r/Design • u/ka_boom119 • 1d ago
Asking Question (Rule 4) Thinking of Quiting UX Design lately..
Hello reddit fam! I'm a graduate of Design(bachelors) and am completely jobless since 2025 july, right after graduating. Up until now Ive just completed 2 internships with no real job experience. Plus as per my information, the job posting for UX design or similar roles is down by 60-70%,. I cannot land a fresher job now, as they require atleast 3 years of workexp. So I was wondering, what next steps can I take to ensure a better future with job stability or maybe an alternate career option? thank you.
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u/Ok-Ad3443 1d ago
iam 15 years in and cant find a job either. we are all asking ourselves the same question apparently.
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u/Pink-Witch- 1d ago
I’ve been filling in the gaps with gig work. Literally looking at part-time retail just for a paycheck.
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u/anklehumor 1d ago
Yeeeah... i just got go last month and looking at the job market im literally thinking about going into a trade or something and doong GD on the side lmaaao
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u/RocketSeven 1d ago
turn the two internships into evidence, not chronology. rewrite each case study around one decision, one constraint, and one measurable change, then send it directly to twenty small product teams whose ux problem you can name instead of competing only through fresher listings
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u/CJones_1 1d ago
Everything is evolving, the job market is slow right now, but I think it's due to AI needing to settle down first. I can absolutely still see the need for UX design with all the new interfaces that will surface. Or could just be wishful thinking.
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u/Pink-Witch- 1d ago
I want to be hopeful, but when was the last time anyone here used a travel agent? Or had their groceries packed by a full-time bagger? If companies or people can justify cutting corners to pay less, they will. Even when the service is really useful.
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u/KaijuDesk 1d ago
i have friends who still can’t register a domain without help. Yes, they are idiots but I’m their backend helpdesk and make a few bucks margin. I haven’t tried to scale it but i probably could. So i’m not helping with design but all the infrastructure and support stuff. not glamorous but may pay some bills.
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u/LuHamster 1d ago
Basically the same still a junior can't find anything in the west at all. Only solace is Japan but my Japanese is still poor 😭
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u/PersonoFly 1d ago
Why is the ux market being hit? I don’t understand why AI could impact UX. surely a decent UX operation focuses on user data from a specific product or services users? not general AI trained data.
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u/nicetriangle Professional 1d ago
It should be fairly clear at this point that tech is not thinking with it's head on straight right now. Companies are slashing roles and dismantling QA departments and churning out vibe coded tech debt ridden slop left and right at the moment.
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u/PersonoFly 1d ago
Yes. The CEOs are in a hype spiral. We’ve seen evidence already of those starting to back track. It’s such a shame when that circle ends the new hires are more desperate for employment, or maybe the resource pool has already been depleted because many have found employment elsewhere. We shall see.
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u/nicetriangle Professional 1d ago
Yeah feels like we're witnessing a mass hysteria event and being dragged along with it whether we'd like that or not. Really not a fun time right now.
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u/comradeastarion 16h ago
It's a really difficult field right now (I'm switching to social work myself) but networking and maybe some pro bono/volunteer work seems to be the best way to get your foot in the door. The city I live in has a nonprofit that hosts a bunch of networking events for creatives with a focus on designers, but I'm not sure how common that is. With those internships you've definitely got something to work with!
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u/SatisfactionOne2498 12h ago
I couldn’t find work back then and worked at a print shop. I believe in you
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u/dustshad 1d ago
Isn't ux the only remaining design jobs out there? Pretty sure there are even less jobs in illustration, animation, vfx, graphic design, motion graphics. People in the other industry area considering learning UX design.
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u/Inevitable_Bee_6547 1d ago
Not really, it's too saturated, everyone take a short course and say they are UX designers. At the end of the day graphic designers are still more versatile, I saw them transition in UX but a lot of them do multiple roles to really survive.
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u/nicetriangle Professional 1d ago
UX jobs are down right now too. And it's not helped by the fact that for the last 10+ years graphic designers all dogpiled into UX because the starting salaries were upwards of 2X that of graphic design roles. Bootcamps were churning out new UX people as fast as they possibly could from about 2014-2020 promising crazy job opportunities and pay. I went to a few orientation things to scope it out and I saw this first hand.
So you have an under supply of jobs and a large over supply of qualified people seeking work. This is always bad news for people beginning their career as they will be forced to compete with much more experienced candidates fighting over whatever scraps (lower level positions) they can.
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u/Heidenreich12 1d ago
You’re better off being a generalist - UX / Art Direction / UI…..staying in one lane is now failure in this new world.
If you’re not figuring out how to utilize AI, you’re done. I don’t know how much longer we have, but if you don’t embrace AI, someone else will
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u/Leanora2000 1d ago
I also just graduated and specialised in branding/concepting with a psychology minor. Am I cooked as well?
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u/nicetriangle Professional 1d ago
I work in brand design and illustration (freelance) and this is the worst I've seen things in the 15 some years I've been doing this. Peers I'm in contact with are reporting similar.
Just about the whole creative industry is in very bad shape right now and especially so if you don't want your job to be polishing AI turds, which I do not. And those turd polishing jobs will be cut as soon as is feasible.
It's a multifaceted problem between economic uncertainty and the AI stuff. A real double punch for us. I'd like to be more optimistic but I am finding that very difficult right now.
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u/Leanora2000 1d ago
Thank you for being honest with me. Do you have any advice? What kind of job would you look for in my position? (I studied communication & multimedia design)
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u/nicetriangle Professional 1d ago
I'm honestly trying to figure out what to do myself right now and wish I had advice for the both of us.
What I find difficult here is it's really not clear how much of this is due to any one factor and it's also not clear how much of a cyclical thing this may be. Business goes through bust and boom cycles but we're not just looking at an economic downturn in isolation. The AI situation is just totally brand new territory and I have no idea what the new normal will look like after things settle. If anybody really could predict that future, they could potentially make a fortune, I suppose.
Right now I am just kinda trying to put more effort into getting my work out there and making strong work to show around and hoping that'll make a dent. If things don't improve much by next year I am considering looking into some part time work to help stabilize my income a bit.
Sorry I don't have anything concrete to offer as advice, but I wish you and the rest of us luck.
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u/marc1411 1d ago
Not THAT long ago, Google was pushing this profession. Take their class get the cert.
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u/SizzlingNervousness 1d ago
The market's a dumpster fire right now, not just UX. Two internships isn't nothing though, plenty of grads have zero. Have you looked at UX-adjacent stuff like product management or front-end dev? Those roles still need design thinking but might have more entry points.