't automatically mean more interviews. If you can't answer what you'd change, you're just planning to spend more hours doing the same thing that hasn't worked yet.Sarah backs this up with research from her own program, Career Strategy Lab. After analyzing over 1,700 responses from people who didn't join, the two most common reasons were not feeling ready, or wanting to keep trying the DIY approach first. But when she surveyed people after they did join, a pattern showed up just as clearly: regret over not joining sooner, and months lost to portfolios or ux job searches that stayed stuck.The episode also gets specific about the one thing Sarah says is genuinely hard to DIY, which isn't your resume or your portfolio. It's relationships and proximity to people who are actually hiring. She shares two real examples, Marcus and Heather, both laid off, both stuck after months of solo applying, and both hired only after they stopped going it alone.Topics Discussed✅ Why simply giving your job search "three more months" rarely changes your outcome unless your strategy actually changes✅ The specific question to ask yourself before committing to another few months of DIYing your portfolio or resume✅ What over 1,700 survey responses revealed about why job seekers hesitate to get outside help, and what those same people said after they finally did✅ The popular portfolio myth about needing three to five projects before you can apply, and why it can quietly cost you months✅ How one person got hired with only one project in her portfolio, and was found on LinkedIn without even applying✅ Why relationships and proximity to people hiring are the hardest thing to build alone, no matter how much networking you do on LinkedIn✅ How a referral from someone he knew got Marcus hired as a user researcher after six months of rejections and ghosting✅ How one person's post about her manager hiring a contractor turned into a job for someone else, which then led to five more people getting hired at that same company✅ Why being part of a smaller, closer network can make you more visible than posting into the endless scroll of LinkedInLinks & Resources🔗 Episode 122 of the Career Strategy Podcast, Marcus's full story in his own words💸 See how you can get hired in UX with the help of my UX job search coaching program📋 Take a peek inside my UX job search coaching program👋 Follow me, on LinkedIn, Instagram, & YouTube

July 20, 202639 min

184: Natalie got hired for a Director level UX role (and now she's the one hiring for UX roles)

Landing a Director level UX role doesn't happen by accident, and neither does becoming the person on the other side of the hiring table a few months later. Natalie Kurz did both. She spent six months on a UX job search after a layoff, landed a Director of Experience Design and Content role at NextGen Health, and within months found herself reviewing over 600 applications for her own open positions.Natalie spent 25 years in UX, most recently as a people manager, before being laid off last May. She joined Career Strategy Lab during that UX job search, and the shift she describes isn't really about tactics. She stopped using the "spray and pray" method long enough to get clear on what she actually wanted in her next UX role. She let her LinkedIn profile, UX network, and a background she almost left off her resume, do some of the work for her.What makes this episode different is that Natalie is now the one hiring for UX roles. A few months into her new position, she's already brought on multiple UX designers, including someone from Career Strategy Lab. Natalie now experiences the exact hiring process she was on the other side of not long ago. So this conversation moves between her UX job search story and what she now looks for as a UX hiring manager, which gives listeners a rare before-and-after view of the same process.If you're currently employed in a UX role and feel like your resume, portfolio, or LinkedIn presence isn't ready to go if an opportunity showed up tomorrow, this episode is worth sitting with.Topics Discussed✅ How a recruiter found Natalie and reached out about a completely unrelated UX role, purely because of how her LinkedIn profile came across✅ Why she eventually stopped applying to every job with "UX" in the title, and what she focused on instead✅ How a cold, polite message to a lead UX designer on a team she wanted to join turned into a warm handoff before she ever talked to a recruiter✅ The background she almost left off her resume entirely, and why it ended up being a key reason she got hired✅ What it was actually like reviewing over 600 UX applications as a hiring manager, and what made a resume or portfolio stand out in the first three to five seconds✅ The line she now tells every UX applicant about generic resume bullet points, and why it matters more than people think✅ Why she doesn't see contract roles, career gaps, or career changes as red flags in a UX resume, even now that she's the one hiring✅ How she uses AI to check her own UX hiring decisions for bias, rather than to write applications✅ Why she believes she'd be far more prepared for her next UX job search than she was for her last one, and what she does now to stay that wayLinks & Resources🔗 Episode 180 with Eric - UX Hiring Insights: Eric Shumake on Healthcare UX, Specializing, & Thinking of Your Career as Gigs​​🔗 Natalie Kurz on LinkedIn💸 See how you can get hired in UX with the help of my UX job search coaching program📋 Take a peek inside my UX job search coaching program👋 Follow me, on LinkedIn, Instagram, & YouTube

July 13, 202619 min

183: 3 Things I’d Do If I Was Laid Off From a UX Role Today

Just laid off from a UX role? If you’re tempted to open LinkedIn and easy-apply to every role with UX in the job title, don't do it! In this episode of the Career Strategy Podcast, Sarah Doody breaks down what she would NOT do after a UX layoff (e.g. play the numbers game) and the 3 things she’d prioritize instead. You’ll walk away with a clear order of operations: get specific about the UX role you want, get visible where hiring actually happens, and start showing up for the work you want to be hired for.🎯 In this episode we discuss:- Why easy-applying to every “UX” job backfires after a layoff- How to get ruthlessly specific about the UX role you actually want- Auditing past jobs and naming your “superpowers” (and why to ask others)- Where UX recruiters and hiring managers actually hang out- The LinkedIn order of operations: headline first, then everything else- Why turning on Open to Work is a signal, not desperation- What to post on LinkedIn so your profile gets found, without becoming a “thought leader”Timestamps00:00 Intro01:30 Why I wouldn’t play the numbers game in my UX job search02:50 Step 1 — Get specific about the UX role you want07:37 Step 2 — Increase your visibility13:23 Step 3 — Post about what you want to be hired for16:17 Putting it all together17:44 UX Layoff checklist + final word💸 See how you can get hired in UX with the help of my UX job search coaching program📋 Take a peek inside my UX job search coaching program👋 Follow me, on LinkedIn, Instagram, & YouTube

July 6, 202610 min

182: 6 ways you'll get hired in UX faster with Career Strategy Lab (the tour you've been asking for)

This episode is a full walkthrough of how you'll get hired in UX faster with Career Strategy Lab and exactly what happens after you join. Sarah shares what genuinely helps UX people in their job search, after coaching UX and Product people since 2017 and running Career Strategy Lab since 2021. What You’ll Learn in This Episode:✔️ The six things that help UX and product people get hired faster✔️ What your first 30 days inside CSL look like✔️ Why positioning comes before your LinkedIn and resume✔️ How the portfolio, case study, and critique process works✔️ How monthly recruiter Q&As and the 850-alumni referral network help you get hiredTopics Discussed:✅ The 6 things Sarah has found consistently help UX people get hired faster✅ How the first 30 days inside Career Strategy Lab are structured and why every step is intentionally sequenced to build on the last✅ What a Compass Statement is and why it comes before everything else in your UX job search prep✅ How getting clear on your positioning makes fixing your resume and LinkedIn significantly faster✅ How the weekly critique system works and why submitting imperfect work early beats waiting until everything feels ready✅ The monthly recruiter and hiring manager Q&A sessions: who shows up, what you get to ask, and why this is one of the most underrated parts of the program✅ How Career Strategy Lab's 850-person alumni network functions as a UX-specific job referral network and how members are actively using it to get hired✅ The open to work area, interview debriefs, and hired recaps and why watching other people get hired in real time is some of the most useful intel you can get in a job search💸 See how you can get hired in UX with the help of my UX job search coaching program📋 Take a peek inside my UX job search coaching program👋 Follow me, on LinkedIn, Instagram, & YouTube

June 29, 202613 min

181: How UX people are leveraging relationships to get hired with the help of Career Strategy Lab

The UX job market is rough right now. If your LinkedIn feed looks anything like Sarah's, you already know that. But while everyone is complaining about the market, almost nobody is focusing on the part of the job search they can actually control.In this episode, Sarah breaks down why the job market feels so impossible right now, including the surprisingly outsized role that one-click apply has played in flooding recruiters with hundreds of applications per posting and what you can do about it. (Hint: The answer isn't more applications.)Sarah shares real examples from inside the Career Strategy Lab community of how alumni are leveraging relationships to get referrals, introductions, and job offers, including one person whose hire two years ago has now led to four or five other alumni landing roles at the same company. The through-line is simple: the people who benefit most from their communities are the ones who actually show up in them.Topics Discussed✅ How the one-click apply button has made the job search harder for everyone and what that means for your strategy✅ Why relationships matter more than ever in this job market, and why you need to start building them before you need them✅ Why people say no to referral requests and how to change that✅ Real examples of Career Strategy Lab alumni using community relationships to get referral links, introductions, and job offers✅ How one hire two years ago has cascaded into multiple alumni landing roles at the same company✅ The difference between existing in a community and actually participating in oneLinks & Resources🔗 Jared Spool: Why is the UX job market such a mess right now?💸 See how you can get hired in UX with the help of my UX job search coaching program📋 Take a peek inside my UX job search coaching program👋 Follow me, on LinkedIn, Instagram, & YouTube

June 22, 202658 min

180: UX Hiring Insights: Eric Shumake on Healthcare UX, Specializing, & Thinking of Your Career as Gigs​​

Most UX professionals spend years trying to be good at everything. Eric Shumake, founder of HXR Labs, spent 20 years getting really good at one thing and it kept opening doors he didn't expect.Eric is a principal UX researcher and a well-known voice in healthcare UX. His career has taken him through companies like Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, Myriad Genetics, and AliveCor.He also teaches, including a popular course on Maven on breaking into healthcare UX, and has been exploring how AI can meaningfully (and responsibly) augment research without replacing the judgment that makes research trustworthy.In this episode, Eric and Sarah cover a lot of ground: how specializing almost always beats generalizing, what surprises people when they try to bring standard UX practices into clinical environments, why Eric thinks of every role as a gig, and what he'd prioritize if he were managing someone's job search like a product.Topics Discussed✅ Why specializing beats generalizing and how to niche down even when it feels risky✅ How transferable skills work in practice: why experience in one highly regulated industry (like finance) can open doors in another (like healthcare) ✅ The biggest blind spot people bring into healthcare UX✅ Why "recommendations are where insights go to die" and how to tie research to decisions and numbers so stakeholders actually act on it✅ Treating every role as a gig and why that mindset is more practical than it sounds in today's job market✅ Why posting consistently on LinkedIn is one of the highest-leverage things a UX professional can do in a job search right now✅ Where AI genuinely helps in UX research (desk research, competitive analysis, automating the time-consuming parts) and where to draw a hard line✅ What neurodivergence in the workplace looks like from the insideduring a job searchLinks & Resources🔗 Eric Shumake on LinkedIn🔗 HXR Labs🔗 Eric's Maven course on breaking into healthcare UX💸 See how you can get hired in UX with the help of my UX job search coaching program📋 Take a peek inside my UX job search coaching program👋 Follow me, on LinkedIn, Instagram, & YouTube

June 15, 202631 min

179: Feel Burnt Out & Invisible in Your UX Job Search? How Emmanuel Re-Entered the UX Job Market After a Career Break

Re-entering the UX job market after years away is harder than most people expect, especially when you're doing it alone.After 12 years at Constant Contact, growing from associate interaction designer to principal UX designer, Emmanuel relocated, took a deliberate career break, and then tried to re-enter a job market that had completely changed. He spent three months rebuilding his portfolio alone, then another three months applying and hearing almost nothing. His LinkedIn hadn't been updated since 2017. He burned out.In this episode, Emmanuel shares what finally got him unstuck; why working on his resume, portfolio, and LinkedIn in parallel changed his messaging faster than tackling them one at a time; how early feedback from coaches and a community shortened iteration cycles he'd been stuck in for months; and what shifted when he started applying only to roles that actually fit. He's actively interviewing now, and the inbound LinkedIn requests have started coming in too.Topics Discussed:✅ What re-entering the UX job market after a long tenure at one company feels like and how to close the gap✅ Why working on your resume, portfolio, and LinkedIn in parallel sharpens your message faster than doing them one at a time✅ How long iteration cycles quietly stall your progress and what to do instead✅ Why submitting imperfect work for feedback early is one of the highest-leverage moves you can make✅ What AI tools genuinely help when job searching and where human judgment still matters more✅ The confidence cost of mass applying✅ What changes when you get more selective about the roles you apply to💸 See how you can get hired in UX with the help of my UX job search coaching program📋 Take a peek inside my UX job search coaching program👋 Follow me, on LinkedIn, Instagram, & YouTube

June 8, 202625 min

178: Stop Mass Applying: How Carlos Got Hired in UX and Promoted to Senior Product Designer

If you're sending dozens of applications per day and you aren't hearing back, this podcast is for you.Carlos was applying to dozens of UX jobs a day, swiping through listings like a job board version of a dating app, and hearing almost nothing back. Out of hundreds of applications, he got two responses and both were rejections, but he knew he was a good designer.In this episode, Carlos shares how he went from mass applying with no traction to landing a product designer role at Covenant Eyes and then getting promoted to senior product designer within the same year. He talks about what changed when he stopped treating the job search like a numbers game, how he used the same frameworks he learned in Career Strategy Lab to make his case for a promotion once he got there.Topics Discussed:✅ Why mass applying isn't productive and what to do instead✅ How to use the skills from your job search to land a promotion✅ Why confidence in interviews matters more than having a perfect portfolio✅ A portfolio website vs a portfolio presentation✅ How research a hiring manager before your interview helps you stand out✅ How the skills you learn during your job search transfer directly into your work after being hired✅ Why waiting until you feel confident enough to start is the wrong approachLinks From This Episode:🔗 Free UX Case Study Template🔗 Career Strategy Lab Syllabus💸 See how you can get hired in UX with the help of my UX job search coaching program📋 Take a peek inside my UX job search coaching program👋 Follow me, on LinkedIn, Instagram, & YouTube

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