Red Flags in UX Job Descriptions
UX is a developing, growing field but companies are often times still catching up to what the job actually entails.
So what are job postings and interview red flags, and what would we suggest our students do?
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→ Job Description #1
(Screenshot for reference)
→Job Description Summary
Associate, UI/UX & Contents Creation
He/She will lead a UI/UX Design policy and contents creation for e-commerce in Cosmetic Industry.
Job Description:
1. The Leading a UI/UX design policy and follow up company consistency
2. The Design of UI & UX: Banners, Products' Images, and PDP Contents
3. The creating commercial photos and contents
4. The creating commercial organic video contents and Paid AD contents for IG, Meta, Tiktok, and SNS sites
5. Collaboration to create contents with Creative Team
6. Collaboration to create contents with PUs and Product Planning Team
Additional Job Description: N/A
→ Our take
đźš© This job description is vague, and combines [6] if not more various professions including user experience, user interface, marketing, photography, social media management, videography, PPC (paid per click). Wow!
The challenge is that while this might be an interesting work environment for someone who likes to “wear many hats”, it can also feel very chaotic and you might only get surface level skills in each of the various listed professions.
And as you execute your projects and create work, you might be given harsh feedback and critiqued for your inability to create the best content, even though UX designers are absolutely not, and never proclaim to act like photographs, graphic designers, or content designers. Essentially, you might be setting yourself up for failure, because of the poorly set-up expectations, and lack of understanding of what UX designers do.
Rating – 🚩🚩 . Two red flags. A job that could be a good start if you stay disciplined and get outside mentors to help navigate, but it can be chaotic and challenging due to a lack of focus.
Advice – Buy the book “The User Experience Team of One: A Research and Design Survival Guide” because you might need it to help you navigate the job.
→ Job Description #2
→Job Description Summary
Graphic Design Intern
TUSHY, the modern bidet for people who poop, is looking for a badass design intern who is ready to bring beautiful and functional design to butt-washing and saving the planet. Create boundary-pushing ads, contribute to upcoming social media campaigns, work on the hellotushy.com website, brainstorm new photo shoots and more.
Internship would be 20 - 40 hours per week. TUSHY is seeking a student with
• Mastery in the Adobe Suite and Figma,
• Experience in UI/UX is preferred,
• Animation skills are an added bonus.
Include a link to your portfolio of work as part of your application.
Requirements
• Mastery in the Adobe Suite and Figma.
• Experience in UI/UX is preferred.
• Animation skills are an added bonus.
Benefits:
Poop puns for days
→ Our take
🚩This job masquerades as a “graphic design” position but it heavily focuses on asking for UI/UX skills, including Figma. This is a clever way (whether intentional or not) for companies to expand the scope of a profession, while underpaying the candidate. For reference, the average salary of a graphic designer with 1 years of experience is $47,851, while it is $76,261 for UX designers. [Source]
Similar to the red flag of Job #1 (above), you might have standards that you will not be able to meet, not because you’re not a talented, thoughtful, competent designer but because the premise for what success means in the job, has been poorly set up.
Rating – 🚩🚩🚩. Three red flags. It’s important for a company that’s asking for candidates to apply, to understand what they’re asking the candidates to be able to do.
Advice – None. Perhaps don’t apply.
→ Job Description #3
→Job Description Summary
UI/UX Web Designe. Preferred Experience
Bachelor’s Degree (or existing pursuit of a bachelor’s degree) in Industrial/Product design (physical or digital products), UI/UX design, computer science, or a related field.
Experience in ergonomics and/or human factors / user experience design and engineering.
Experience in design implementation, preferably including React, Material UI, familiarity with communication protocols.
Mathematics, statistics, and/or computer science experience
Experience with data visualization and statistics packages for data science tools and applications
Experience building browser-based web applications
Experience building data visualizations around maps and globes (Cesium, OpenLayers, D3.js, etc)
US Citizenship and the ability to obtain a SECRET clearance are required for the position
The starting hourly rate for this position ranges from $24/Hour to $25/Hour depending on relevant experience and qualifications.
→Job Description Summary
🚩 The job description itself is not worrying, but the salary is! Also the short blurb saying “(This experience could be an internship)” could be an effective way to knock down talented UX designers, and suggest that they take a lower paying position, because perhaps “their skills are not strong enough yet, maybe it could start off as an internship at first?”.
And if the offer was indeed for an internship, and not a full time role, would the salary then drop even further?
We usually suggest to conduct a whole lot of research before settling on a number you’re comfortable with for your salary goals, but here are some websites that can shine a light on salary averages. Please note that these websites should only be a part of your research. You should also speak with recruiters, look at salary postings on LinkedIn, and speak with your friends in the industry.
Some websites:
Rating – 🚩🚩🚩🚩. Do not accept a lower standard for your salary in this field. Absolutely not. UX as a field demand that its designers understand psychology, art, stakeholder management, business (the ROI of your work for a company), analytics, logistics, storytelling…should I keep going?
A rate that is this low means that either the company doesn’t understand UX as a field, or it doesn’t value it. Either way, it is not a suitable environment for you to grow in as a designer. Hard pass.
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