#96 - Your UX Career Is a Product with Sarah Doody

#96 - Your UX Career Is a Product with Sarah Doody

Author: User Interviews June 30, 2022 Duration: 50:42

Most people—including product people—don't think of their career as a product. And even the best researchers often neglect to do the research to identify suitable roles and opportunities. The result? They stay in roles for too long, or accept one that simply doesn't align with their career goals, interest, or values. They burn out and feel stuck. 

Sarah Doody, Founder and CEO of Career Strategy Lab, joins us to share why you should start thinking of your User Research career as a product and how you can start doing so today.

In this episode:

  • How to treat your UX career like a product
  • How to build (and follow) your career roadmap
  • Managing the UX role application process


Highlights

  • [1:05] What does it mean to treat something like a product?
  • [3:59] How to start treating your own career like a product
  • [10:02] Understanding the UX market
  • [17:44] Uncovering UX hiring processes and principles
  • [24:05] Do UXers still need resumes?
  • [29:29] Tailoring your application to the role
  • [36:06] The “career value criteria document”
  • [39:01] Asking the right questions
  • [44:32] “There's a time to earn, and there's a time to learn”
  • [45:56] Are there any downsides to treating your UX career like a product?
  • [49:02] How to take ownership of your education

🏆 Looking for more ways to learn and connect? Follow these Top UX Research Leaders on Linkedin.


Sources mentioned in the episode


About our guest

Sarah Doody is the Founder and CEO of Career Strategy Lab, a job search accelerator and UX recruiting agency for UX and Product professionals. In 2017, she founded The UX Portfolio Formula, a UX career accelerator that helps UX professionals create, cultivate, and achieve their career goals. 


Awkward Silences is a conversation about the human side of building things. Hosts Erin May and Carol Guest, both VPs at User Interviews, don't just talk about theory-they get into the messy, real-world practice of talking to users and making sense of what they say. Each episode pulls back the curtain on the craft of user research, featuring candid chats with the practitioners who do this work every day. You'll hear stories about navigating tricky interviews, the weight of interpreting qualitative data, and how genuine understanding directly shapes better products and smarter business decisions. This isn't a dry lecture; it's a geeky, relatable dive into the questions and quiet moments that define UX research. The Awkward Silences podcast lives in the intersection of technology and business, focusing on the people and processes that connect them. Listen for practical insights, empathetic strategies, and the occasional shared laugh about the inevitable fumbles that come with trying to understand anyone. It’s for anyone who believes that building effectively starts with listening well.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Awkward Silences
Podcast Episodes
#189 - Throwback: Quantifying Research Impact with Ruby Pryor of Rex [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:44
This week we're revisiting one of Awkward Silences' most memorable episodes.This episode welcomed Ruby Pryor, founder of Rex, a consulting firm specializing in UX research and strategic design.This episode gets into what…
#184 - Use Context For More Influence with Kristen DeLap of Econify [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:34
Ben talks with Kristen DeLap, fractional COO at Econify, to explore how UX'ers can build influence without formal authority. Kristen brings a unique perspective, having evolved from interior design to leading product tea…
#182 - The Future of Research (In a Moment of Change) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:40
Ben sits down with Basel Fakhoury, CEO and Co-founder of User Interviews, and Baran Erkel, Chief Strategy Officer at UserTesting, for a conversation about the research industry's evolution. With AI reshaping customer beh…
#181 - Why We Need Design Now More Than Ever with Karl Randay of 383 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:19
Ben Wiedmaier sits with Karl Randay, Experience Director at 383, to explore how designers can stay relevant in an increasingly automated world. Karl shares insights from working with major brands like Hilton and Jaguar o…