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

After being laid off, Jonathan spent months applying to everything and getting almost nowhere. Even with 20 years of UX experience, 75% of his applications ended in silence or rejection. In this episode of Career Strategy Lab, Sarah Doody catches up with Jonathan now that he's landed an Executive Director of Web Experience role at the University of Houston Downtown He shares what changed in his job search when he stopped applying to everything and started being intentional about where, how, and to whom he was presenting himself.

Topics discussed in this episode:

✅ Why applying to everything actually slows your job search down

✅ How getting more specific and intentional led to significantly more callbacks

✅ The power of peer accountability and working sessions in a community

✅ How to think about your portfolio presentation vs. your website

✅ Why two versions of your resume matter in today's ATS-driven hiring landscape

✅ The "ugly first draft" mindset and why it helps you move faster

Timestamps:

01:03 Jonathan's new role: Executive Director of Web Experience

02:32 Why DIY-ing his job search wasn't working

03:16 The tipping point that led him to join Career Strategy Lab

05:30 How niching down changed everything

07:00 From 50 applications a week to 5

12:02 The "ugly first draft" mindset

13:40 Treating your job search like an experiment

14:29 How to stay objective about your own work

15:08 Why confidence is a byproduct of action, not a prerequisite for starting

15:49 Imposter syndrome

17:16 Keep a log of wins to fight negative self-talk when you're stuck

18:36 Walking into interviews with a 30-60-90 day plan

21:32 Portfolio website vs. PDF deck

23:16 Two versions of your resume: ATS vs. human-readable

🎯 How I can help with your UX job search

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Every month your job search goes on is a month of lost salary. And the thing is, most UX and product people who are stuck aren't lazy. They're working hard, spending hours a week on their search. But they're also spending a lot of that time just waiting: waiting for a response after they apply, waiting after an interview, waiting for the right job to show up. In this episode, Sarah Doody breaks down 3 common ways you waste time in your UX job search and what to do instead so you can start getting interviews, and hired, faster!

Topics discussed in this episode:

✅ Why waiting around after applying or interviewing is costing you opportunities

✅ How to follow up without seeming desperate

✅ Why the "numbers game" approach to job applications backfires

✅ How tailoring your resume and UX portfolio helps you apply to fewer jobs but get more interviews

✅ Why cold messaging on LinkedIn almost never works

✅ How to build warm relationships before you need them so people actually reply

Timestamps:

00:00 Every month your job search continues is a month of lost salary

01:08 Time waster #1: Not following up after you apply or interview

03:15 Why following up isn't desperate, it's proactive

04:30 Follow up or be forgotten

05:20 Time waster #2: Sending the same resume and portfolio for every job

07:00 Why applying to fewer jobs with tailored materials gets you hired faster

08:45 How to quickly tailor your resume and portfolio for each role

10:15 Time waster #3: Waiting to build relationships until you need them

11:30 Cold messaging vs. warm messaging

12:45 How to invest in relationships before your job search

14:00 Who to prioritize building relationships with

15:15 Recap: 3 ways to stop wasting time

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What does it actually take to get hired in UX Design and stand out to UX recruiters? Steph McDonald, a UX Recruiter from HubSpot is here to share how she approaches UX hiring.

With 300+ applications often coming in for a single UX design role, the competition is intense. And behind every application is a recruiter making real decisions about who moves forward and who doesn't.

In this episode of the Career Strategy Podcast, Sarah Doody sits down with Steph McDonald, a lead UX design recruiter at HubSpot who has spent over 25 years in recruiting. Steph is refreshingly honest about what's happening on the other side of your application.

She breaks down exactly how candidates are evaluated, how AI is being used in hiring right now, and the resume and portfolio mistakes that get you skipped. She also shares what she actually wants to see in a portfolio (spoiler: the messy stuff), why one-page resumes drive her crazy, and why those AI-powered bots that apply to jobs on your behalf are doing more harm than good.

Whether you're actively applying to UX roles, this conversation will change how you think about showing up as a candidate.

Timestamps:

00:00 Meet Steph McDonald, UX Design Recruiter at HubSpot

01:55 How Steph got into recruiting by accident

03:39 How the job market has shifted post-COVID

05:28 Why companies are hiring fewer people at higher levels

06:35 How long it actually takes to get hired at HubSpot

07:51 How HubSpot tweaks its hiring process like a product

08:41 Trauma-informed recruiting and candidate empathy

10:03 How HubSpot gives candidates real feedback after interviews

13:53 How AI is used inside HubSpot's hiring process

16:23 Auto-reject questions and how they work

18:04 Why AI application bots are hurting candidates

21:49 How recruiters feel when they spot AI-generated answers

24:58 Resume hot takes: font size, page length, and impact

29:22 What Steph looks for in a UX portfolio

33:46 Portfolio format: website vs. presentation vs. Google folder

34:49 Diversity and inclusion in HubSpot's hiring process

38:45 How many people actually get interviewed per role

41:21 Can you reach out to a recruiter after getting rejected?

45:15 Using video in your portfolio: supplement, not replacement

46:02 What "experience with ambiguity" really means

50:03 Is HubSpot hiring right now?

51:29 Lightning round: first job, dream career, interview pump-up song

🎯 How I can help with your UX job search

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If your first move when updating your resume, building your UX portfolio, or preparing for an interview is to Google "how do I…" — you're falling into a trap that's slowing down your entire UX job search. In this episode, Sarah Doody breaks down the "Who Not How" framework and explains why the question you should be asking isn't how — it's who. You'll learn why DIYing your job search with Google searches and Reddit threads is costing you time, money, and momentum, and how to start thinking like a high performer instead.

Topics discussed in this episode:

✅ The "Who Not How" framework from Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy

✅ Why Googling "how to get a UX job" keeps you spinning your wheels

✅ The hidden time and money cost of DIYing your job search

✅ How high performers think differently about getting help

✅ A 3-step exercise to identify where you're stuck and what to do about it

✅ Why this concept applies to your career, business, and life

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction: Are you stuck in the "how" trap?

01:43 The concept I can't stop thinking about

02:11 The "Who Not How" book explained

03:30 The physical therapist analogy

04:36 How this applies to your UX job search

05:30 The how trap costs you time, money, and momentum

07:04 Why asking for help is not a weakness

08:15 The "how trap" with your resume

09:29 The "how trap" with your portfolio

10:15 The "how trap" with job interviews

11:44 Takeaway 1: Audit where you've been stuck

14:09 Takeaway 2: Match your "how" list to a "who"

16:36 Takeaway 3: The real cost of staying stuck

17:30 How I took 20 minutes off my marathon with a coach

18:54 This applies way beyond your job search

🎯 How I can help with your UX job search

📋 Get my UX case study template

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Listen before Mar 20 at 8pm PT ... in this live workshop, Sarah Doody shares the 5 UX steps you should also apply to your UX portfolio. You'll also hear how UX people are getting hired with just 1 project in their UX portfolio 😉

Time Sensitive: Enrollment is OPEN for my UX job search accelerator and will close on Fri, Mar 20 at 8pm PT.

• You can learn more, watch success stories, or enroll here.
• And you can watch to the recording of my UX portfolio workshop, until this Friday.

If you have questions about the UX job search program (aka Career Strategy Lab) please email [email protected]

💸 See how I help UX & Product people get 5-figure salary increases in my UX job search coaching program

👋 Follow me, on LinkedIn, Instagram, & YouTube.

UX hiring insights from a UX veteran with 25+ years in UX and product. In this episode, Sarah Doody interviews Dan Maccarone, co-founder of Hard Candy Shell and Charming Robot, fractional Chief Product Officer, and a UX expert who's worked on products for Hulu, Rent the Runway, Foursquare, and the Wall Street Journal. In the episode Dan shares about what he actually looks for when hiring UX people (spoiler: it's not your Figma skills).

Dan shares why he doesn't care about tools, why he conducts interviews over drinks instead of in conference rooms, and how he evaluates candidates based on curiosity, empathy, and how they think, not what software they know. He also gets into career reinvention, the rise of fractional leadership roles, and why your hobbies outside of UX might matter more than your case studies.

If you're a UX or Product professional navigating your next career move, this conversation will challenge what you think hiring managers care about.

What's discussed in this episode:

• Why Dan has hired people who didn't know Figma — and doesn't care
• What curiosity and a humanities background signal to a hiring manager
• Why Dan prefers to conducts interviews with candidates over coffee or drinks, not in conference rooms
• How he uses observation and empathy cues to evaluate candidates (the same way you'd do user research)
• Why he hates design assignments and considers them insulting
• What "career reinvention" looks like after 25 years in UX and how to know when it's time
• The real requirements for going fractional (and why it's not for everyone)
• Why your identity and hobbies outside of work actually make you better at your job\
• How he's re-invented his own UX career multiple times

🎯 How I can help with your UX job search

📋 Get my UX case study template

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Feel like your UX job search is full time job? Here are 5 things you can start using today to save time, reduce overthinking, and make real progress in your UX or Product job search. These are tips that Sarah sees working for people inside her UX career coaching program, Career Strategy Lab, and some she uses in her own work every day.

Topics discussed in this episode of the Career Strategy Podcast:

1. How to create a plug-and-play script document so you never start from scratch on emails again
2. How text replacement tools like TextExpander can automate repetitive job search messages
3. Why using a Pomodoro timer can dramatically increase your job search productivity
4. Why committing to following up three times eliminates the worry spiral of being ghosted
5. How to run a weekly "Job Search CEO Hour" to track what's working and course correct fast

RESOURCES

• Text Expander https://textexpander.com/
• Pomodoro Timer https://pomofocus.io/
• Flow Timer https://www.flow.app/

🎯 How I can help with your UX job search

📋 Get my UX case study template

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Career maximalism is a mistake that many high achieving professionals make. When you care too much about your job, you can actually become worse at it. In this video, learn what Career Maximalism is, and why this behavior is everywhere, often rewarded, and quietly working against you.

Career maximalism is when your job becomes a major source of your identity and your emotional state rises and falls based on how work is going.

It often looks like being a great employee, but there's a tipping point where it clouds your judgment, slows your decisions, and makes everything heavier than it needs to be. Sarah Doody discusses the difference between commitment and emotional over-identification, shares a Reddit thread about treating UX as a job instead of an identity, and gives three practical tips for caring deeply without making work who you are.

3 tips for avoiding the trap of Career Maximalism:

1) Build proof of your self-worth outside your job with physical challenges, creative projects, community, etc.

2) Practice emotional detachment without disengagement. Detachment isn't apathy, it's clarity.

3) Set clear standards and boundaries. When expectations are vague, everything becomes emotional.

Resources & Links Mentioned:

• Reddit thread about treating UX as a job instead of an identity
• 🎙️ Ep 163: What is Career Minimalism and How It Can Quietly Weaken Your Career

🎯 How I can help with your UX job search

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The idea of career minimalism sounds healthy. But this trending philosophy of your job being a tool, not your identity (especially popular with Gen Z) could be quietly weakening your career if you're not careful.

In this episode, Sarah Doody breaks down what career minimalism actually is, why it's gained so much momentum (spoiler: burnout, broken loyalty, and unpredictable layoffs), and the hidden risk most career minimalists never talk about. The real danger isn't doing less at work — it's what you're building (or not building) while you're there.

Sarah also discusses the concept of "Portable Equity" and shares three practical tips so you can protect your work-life balance without accidentally making yourself less employable.

Timestamps:

0:00 Introduction

0:58 What is career minimalism?

3:24 How did we get here? Burnout, hustle culture, and broken loyalty

4:41 Where career minimalism starts to get tricky

6:51 The hidden assumption of career minimalists

7:50 Why career minimalists often end up job hopping

10:16 The reframe: building portable equity

11:24 Three practical tips for career minimalists

11:45 Tip 1: Optimize for portability, not just balance

12:34 Tip 2: Know the difference between being useful and being valuable

13:59 Tip 3: Treat every role as temporary

16:35 Always be seeking — the career version of "always be closing"

17:36 Wrap up

🎯 How I can help with your UX job search

📋 Get my UX case study template

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Erica Jiminez went from facing a potential layoff at the CDC to landing her dream role as the first-ever User Experience Officer at WK Kellogg Foundation. In this episode, Sarah Doody chats with Erica about her experience in Sarah's UX job search coaching program, Career Strategy Lab.

Erica shares how she got clear on what she wanted, made sense of a non-linear career path, and landed a mission-driven UX role.

Erica talks about how the Career Roadmap and Compass Statement in Career Strategy Lab helped her shift from a fear mindset to clarity, why her "messy" career path across social work, public health, and UX research actually became her biggest strength, and how she got hired using a whiteboard and Mural board instead of a polished portfolio. She also shares why she negotiated her salary and got what she asked for, and what hiring managers actually look for when multiple candidates are equally qualified.

Erica's 3 lessons from her UX job search:

1) Follow what you're passionate about

2) Go for it even if you're not ready

3) Know your worth and advocate for yourself — the worst they can say is no

Timestamps

0:00 Introduction

1:00 Meet Erica, the first UX Officer at WK Kellogg Foundation

3:00 The career roadmap: realizing how unintentional her career had been

4:30 From social worker to UX researcher — a 12-year non-linear path

5:00 Seeing the story in a "messy" resume

7:00 The Product of You: Design yourself before marketing yourself

8:00 Getting clarity vs. jumping straight to tactics

10:00 The Gumby mindset & reframing your experiences

12:00 Lesson 1: Follow what you're passionate about

13:00 Lesson 2: Go for it even if you're not ready 15:00

Lesson 3: Know your worth & salary negotiation

17:00 The heroes exercise & discovering what matters beyond UX

19:30 Applying UX skills beyond big tech

20:00 Advice for anyone on the fence about Career Strategy Lab

22:00 Why the human element matters most in hiring

🎯 How I can help with your UX job search

📋 Get my UX case study template

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