Landing your First UX Job - Resources

Hi and thank you for taking part in my latest webinar for Mentorcruise! I have compiled a list of free resources as well as some sweet deals to help you in your job search. Any feedback is appreciated! Add me on LinkedIn if you like, happy to connect! 😄

Today’s slides:

Landing your first UX Job

pitch.com

Promo: Portfolio + CV + LinkedIn review with me 👇

Book PROMO: Portfolio + CV + Linkedin review with Maria Teresa - MentorCruise

Are you an aspiring or junior UX Designer struggling with your portfolio and CV? I'm here to help! I will thoroughly review both and provide you with a written, detailed overview. We will go over it together during our videocall where you can ask any question you might have.

mentorcruise.com

20% off Uxcel pro with this link 👇

Learn UX Design at Your Own Pace | Interactive Courses | Uxcel

Discover the best way to learn UX design with Uxcel's guided, bite-sized courses. Improve your skills in just 5 minutes per day for any role & level.

uxcel.com

Learn UX Design at Your Own Pace | Interactive Courses | Uxcel

Part 1: Know yourself

The personal branding canvas is a tool that can help you define who you are from a professional POV and therefore how to present yourself

The New Personal Branding Canvas is out!

After more than a year of tuning and testing with the help of thousands of people, we’ve published a brand new Personal Branding Canvas format!

bigname.pro

The New Personal Branding Canvas is out!

One of the most accredited personality tests to get to know yourself better

Free open-source BigFive personality traits test

Take a free, open-source Big Five personality test. Learn to know your personality traits and compare yourself with your partner, colleagues, friends or family.

bigfive-test.com

Free open-source BigFive personality traits test

Core values exercise

webmedia.jcu.edu

How to identify your strengths

How to identify your personal strengths

The best advice we’ve found on identifying your strengths, turned into a 3-step process, plus a list of personal strengths used by researchers.

80000hours.org

Consider also working with a mentor and/or career coach if you are struggling. It has helped me a lot in the past!

Part 2: Your online presence

How to stand out in the current market - talk by Jared Spool

The Talk UX Strategy Archive

Looking for recordings of past Talk UX Strategy discussions? Look no further. You’re in the right spot. When you join this program, you can access every recording for free. Feel free to invite your colleagues and co-workers to join too. We add each new recording within a day of the live session.

leaders.centercentre.com

Portfolio

“Your portfolio probably sucks”

Your Portfolio Probably Sucks

I used to hire a lot of designers. Most portfolios tortured me. Not because the work was bad. But because I had to dig through a lot of irrelevant stuff to find out what I needed to know. Now I get…

eleganthack.com

Why your portfolio isn’t working + The Audience Strategy worksheet

Why Your Portfolio Isn’t Working (and How to Fix It)

Let’s talk about a harsh truth: Your UX portfolio might be the least important thing in your job search. Yep, I said it.

www.linkedin.com

Why Your Portfolio Isn’t Working (and How to Fix It)

Common visual design mistakes to avoid

Portfolio series #1: Visuals, Part 1

How to get your website to stand out more

mtstella.substack.com

On choosing the right portfolio project

#6 - Why Spotify redesigns are bad for you

And what to do instead

mtstella.substack.com

#6 - Why Spotify redesigns are bad for you

Slides from my past talk on how to craft an effective case study

Effective UX Case Study

Easily build and share beautiful presentations with Pitch. Start for free on pitch.com

pitch.com

Portfolio tips

10 b-side design portfolio tips

I’ve been mentoring designers for many years and providing guidance on their portfolios. Here are some of the lesser-known tips I offered…

uxdesign.cc

Rules for beatiful ui

58 rules for beautiful UI design

The right UI can elevate an application from functional to unforgettable, making the difference between a user who engages once and one…

uxdesign.cc

How long should a case study be?

How long should a UX case study be so it stands out to recruiters?

How many words should a UX case study have? Hint ... it's not about a certain number of words. Instead, focus on this to make your case study stand out →

www.careerstrategylab.com

How long should a UX case study be so it stands out to recruiters?

How to make your portfolio look redesigned

6 cheats to make your portfolio look redesigned — without actually doing anything

The world moves fast. What was in style or considered beautiful ten years ago is not the same today. Likewise, your own taste and goals…

uxdesign.cc

6 cheats to make your portfolio look redesigned — without actually doing anything

10 tips to organize your portfolio

10 tips to organize your design portfolio

How to showcase your work in a way that helps hiring managers grasp your skills and experience

medium.com

10 tips to organize your design portfolio

For Linkedin and your overall personal branding:

12 LinkedIn Summary Examples We Love (and How To Shine in Yours)

Writing your LinkedIn Summary doesn’t have to be hard. Learn from 12 great LinkedIn Summary examples and use our free AI summary generator.

www.close.com

12 LinkedIn Summary Examples We Love (and How To Shine in Yours)

“Personal Branding Strategy for Social Media”. Marketing, and Business online course by Dot Lung | Domestika

Create a goal-driven strategy for social media to get liked, followed, and shared by your ideal clients

www.domestika.org

“Personal Branding Strategy for Social Media”. Marketing, and Business online course by Dot Lung | Domestika

CVs of high-level designers

www.bestfolios.com

Resumes for career changers

Effective Resumes for UX Career Changers

Generate more UX-job opportunities with a resume that effectively communicates to UX hiring managers how you are making a career change into UX.

www.nngroup.com

Effective Resumes for UX Career Changers

UX resume tips

Dribbble - Discover the World’s Top Designers & Creative Professionals

Find Top Designers & Creative Professionals on Dribbble. We are where designers gain inspiration, feedback, community, and jobs. Your best resource to discover and connect with designers worldwide.

dribbble.com

Build an effective CV with the help of AI

Teal: AI Powered Tools to Grow Your Career. AI Resume Builder, Job Application Tracker, AI Interview Agent, and More.

Free AI tools and resources to run a faster and better job search so you can focus your time and energy on finding and landing a job you will love.

www.tealhq.com

Teal: AI Powered Tools to Grow Your Career. AI Resume Builder, Job Application Tracker, AI Interview Agent, and More.

My Figma CV kit

www.figma.com

Free ATS checker for your CV

Free ATS Resume Checker | AI Resume Checking Toolset | Enhancv

Our free and fast ATS resume grader relies on algorithms developed by reading 2 000 000 resumes and Open AI's ChatGPT large language model. It will give you the answer in just 3 minutes!

enhancv.com

Free ATS Resume Checker | AI Resume Checking Toolset | Enhancv

Part 3: Short-term strategies

Notion free Job application Tracker I used:

Job Application Tracker

Elevate Your Job Hunt with our Notion Template Revolutionize your job search with our Notion Template. Stay organized, track applications, and explore curated listings—all in one place. Join now for streamlined success!

www.notion.com

Free Product Design Interview playbook

Embed Google Drive

Google Interview Warmup

Interview Warmup - Grow with Google- Grow with Google

A quick way to prepare for your next interview. Practice key questions, get insights about your answers, and get more comfortable interviewing.

grow.google

Interview Warmup - Grow with Google- Grow with Google

Common UX interview questions

Most Common 11 UX Interview Questions in 2025

Looking for the most common UX design interview questions? Prepare for UX interview questions with the top 11 and find out how to answer them.

careerfoundry.com

Most Common 11 UX Interview Questions in 2025

How To Answer: “What Are Your Strengths and Weaknesses?”

How To Answer: “What Are Your Strengths and Weaknesses?”

In this article, we explore why employers ask about your strengths and weaknesses, provide actionable strategies, and include sample responses to guide you.

www.indeed.com

How To Answer: “What Are Your Strengths and Weaknesses?”

Part 4: Long-term strategies

Article about the 3rd door in UX

#3 - Getting in through the third door

Job search tips + a book rec, and more

mtstella.substack.com

My experience as a volunteer at a conference

#5 - Behind the Scenes: attending Smashing UX Conference as a volunteer

Takeaways, tips and more

mtstella.substack.com

#5 - Behind the Scenes: attending Smashing UX Conference as a volunteer

Networking for introverts

Networking: It's Not Just for Extroverts Anymore

Networking was THE thing that gave me an edge in my job search, and it was the thing that lead to me getting my dream role at my dream company. But...