Recently I discovered the UX Jobs Board. Its a global, niche recruitment site that caters to user experience professionals. I wanted to learn more about them so I chatted up their founders Stu Collett and Odette Colyer by email to get a better sense of the site and its mission.
1. What is UX Jobs Board and why did you start it?
UX Jobs Board is a specialist jobs board, which focuses on connecting user experience professionals with some of the most exciting job opportunities and companies in the world. UX Jobs Board also seeks to support user experience professionals raise their profile, gain access to training and ultimately get hired. Having been in the digital product design industry for almost 20 years, Stu Collett and Odette Colyer founded the site in 2010.
While the concept of designing for people had been around for a while and the term User Experience Designer had been coined some ten years previously, in 2008 it was still very much an industry in its infancy. Finding experienced professionals proved difficult at times, and so UX Jobs Board was born. Until recently, UX Jobs Board was a ’side’ project, but the database of UX professionals is growing rapidly, as is interest for recruiters and employers, and so greater investment is now being made into expanding the service offered.
2. How long has the site been online?
5 years.
3. What type of monthly traffic do you get?
10k sessions and and 25k page views + per month. This is continuing to grow month on month and with more exciting content and support services in the pipeline, we are very excited about the future potential of the jobs board to support professionals in our industry.
4. What’s unique about it that makes it worthwhile for employers to use it?
We have a large and rapidly growing UX professionals database and even wider candidate following across social media. Working and contributing to the UX industry has certainly supported this. We also have a strong marketing program that keeps both UX veterans and UX newbies engaged. Also, on the website, our candidate portfolios support employers in finding suitable talent, as well as helping professionals to raise awareness of their skills and experience. Also, there are some world-leading companies like the BBC, Microsoft, Harvard, Sony and Intel regularly posting job listings with us. Finally, for those employers posting multiple jobs or who need to post regularly, we have a number of ‘Job Packages’ and a Corporate Account option due to launch this week to offer exceptional value. Finally, if recruiters or employers are not happy with the results of their posting for any reason, we offer a money back guarantee.
5. What does it cost to post a job?
Your first job is free to post! From then on it ranges from $59.99 – $199.99. We will soon introduce a Corporate Account program which we hope will offer even more value for high volume posters.
6. Are their other products and services beyond postings?
Yes, we have a UX resources page and UX Profile section. All of this exciting content is being built upon in the next few months and we welcome input from employers and candidates alike as to what type of content they would value. Also in the upcoming months, we aim to develop partnerships with world leading trainers and mentors to support those UX professionals that are registered with us.
7. How is the market right now for hiring UX pros?
From personal experience and having listened to Super User Studio’s clients, it continues to be tricky to find the right UX professional at times. This is partly due to a shortage of experienced professionals, which is why we are seeing a growth in short UX training courses right now. We think that improving education of UX professionals and how best to deploy their diverse skill sets is also important. There’s also a rise in demand for UX professionals – See this CNN article – 14th best job in US right now – as enterprises mature design practices, as the digital landscapes become richer and more diverse, it makes this industry very attractive and is attracting more and more graduates.
8. What tips do you have for employers who need to attract them?
Be clear about the focus of the role and the team within which the UX professional will work. It’s important for them to know that the employer has reasonable expectations of what that role may cover – that is don’t expect a junior UX designer to direct a design system or an experienced UX designer to also work on the backend of a piece of software. Broadly speaking, creatives and UX professionals value flexible working, so the chance to work remotely for example. Make sure the perks offered are aligned to the type of individual the employer is recruiting for. The culture of the business, the products and/or clients they’re working with are also key. Was will their environment be like too – is there lots of natural light and standing desks, these would be a huge perk.
Demonstrate an understanding of a user centered design process too, by explaining how you expect they will work – that is, iteratively, collaboratively, sketching, testing with users etc. Finally, be clear about the opportunities for growth, not necessarily in a traditional ‘career ladder’ sense, but more from the perspective of training and other engaging experiences that will add value to the way they think and work.
See also: https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2012/02/how-to-recruit-a-ux-designer/
9. What did you do before UX Jobs Board?
Stu Collett and Odette Colyer have worked as digital professionals for 20 years, they also co-founded Super User Studio 8 years ago. Stu Collett and Odette Colyer met while working at the BBC in 2002. Stu’s career as a visual and interactive designer has seen him work with leading and multi-award winning agencies. Odette’s digital background is as an senior producer and UX researcher. She was the digital producer for CBBC’s Smile when it won ‘Best Interactive Format’ at the Children’s BAFTAs in 2005.
10. Any tips for employers for using UX Jobs Board?
Select Post a Job when you next visit the website to find out more about the job packages on offer. Featured Listings combined with cross network promotion of jobs offers particular chance of success.
