Red pill or blue pill?
Nobody wants to hire you? Boo-hoo! You have two options:
Sit and cry about how the world is unfair.
Start freelancing even on cheap platforms (like Upwork, Fiverr, and similar) and gain some actual, real-world experience in how making digital products works.
How it is helpful
The benefits are obvious:
Having real projects in your portfolio makes you look better to potential employers in the future
You realise that 80% of what you thought UX was about is not really true. Then grind the remaining 20%.
Money won’t be great, but the experience is priceless!
If there are no opportunities, create them!
Which option are you going to go with? or ?
Community Says
• yashxkalra: But where to find clients. Cold DMS dont work anymore. There's too much competition on freelance platforms. Also did google business location cold emails. Any other way to reach clients?
• Michal Malewicz: I started in 2009 at designcrowd and 99designs (really!) and some of those low-paid projects from back then turned into high-paying clients now. You only need to win one or two projects on those freelance platforms to suddenly have a CV with "REAL EXPERIENCE" - it may take a while but it's better than waiting for a miracle.
• _sami1.0: Methods of working are changing continously. Now traditional ways of freelancing doesn't even works great. Now designers have to learn sales, marketing, business management, presentation, copywriting, sales pitch, personal branding etc to standout & get some actual work.. Apart from all this, now clients look for "personal touch". As everything is becoming too boring due to AI & templates, client choose those who actually spend some time to reach out. Freelancing is better than having a full time job if you can do it in proper way.
• Michal Malewicz: It was always like that - freelancing was always a mixed bag of all tricks - and these are all necessary even when people eventually go to a 9to5 job. That's why it's worth doing it!
• tui_lucking: Haha, are you aware how much of a competition on Upwork? One job gets posted an in 10 min. 50+ people apply for it with the connects they bought, fpr a job will pay barely 35$. But no... don't cry because of the world is fair !
• Michal Malewicz: Yes, I am aware. It was like that all the time. When I started my own company back in 2009 I also did design competitions for a $30 project against 200 designers. So you can sit and cry or do 200 projects, win maybe 2 and have 2 projects in your portfolio. Real ones, for real clients. Then use that as leverage to get a normal, day job because now you do have experience. And failing 198 times because they picked someone else is also experience - very useful!
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