User Defenders – UX Design & Personal Growth · Jason Ogle

How to Get Your Foot in the Door with Andy Budd

·1 hr 15 min·5 clips

Andy Budd explains why 70% of UX jobs never hit the market and how to beat the system.

A hiring philosophy leads the way. The guest separates designers who want quiet approval from designers who look for mistakes they can learn from. That difference matters in a hiring conversation. Humility here is not a nice extra; it is a signal that someone can improve the work without turning every note into a defense of their ego. Jason opens season six with a relaxed reset after a long break, sounding glad to bring the User Defenders superhero frame back to conversations about craft. Adobe XD gets real airtime too, partly because Jason ties the sponsorship to a product he had wanted approved for nearly four years. Then the episode settles into the portfolio question. The guest's view is plain: getting into UX depends less on finding one perfect credential and more on showing that you can make things. University helps because it gives students time, safety, and several projects before they have to compete for jobs. Skipping school means building that runway yourself. Fake projects, charity websites, WordPress work, Shopify work, and small side jobs all become ways to show evidence. Short immersive courses get a fair but limited read. They can help career switchers, especially from marketing or graphic design, but they do not stand in for deeper practice. Self-learning is still on the table. The catch is that the portfolio has to show thoughtful work, not just interest. The close returns to gratitude, Adobe XD, a coming portfolio conversation, and the show's familiar fight-for-the-user signoff.

As heard by us

A practical guide to breaking into UX, with portfolio evidence taking priority over credentials.

Jason Ogle opens a season-six discussion about landing a job in UX, and Andy Budd keeps the focus on practical proof rather than polish. The discussion moves from portfolio basics to the tougher question of how someone gets noticed, with university, short immersive courses, and…

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You want a practical map out of UX job-search limbo.

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