Struggling to get interviews at companies I actually want to work at.

JPMorgan Chase / Design
JAIL11

Go to company page JPMorgan Chase Design

JAIL11
6d 92 Comments

6.5 YOE. Looking to make a move from JPMC hopefully for a position that allows me to be full remote. However I’ve been applying for months and can’t even land a call with a recruiter other than the ones that constantly message me on LinkedIn. Have applied and been rejected at the first stage from Stripe, Spotify, Robinhood, Cash App, Twitter, Coinbase…some multiple times, some even with employee referrals. No clue what I’m doing wrong. Do I just not have the right kind of experience? Are they that picky when it comes to past work? Before JPMC I spent time at agencies and an engineering company. Portfolio details an enterprise software and one that’s more consumer focused.

Any advice is appreciated, thanks.

#design #interviews #ui/ux

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TOP 92 Comments
  • JPMorgan Chase / Eng
    palindr

    Go to company page JPMorgan Chase Eng

    palindr
    DM your portfolio.
    6d 3
  • Wayfair
    haleluya

    Go to company page Wayfair

    haleluya
    Have you considered using ADPlist for proper feedback on your portfolio and/or interviewing skills? Or a design mentor?

    Might be worth the investment.
    Good luck!
    6d 5
    • JPMorgan Chase / Design
      JAIL11

      Go to company page JPMorgan Chase Design

      JAIL11
      OP
      @kyvp55 I think you misunderstood, I’m not even making it to the first round. I can’t break through the application filtering when cold applying online. When I have made it to the interview stages I’m getting offers more often than not.
      4d
    • Amazon
      Kyvp55

      Go to company page Amazon

      Kyvp55
      Ah ok, my apologies. I have had a similar experience and it's difficult to figure out why. I've received responses from FAANGs, only to be ghosted by others. It really does seem to be a crapshoot sometimes.

      When is the last time you've had a professional take a look at your resume?
      4d
  • Twilio
    happyboo

    Go to company page Twilio

    happyboo
    If you can’t get to the interview stage, you might be missing key elements on your resume. Consider hiring a tech coach who reviews resumes for a living. Otherwise, I can refer you to Twilio if interested.
    6d 2
  • 1. ATS might be rejecting your resume. The keywords expected by the ATS might not be present in your resume. Try adding more keywords that make your resume more descriptive, but are still relevant & suited to your profile. Just for an example: you put 'HCI' and the ATS is looking for 'Interaction Design' :D

    Also, a doc resume might help instead of a pdf (parsing issues)

    2. Recruiters might be looking for a 'dribbble'-ish portfolio, while your work might be comprehensive, balanced and touching upon all aspects of design. Sad truth.

    3. If a JD interests you, try customising your resume & portfolio structure according to that particular role.

    4. Sometimes JDs are also poorly written and hiring managers have no idea what to expect from a prospective hire. Point #2 starts happening too, in such cases.

    5. The hiring partners could be too strongly fixated on what they see visually, instead of seeing the portfolio as just a passive cue for the body of work to start an initial conversation.. in short, a portfolio-agnostic hiring is still distant for many orgs..

    6. In the resume, have you accurately called out what roles/responsibilities that you are comfortable in taking up? That could help too.

    7. Design teams have become too finicky these days. They are trying to look for 'cool, rebel' folks who 'fit in their tribe'.. some design teams are even calling themselves 'design mafia' these days. So in certain companies, maybe there is an unreasonable cult attitude that sees your profile as ordinary (while your profile is actually damn good in reality)

    8. Are you a generalist or a specialist? the opening might want the clear opposite of your shape up.. And again, JDs are poorly written many times and hiring partners have no idea what to look for. Referrals are easier again.

    9. Before you apply, examine (through LinkedIn or so)if the prospective design team has somewhat like minded people that you want to work with. Of course, there is only so much you can get from LinkedIn, but that somewhat increases the chances of getting shortlisted if you know you might fit in there. Cold contact them directly if a team really interests you. It's okay if there is no response.

    Lastly, if you plan to seek guidance, please avoid ADPlist. There are way too many half baked self proclaimed designers on that platform, who know nothing about design and are giving sub standard career advice and so-callled design mentoring.
    Seek help from folks whom YOU really trust and whose credentials you know for sure. ADPlist is a recipe for disaster. Democratising design mentorship does not guarantee quality mentoring. The reality of such a social capital based mentoring platform, is killing the field of design.

    Good luck with your job hunt.
    5d 5
    • Meta / Design
      Djwo10

      Go to company page Meta Design

      PRE
      Microsoft
      Djwo10
      Where on earth are you all seeing references to a “design mafia?” I haven’t heard of that at any reputable tech companies
      4d
    • New
      22savage

      New

      BIO
      Just want to chill
      22savage
      Why is adplist pretentious? I've met some good designers there. They work at big tech but as in all corporate some of them for lucky and not all them are the same caliber. That's just life though.
      2d
  • Box
    yyttyy

    Go to company page Box

    yyttyy
    DM your portfolio and I can take a look. It's likely what's holding you back.
    Tech doesn't love people from finance and consulting backgrounds typically.
    5d 6
    • Deloitte / Finance
      jeezy1027

      Go to company page Deloitte Finance

      PRE
      Deloitte
      jeezy1027
      Tech tends to like to hire tech
      3d
    • New
      iVmh54

      New

      iVmh54
      I was in consulting @ deloitte for 5 years, best soft skills and leadership development I could have asked for worked in a massive breadth of projects.

      Didn’t see more than 25% of them to completion and iterated on less.

      Anyone there for more than a couple of years is sus, can confirm.
      3d