Land a UI/UX Design Job Without a Degree: My Proven Steps
Learn how I landed a UI/UX design job without a degree. Follow my steps to career success, from setting bold goals to mastering self-taught skills.
It was moving to a new state, gritting my teeth through a job that pissed me off, and trying to fix a crumbling relationship. These painful weights on my life were the catalyst that led me to take a leap of faith with my career that all started with writing the goal of “$80k” on a piece of paper and tacking it to my bedroom wall.
You and your world can change if you make it so. I’m on my soapbox to tell you that a career change without a degree is possible if you’re willing to bet on yourself and commit to learning through blood, sweat, and tears.
These are the steps I took to land my dream career, which I want you to follow for your own career change journey—without the fancy education.
From $15/Hour to $80K: Breaking Free From a Job You Hate
Over a decade in customer service, with no career goals or passions. Earning under $15/hr, unable to afford to live on my own, and stuck in a toxic environment. It’s not a good spot to be in, and yet, it’s a reality for millions of people in this world.
At what point do you tell yourself that it’s time for change? Being overwhelmed, undervalued, and having all your job baggage bleed into your personal life should be a red flag. Sadly, personal struggles, depression, and getting lost in the constant spiral of stagnant growth become the normal cycle. It’s easy to get lost in your own dark abyss of life.
It’s time to make the change of a lifetime
Think about your current scenario. Are you stuck in a job that you hate? Do you feel lost on how even to begin to change careers, or does it just seem damn right impossible?
Good, those are everyday thoughts and are the frustrations you will use to propel you forward.
You can land your dream career without a college degree. You can land your dream career without related experience. You just need to take the first step and be willing to cling on for dear life because the most significant accomplishments in life aren’t a cakewalk (but that cake is going to taste damn good when you smash your goal).
Keep reading if you’re ready to take the first step to something better.
The Steps I Took to Break Into UI/UX Design Without a College Degree
As I reflect on where it all began, I took three main steps when transitioning into my dream UI/UX design career, so let me tell you a quick story.
Step 1: Recognizing It Was Time for Change
It hit me like a brick wall. I was to the point of loudly cussing at my computer screen as I received back-to-back calls (and emails) while working at Amazon. I’ve never felt more like a useless cog in a giant machine than I did in that position.
Moving to Arizona was a nice change of pace, but I had to do one last thing. Leave behind this four-year relationship that added to my stress and anguish, and after we moved into our place in Arizona, we split up.
What do you do after you stop banging your head against a wall for four years? You leave your job soon after, and with no backup plan other than I knew I was learning about UI/UX design, and it had to work.
Sometimes, the first step isn’t learning a new skill–it’s leaving behind what no longer serves you. You may not even realize what your catalyst is until you have passed it, but recognize the weight holding you down and leave it behind.
Step 2: Discovering UI/UX Design
I started scrappy. Coursera was the perfect start, so I started learning little by little to understand design, which led me to something profound.
I had never experienced this in my life, and for the first time, I enjoyed learning. It was the perfect storm of my environment and situation, the catalyst for breaking off a relationship, moving back in with my friends, and having a positive living environment.
Start small–explore a new field with free or low-cost tools before committing to a formal program. Some of you may not need structure, but having a course that I could do on my own time worked for my current situation.
Step 3: Investing in Myself Through Bootcamps and Mentorship
I was pretty broke and unsure about boot camps, so I did the most logical thing as a man at the age of 30: I begged my family to split tuition for CareerFoundry with me. Don’t be ashamed of not having money and calling in favors, but if you do, follow through with your promises.
Why choose CareerFoundry? The career guarantee and the price were right. The price was around $3k, which was a lot for me. The mentorship options were essential. I had one for the UX course, the UI course, and a career counselor at the end. On top of it all, all of my Google searches led me to their program, and it felt put together and reputable based on my initial findings.
Mentorship was my saving grace, not just in boot camp but also outside. My friend who convinced me to take the leap has been and still is my strongest mentor in design. I shadowed him and worked with him as an intern on his freelance projects to build experience. When you are starting out, take everything you can get and mark it as real-world experience.
A well-chosen boot camp, thorough course, community, and real-world experience can fast-track your career–even without a degree. Think to yourself about the best way to learn, and run with it!
How I Landed My First Paid UI/UX Design Job and Built a Freelance Career
Completing a boot camp isn’t going to deliver you a career in design magically. Remember when I said to commit to learning through blood, sweat, and tears? You need to keep the snowball rolling downhill until you crash into your dream career. Doing this is how I kept moving my snowball into a freelance UI/UX career, and you can do it, too.
Practical Experience
Be Batman if you have to, and shadow experienced peers and mentors. My early mentor let me sit on user research calls, made me find brand assets, and showed me foundational real-world UX design skills.
Volunteering through UX Rescue and Design for America (DFA) led to some of my best portfolio pieces, and I met some killer designers along the way who motivated me to be better. Take all of the practical experience and add it to your experience and skills section on LinkedIn and your resume, and create case studies for your design portfolio.
Your LinkedIn and resume may not say that you worked at Google or have unrelated previous experience, but you just made a powerful change and a seismic shift that will change everything for you going forward.
Your portfolio doesn’t need to be perfect, but it must show your problem-solving design process. Your work is going to suck for a while, but it’s only temporary. Check out one of my early projects (try not to laugh).
Early Mistakes and Lessons Learned
You will make mistakes and not even realize it in the beginning, but you have to keep going. Avoid this at all costs, relying on one person or network instead of actively building connections widely. People will tell you that work is coming; don’t wait for that work to appear. If you want to survive, networking should begin on day one of your journey and should never stop.
Create your own brand as a designer and put your stamp on the world wherever you are active online. You don’t have to be an expert to start posting online and connecting with others. You can be the explorer who shares your experiences and shows how much you learn by adding your spin on things.
New designers always need help positioning themselves, and there are no early-stage jobs. That is why you need to network the minute you decide to change your career, and you can do it all from your computer sitting at home. Refine your story to position yourself effectively. There is something special about you that will give you a unique twist to your newly acquired skills.
Are you scraping your eyeballs out, wondering what’s special about uniqueness when trying to position yourself online? Let’s talk about it. I bet we can find your unique twist easier than you think.
Small Wins Lead to Big Breaks
From $15/hr in customer service to $30/hr landing my first UI/UX design contract, where did the work come from? One of my mentors that I met along my journey. In fact, all of my early paid contracts came from my small network of mentors. Your network is your net worth.
My big break came almost a year after my initial paid contract. A new contract landed in my lap when I needed it the most, and it was for $40/hr. Do you remember that goal I wrote on my wall? $40/hr is roughly $83k a year. You may start to see a pattern, but this role came from someone in my network again.
One of the most impactful ways to create a plan is to set a huge goal and organize everything you do in your daily life around that goal. Freelancing wasn’t my choice, but it was the only work I could find starting, so take whatever you can get and be a sponge learning everything you can. You will build a reputation with your work, online brand presence, and networking.
Let’s look at the exact steps needed to transition your career into UI/UX design.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Transitioning Into UX Design Without a Degree
Step 1: Identify and Build Transferable Skills
Audit your current strengths and skills. These can be soft skills, technical skills, or strengths that you may excel at somewhere else in life. Maybe that’s something you’re passionate about!
Pro Tip: Ask a close friend or family member if you need help identifying your strengths and skills.
Start mapping your list of strengths and skills to different UI, UX, or product design skills, such as empathy, user research, visual design, or business strategy.
Pro Tip: You may be surprised by the number of things a designer can specialize in, so research different roles or look up job descriptions if you need help finding in-demand skills.
Step 2: Explore and Validate Your Interest in Design
Start somewhere, anywhere! It doesn’t matter where. If you are a visual learner, YouTube is a fabulous place to start, but if you need some structure, then places like Coursera or Skillshare may have free options or are relatively affordable.
Pro Tip: If you enjoy the introductory content, look for affordable courses or programs that offer certificates that you can post on LinkedIn to build up your profile.
Step 3: Invest in Education and Mentorship
Now that you know you want this career. Networking and finding mentors are the best places to start. Pick topics you need to learn the most and ask them to meet with you to discuss them. Keep your relationships over time and ask for feedback on your resume, LinkedIn profile, and portfolio. It’s the only way you’re going to improve.
Pro Tip: ADPList is the best place to find design mentors for free.
You don’t need to join a UI/UX or related boot camp, but it worked for me. There are many boot camps out there, so pick one that aligns with the skills you want to learn, is affordable, offers mentors, and offers a career guarantee or something similar.
Pro Tip: If you really want, you can start redesigning your favorite websites and apps or ask the people you meet online to let you work for free to build real-world experience. Finding others to do group work may be difficult until you get to know people, but it’s more affordable.
Step 4: Build a Beginner Portfolio
Start with something minimal and manageable. If this is your first portfolio, please just use a template. It will get your website up faster, and that is the most important part. Get it live, and then improve it.
Start documenting your thought process and outcomes in your case studies each time you do a project. It’s as easy as starting a note on Google Docs on your computer. Your storytelling is going to sell you and your process to potential recruiters.
Pro Tip: Your initial projects aren’t going to be paid projects, and that is okay! Start with volunteer work, redesign challenges, and mock projects. Don’t worry about perfection this early on; it will eat you alive.
Resource: Struggling to know how to create a proper case study with storytelling that sells itself? I have a designer's case study writing template to put your writing into impactful storytelling.
Step 5: Network and Seek Opportunities
Capitalize on LinkedIn and ensure your profile tells people that you are a designer and what your superpowers are within design. Use LinkedIn to connect with other designers, find communities, and, most importantly, post your journey and start sharing content!
Pro Tip: Creating your brand and presence as a new designer is essential with the level of competition out there. Consistent content creation will get your name in people's faces.
Resource: Do you want to build a freelance career? In an early YouTube video, I gave a wealth of information on creating a brand that can win clients.
As you reach out, try to find free events or cohorts you can participate in, such as free design cohorts where you learn specific skills, Hackathons, which are great for new and experienced designers, and more.
Pro Tip: Don’t be afraid to find local groups for designers. Try using the Meetup app to find one near you.
Resource: I found this resource on LinkedIn. Check out Designer Slack Communities, a list of Slack communities you can join as you network.
Step 6: Refine Your Job-Hunting Strategy
Apply for all jobs. Whether they’re full-time, contract, or require education or skills that may be just outside of your bubble. Networking will be your primary driver in landing early jobs, and job applications will be your second.
Pro Tip: Applying for jobs can be disheartening at times, but keep going, keep improving your techniques, and make sure you tailor your resume or cover letter a little bit each time to target the job description and pass the ATS software used by hiring teams.
Feedback is a vital skill, and this is your reminder to consistently go out and ask your network for feedback on your resume, portfolio, LinkedIn profile, and career-hunting strategies. These assets are the three things needed to carry you to the finish line, and just like design, they also use an iterative process, and as you learn, they need to improve with you.
Pro Tip: Creating your brand and presence as a new designer is essential with the level of competition out there. Consistent content creation will get your name in people's faces.
Resource: Do you want to build a freelance career? In one of my YouTube videos, I gave ten reasons why being a freelance is the ultimate upgrade.
Reflect on which part of job-hunting you are getting stuck on, and focus on that area if you need help. For example, you need to improve your interview skills if you are landing interviews but still need to get the job.
Pro Tip: Practice your communication and negotiation skills. They will build your confidence and be powerful tools when you become a designer—opening up opportunities for more money, work, and so on.
Resource: Are you nervous about potential interviews? Here is how to practice! I wrote a free step-by-step guide to nailing UI/UX and product Design interviews using ChatGPT's Voice Mode.
Why It’s Never Too Late to Start Your UI/UX Design Career
There is only one thing holding you back, and that is yourself. Don’t force yourself to stay in something miserable because you think that is just the usual way of life. If I could go from making $15/hr or less all my life and no degree to $45/hr+ in less time than getting a bachelor's degree, you can too!
You will only get to your dream career by setting a massive goal and working backward, breaking it into small, easily attainable chunks. Attaining a gigantic goal is a huge undertaking and will take resilience (I prefer to call myself stubborn) and a willingness to step out of your comfort zone. Use those painful objects in life weighing you down as your catalysts of change.
Ready to start your design journey? Grab my Intro to UI/UX Design guide to take your first step today. Don’t wait—your future in design begins now! Here is 20% off, valid until Dec. 24th, 2024.
