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Summary
The traditional ways of hiring people into research and insight careers pose significant challenges in attracting the best industry talent. In our community survey, we heard concerns about the lack of consistent standards in user research education, unclear and unarticulated requirements for entry level roles, and lack of structured, industry-wide career progression ladders. These issues can make it hard to recruit diverse talent and ensure inclusivity of career experiences in our field. If we are to embrace the full potential of the talents available to us, we must get better at assessing, understanding, and elevating talent. In this session, Joseph Williams, CEO of bias-mitigation technology company, Included.AI, and three recent entrants into the research and insights field share their lived experiences of starting out in their research careers. They discuss the current opportunities, challenges and pitfalls of seeking a job in research as well as the steps we can collectively take to improve them.
Key Insights
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Talent is evenly distributed but opportunity is not, highlighting systemic barriers in entry to UX research.
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Many entry-level UX research job descriptions require unrealistic prerequisites like HCI masters degrees or 1-2 years experience.
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Unpaid interview exercises persist despite being a barrier and are not reflective of UX research's collaborative nature.
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Paid trial periods for new hires, once common, should be reinstated to evaluate candidates fairly and collaboratively.
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Mentorship and sponsorship are crucial but often unavailable or tied to paid programs, limiting access for underrepresented candidates.
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Career switchers from unrelated fields struggle to find consistent guidance and experience feelings of imposter syndrome and elitism.
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Internal career transitions can be bolstered by supportive hiring managers and informal sponsorships.
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Networking and cohort-based learning provide significant morale and skill-building benefits during career transitions.
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Soft skills like empathy, communication, and collaboration are undervalued in hiring criteria compared to technical skills.
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Standardizing education and hiring processes can provide clearer pathways and fairer evaluations for UX research candidates.
Notable Quotes
"It's kind of like the Wild West in terms of educational opportunities for UX research."
"I was absolutely adamant about not giving work away for free."
"There is a lack of clarity about what’s really needed for entry level roles — every job seemed to want a unicorn."
"The interview exercises feel like free work for the employer, but UX research is a team sport."
"I was my biggest obstacle, saying no to myself because I thought I didn’t have the right experience."
"Mentorship was rare and often tied to paid programs; sponsorship was nonexistent in my career path."
"Having sponsors who put in a good word made my hiring manager comfortable despite my lack of formal experience."
"Soft skills were deemed the most important in a survey, yet job ads rarely mention them."
"Talent is evenly distributed, but opportunity is not."
"We need to focus on what people can do, not just what they have done."
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