S2 Ep 13. Standing Out Without Selling Out: UX Job Applications

Navigating the pressures of job hunting while transitioning into UX can tempt anyone to embellish their experience, but authentic storytelling and strategic positioning of real skills prove more effective. I share my personal experience of almost stretching the truth on a job application and how choosing authenticity led to an interview anyway.

• Creative and crazy job application tactics that folks have used
• My experience finding a perfect-match company but facing discouraging requirements 
• The temptation to embellish my background versus the strategy I chose instead
• The interview success that came from honest but strategic positioning
• Why connecting your real story to their pain point is more powerful than fabrication
• The importance of studying companies thoroughly and believing your experience is enough when framed correctly

Share this episode with someone who's job hunting and needs encouragement to stand tall in their truth. If you've been tempted to jazz up your resume, let me know what you did instead!

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Episode Transcript

Narrator (00:01):
Welcome to the UX Teacher Prep Podcast, the
ultimate destination foreducators who aspire to break
into the field of userexperience and product design.
Your host, zee Arnold, a15-year teacher turned UX
researcher, is here to guide,coach and mentor you through
every twist and turn as you makeyour career transition into
tech.
If you're ready for a moresatisfying career and lifestyle

(00:23):
and you want the balance tounleash your creativity, this
podcast is for you.
Now for the show.

Coach Zee (00:43):
Hello teacher friends , welcome back to the UX Teacher
Prep Podcast.
I'm your host, zee.
Today's episode is for all mycareer pivoters, my job seekers
and especially my folks who arelooking at job listings like how
do I make them see I can dothis, even if I haven't done it
yet.
I know I can do this Becausetoday I want to talk about
something real the pressure tostand out and how that pressure

(01:06):
can sometimes tempt you to tweakthe truth just a little bit.
I'm going to keep it honest.
There was a moment early onwhen I seriously considered
stretching my experience in acover letter and I want to share
that story with you, notbecause I crossed the line, but
because I learned somethingmajor in the process.
But first let me warm you upwith some of the wildest job
hunt moves I've heard of.
I was looking up like trying tofigure out what was the

(01:29):
craziest thing that someone hasever done to get a job.
These people were doing themost.
So the first one is thatsomeone had a shoebox resume.
So somebody literally sent oneshoe in a box with their resume
and a note that said now that Igot one foot in the door
whatever else they were sayingand it sounds corny, but it's

(01:51):
definitely memorable Would I doit?
No, but it was effectivebecause they got the interview.
Another one I learned about wasthe Google Ads trick.
So another person bought GoogleAds that targeted the names of
their hiring managers.
So when the hiring managersGoogled themselves like a lot of
hiring managers do apersonalized job pitch popped up

(02:12):
in their screen.
Now that takes confidence andit also takes a lot of money,
because you have to have abudget for that.
That, I think, is also crazy.
And then there was the resumevideo game.
That's actually my personalfavorite.
Someone built a playable videogame as their resume, and this
is my favorite.
So basically, with the videogame, each level walked you

(02:34):
through their background, theirskills and their achievements.
Now that is storytelling.
You don't have to embellishanything, you can just let your
creativity speak for itself.
So, yeah, those are the threethings that I learned about when
I was researching.
What are some of the craziestthings people have done to try
to get a job, or at least try toget an interview.
So now let me get back to me.

(02:55):
So at the start of my UX career,pivot I came across this
company.
I was really excited abouttheir mission, aligned with my
background in education andeverything that I wanted to do.
So I was like this is it?
This might be the one, but thejob description?
Basically, they wanted fiveyears of experience and fluency
in five different tools, fourthat I hadn't even heard of.

(03:16):
I knew I could do the job, butI was feeling discouraged
because I didn't have you know,I didn't check all those boxes,
but I was also feelingdetermined.
So here's what I did.
I dug into their product, theirwebsite, their customer reviews
, reddit threads, you name itand I spotted a major pain point
.
They were doing research, butit wasn't being used across

(03:39):
their teams.
So, as an educator who hadexperienced that already user
needs, cross-functional work andsystem building I knew I could
add value, but my resume didn'tspell it out neatly.
That's when I had the thought,that little voice crept in and
said what if you just said you'ddone the exact thing before?
Nobody's going to check?

(04:00):
But I paused because I knewthat wasn't who I was or who I
wanted to be in this space.
So, instead of stretching thetruth, I got strategic.
I crafted a cover letter thatleaned all the way into my real
strengths.
I said you're collecting databut the insights aren't being

(04:20):
used consistently across teams.
I've seen that problem before.
As a teacher, I built systemsthat help cross-functional teams
from parents to admin tostudents work off the same data.
I want to bring that samemindset here.
That wasn't a lie, that wastranslation, that was connecting
the dots between what I haddone and what they needed.

(04:41):
And guess what?
I got the interview.
So we had a real conversationabout the job and about how I
could bring my best self to thetable and improve the
organization.
About the job and about how Icould bring my best self to the
table and improve theorganization.
Did I tell you the truth?
I did not get the job, but Ileft the process knowing that I
stood out and I stood on truthand I stood on strategy.

(05:02):
And the next opportunity thatcame, I was more than ready.
So that was a great practiceexercise to experience how I
could craft my experience in away where I could still tell the
truth but still show someonethat I could do the job.
So here's what I want you totake away from my little story
today.
There are going to be momentswhere you're going to want to
round up your experience alittle bit too far.

(05:23):
You're going to see flashyposts where folks are like fake
it till you make it, and you'regoing to wonder do I have to lie
to compete with all these otherpeople who want the same
position?
Let me be clear.
You do not.
You just have to learn how tospeak your value in a way that
makes sense to them.
You have to connect your storyto their pain point.
You have to study the companylike you're about to present it

(05:46):
on Shark Tank, and you have tobelieve that your real
experience, when framedcorrectly, is enough, because it
is.
If this episode hit home, do mea favor Share with someone who's
job hunting and needs thatextra encouragement to stand
tall in their truth.
And if you've ever been temptedto jazz up a skill on your
resume, tell me about it.
No judgment, we've all beenthere.

(06:08):
But let's talk about what youhopefully did instead.
Until next time, keep applyingpressure and keep betting on
yourself.
We'll talk soon.

Narrator (06:21):
Hey, thanks so much for tuning in.
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(06:44):
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Until next time, be well.