This is part of an ongoing series; find the rest of the posts on UX Job Market.
For the second time in a year I’m back on the job market. The economy is struggling (even though some are ignoring it and telling us to just get paper routes!)
Times are tough. Case in point, here’s what I’ve seen the past month of searching:
- Not many job ads for design
- Job ads that get posted are inundated by 100+ within the first hour
- The jobs that respond sometimes take weeks, even if you get past the first interview stage
- Not many Junior roles available
- AI is the word of the year!
- Companies are holding on to their money
- Companies are being very careful who they progress during the interview process
It’s tough out there
I’m not going to sugar coat it, it’s tough out there! The market in tech is pretty stagnant, and the government which is usually pretty dependable for funding is also pulling back.
Developers and Designers I talk to are finding the market is not what it was during Covid. Gone are the days (so far) where the demand was so high that you could write your own ticket to a new company.
Even contract roles are hard to come by for the same reasons. Money just is not flowing and companies are hedging their bets for next year.
Hope is on the horizon
A local recruiter, Paul Swettenham in Christchurch has posted this bit of good news:
Good news for job hunters I had a meeting with my SEEK account manager yesterday and IT jobs in Canterbury are up by 28% over the last 4 months 😍 Spring is the busiest time for us right through to Christmas…you can see our live software, IT, systems & digital marketing jobs here: https://lnkd.in/gDqdHCPC
Smart companies strike while the iron is hot, and they buy when the market is low so they are ready when things pick up again.
Every economic cycle has four stages:
- Expansion
- Peak
- Contraction
- Trough
In my very amateur opinion we’re in the messy stage between 3 and 4, in which we’re nearing the Trough. The market is starting to hit bottom. Per Paul’s LinkedIn post, things are starting to pick up, which will take us back to the Expansion phase starting now and moving into next year.
Recruiters I talk to say there’s too few roles for the number of candidates which turns out to be true when you observe a job posted on LinkedIn where 100+ people have applied before the end of the day.
What I am doing right now
I’m beefing up my portfolio and upgrading my CV and LinkedIn pages. I hired a genius to review these things and with a few simple tweaks my page engagement went up more than 300% last week! Thanks Karl Olsen!
Now I have to continue to keep up that momentum. More blogging, networking, networking events, and talking to everyone I can about roles and the market.
I’m being very clear about what sort of role I’m looking for and I’m starting to reach out for freelance work. It’s always good to keep options open. As my Claude AI agent likes to say:
Get some quick money coming in the door to weather this storm/Trough.
How are you improving your chances of getting hired this year? Let me know in the comments.
