Kevin you changed my life. In 2018, I finished my MBA and took a corporate job. I had always been intrigued by Semiotics, Ethnography and Consumer Behaviour studies. In 2020 I came across your channel and I had been looking to switch my career path around that time. Cut to 2022, I am working as a Researcher with a major Startup in India. It took a lot of rejections and a lot of independent studies to convince people but I finally made it. P.S. Your videos are super authentic. They are not generic and that's what I love about them. More power to you mate!
True gold. Thank you so much Kevin. I am going to have a UX Research job interview in the next three days in London. This helps me loads. Never thinking about flipping the job interview around as a chance to learn about the hiring manager's leadership and problem-solving skill. Thank you and Paula a great deal. Love your channel. Keep it up!
as always Kevin, another great video with pearls of wisdom and gold nuggets of information from both of you. I'm a seasoned (7+ years) UX researcher and I still get a lot of value from your videos. Keep up the great work!
can you do a video on interview tests? i had to do a take home test as part of the second interview. The first part was advising a team on how to conduct an A/B test and the second was how i would go about culturally adapting a successful mobile banking app to another market. Like you, i have an extensive academic and interviewing background. They said I answered the questions thoroughly but said i was a little green and that it really didnt reflect the world of ux (dealing with demanding stakeholders). Anyway, can you do a video on tasks you had to complete and explain the mental shift you had to make from looking at things as a academic to a UX Researcher...with minimal experience?
Hey Kevin in a previous video you mentioned a question that could be one asked in the second round call with a UXR such as: you have 3 designs and 2 weeks how would you go about evaluating them? I know there’s no right or wrong answer but how detailed should it be? Should you detail from how you recruit to how you present the results to stakeholders? Or should it be high level? Thanks for the helpful content.
I still have question Kevin How would you know if their response to my questions were not great but they are a decent company? Just like interviewing myself, they are also in a way presenting themselves and often impressions are accurate but also difficult to generalize. As an applicant to a job, how do you determine if the company is a right fit for me?
Hi Kevin. Thanks for your videos and advice, it really is pure gold and offers a huge knowledge base for many of us trying to understand the industry, its barriers to entry and what employers are really looking for. I really love the chemistry you seem to build with all of your guests. I would really appreciate some advice. I am becoming more and more convinced that UX research is for me but currently have little experience other than some online courses. My academic background is not necessarily relevant (I studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics as my BA) and am 25 years old so feel time is off the essence really. I am strongly considering doing an MSc in Cognitive Science at UCL to make up for the academic gap and build knowledge not only in cognitive psychology but also academic research methods. What are your thoughts on this? Do you feel that employers at big tech companies for instance are looking for academic research standards and knowledge of statistical research methods - or could I be better off investing my time and money into UX Research courses / creating my own studies to build my own portfolio? (or both?). Would greatly appreciate your thoughts. Thank you.
This is brilliant, but I'm curious to understand what it means when someone says 'technical skills' of a UX Researcher. Are they referring to grasp on different kinds of methods or software and tools? Pls, if you could give some examples, then that would also help :)
Research skills! Knowing different methodologies, participant criteria, experimental design, analysis, storytelling etc... All of the research process you might find in an academic paper!
Hey Kevin thanks for the video. For the part where the manager might ask you to walk through your research including impact on stakeholders/company impact.. how do you say the impact on something if it was just a portfolio project and not something you turned into a company. This is especially if you only have projects in your portfolio right now and have yet to get your first real UXR position
I would say to preface your experience, you're looking to learn and that you took the initiative to identify a problem and go through the paces to solve it using user research! IF you're able to implement changes or track any changes, that's great impact. If not, you just focus on the process and mention that your hypothetical next steps would be to do iterate, test again, track these changes and impact on the users and business.
@@zerotoux Thanks Kevin. Do you think that it's going to be a mark against you if you don't have actual industry experience for landing your FIRST job? I am sure before you got your first job you only had personal projects?
Hi Kevin, this is a wonderful video, thanks for this. Just wanted to check you ask the question to hiring Manager at 11:15 about the team member coming with the problem to the hiring manager. I was a bit apprehensive about this question thinking that the manager might get offended with this and might be slightly offended? Please let me know your thoughts?
Hi Dilbir, thanks for watching! That's interesting! It's the same as "tell me about a time you experienced conflict", but to the manager instead. The purpose is to see how this manager (potentially yours) will handle difficult human situations (to see if they'd be a good fit for you, too). I think if we worded it politely, like "I'm curious how you handle conflict or difficult situations with your direct reports. Can you tell me about the last time this happened with a team member of yours"? I would hope the manager DOESN'T get offended because every manager should have a story to tell and I hope to hear about how they approach these situations, do they listen? Do they blame? Do they give feedback or talk to multiple people? etc...If they get offended from this simple question, I would probably stay away from them! Remember: YOU need to interview them just as much as they interview you!! GL!! and wonderful question
"Thank you for your interest in applying to our company. Unfortunately....." lol no, but if you found yourself struggling to answer their questions, that's one sign. Another is if what you're explaining does not match the job description. Or simply, when I first started out of academia, I was told I didn't have enough industry experience, even if my research ability was there. Also, shift the mindset from "I botched the interview. I totally failed it..." to "okay, let me write down the questions they asked me and figure out how to answer it better next time".
Kevin you changed my life. In 2018, I finished my MBA and took a corporate job. I had always been intrigued by Semiotics, Ethnography and Consumer Behaviour studies. In 2020 I came across your channel and I had been looking to switch my career path around that time. Cut to 2022, I am working as a Researcher with a major Startup in India. It took a lot of rejections and a lot of independent studies to convince people but I finally made it.
P.S. Your videos are super authentic. They are not generic and that's what I love about them. More power to you mate!
Thanks so much for your kind message!!! And congratz on the role my friend!! Happy new year to you!
It's 16 minutes of GOLD. Wish I had this information when I first started out.
Thanks so much for the video! Love it!
True gold. Thank you so much Kevin. I am going to have a UX Research job interview in the next three days in London. This helps me loads. Never thinking about flipping the job interview around as a chance to learn about the hiring manager's leadership and problem-solving skill. Thank you and Paula a great deal. Love your channel. Keep it up!
Thank you so much for doing this, Kevin
pro trick: you can watch movies on Flixzone. I've been using them for watching loads of movies recently.
@Terrance Jacob definitely, I have been watching on flixzone} for since december myself :)
1:14 stages of the UX research interview process
2:46 Stage 1 - Recruiter call
7:17 Stage 2 - Hiring manager call
15:07 Conclusion
as always Kevin, another great video with pearls of wisdom and gold nuggets of information from both of you. I'm a seasoned (7+ years) UX researcher and I still get a lot of value from your videos. Keep up the great work!
Thank you so much for watching! I'm happy we can provide some value! I always learn so much from Paula
can you do a video on interview tests? i had to do a take home test as part of the second interview. The first part was advising a team on how to conduct an A/B test and the second was how i would go about culturally adapting a successful mobile banking app to another market.
Like you, i have an extensive academic and interviewing background. They said I answered the questions thoroughly but said i was a little green and that it really didnt reflect the world of ux (dealing with demanding stakeholders).
Anyway, can you do a video on tasks you had to complete and explain the mental shift you had to make from looking at things as a academic to a UX Researcher...with minimal experience?
Hey Theo!! Yes, I just scripted out a video for take-home assignments....sorry it's a year late :((((( But I will be back on RUclips....eventually!!
Got an recruiter interview for Google this Friday.. thank you so much for this video!
W00t congratz Mike!!!! 🎊🥳kill it!!!
Lemme know if you need any mock interview prep www.zerotoux.com/mock-interviews/
@@zerotoux haha thanks I already had you bookmarked. Hopefully be using that soon!
Thank you so much for this video!! Very insightful and looking forward to the next one!
Thanks, Kevin and Paula! This video is GOLD! So informative and helpful!
Hey Kevin in a previous video you mentioned a question that could be one asked in the second round call with a UXR such as: you have 3 designs and 2 weeks how would you go about evaluating them? I know there’s no right or wrong answer but how detailed should it be? Should you detail from how you recruit to how you present the results to stakeholders?
Or should it be high level?
Thanks for the helpful content.
give us part II! Such great content! thank you so much - I'm genuinely grateful
Part 2 is out!!! :)) Check out the job interview playlist :)
Guess who has hiring manager interviews next week and is reviewing this in advance? 🤓 Great material.
Hahah Holly!!! Good luck on the interviews!!! Crush it! 💪 Lemme know if I can help more directly in any way :)
@@zerotoux thanks!! I’ll reach out on Linkedin if I need anything. :)
great input and very helpful
Very useful @Kevin. Cross the fingers for me. Today is the day ;)
Good luck!!! 😻✌️🥳🎉🤩 How'd it go??
@@zerotouxI will send you a summary of that (I need to tell you :D)
Thank you so much.This is very helpful for me.
Such helpful tips! I’m hoping to kill my interview coming up. Thanks for sharing this conversation.
Wooohoo Aliyah!!! KILL IT!!! 🔥
@@zerotoux 🙌🏽🙌🏽 Thanks, Kevin!
Fantastic tips!! You guys rock! Thanks so much!
Nice video, Kevin!
Love your work!;)
Thanks, Diana ✌️!!🤩
I still have question Kevin
How would you know if their response to my questions were not great but they are a decent company?
Just like interviewing myself, they are also in a way presenting themselves and often impressions are accurate but also
difficult to generalize.
As an applicant to a job, how do you determine if the company is a right fit for me?
Hi Kevin.
Thanks for your videos and advice, it really is pure gold and offers a huge knowledge base for many of us trying to understand the industry, its barriers to entry and what employers are really looking for. I really love the chemistry you seem to build with all of your guests.
I would really appreciate some advice. I am becoming more and more convinced that UX research is for me but currently have little experience other than some online courses. My academic background is not necessarily relevant (I studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics as my BA) and am 25 years old so feel time is off the essence really. I am strongly considering doing an MSc in Cognitive Science at UCL to make up for the academic gap and build knowledge not only in cognitive psychology but also academic research methods. What are your thoughts on this? Do you feel that employers at big tech companies for instance are looking for academic research standards and knowledge of statistical research methods - or could I be better off investing my time and money into UX Research courses / creating my own studies to build my own portfolio? (or both?). Would greatly appreciate your thoughts. Thank you.
This is brilliant, but I'm curious to understand what it means when someone says 'technical skills' of a UX Researcher. Are they referring to grasp on different kinds of methods or software and tools? Pls, if you could give some examples, then that would also help :)
Research skills! Knowing different methodologies, participant criteria, experimental design, analysis, storytelling etc... All of the research process you might find in an academic paper!
@@zerotoux Perfect! This brings me a sigh of relief. I thought I'm missing out on something specific :)
Hey Kevin thanks for the video. For the part where the manager might ask you to walk through your research including impact on stakeholders/company impact.. how do you say the impact on something if it was just a portfolio project and not something you turned into a company. This is especially if you only have projects in your portfolio right now and have yet to get your first real UXR position
I would say to preface your experience, you're looking to learn and that you took the initiative to identify a problem and go through the paces to solve it using user research! IF you're able to implement changes or track any changes, that's great impact. If not, you just focus on the process and mention that your hypothetical next steps would be to do iterate, test again, track these changes and impact on the users and business.
@@zerotoux Thanks Kevin. Do you think that it's going to be a mark against you if you don't have actual industry experience for landing your FIRST job? I am sure before you got your first job you only had personal projects?
Hi Kevin, this is a wonderful video, thanks for this. Just wanted to check you ask the question to hiring Manager at 11:15 about the team member coming with the problem to the hiring manager. I was a bit apprehensive about this question thinking that the manager might get offended with this and might be slightly offended? Please let me know your thoughts?
Hi Dilbir, thanks for watching! That's interesting!
It's the same as "tell me about a time you experienced conflict", but to the manager instead. The purpose is to see how this manager (potentially yours) will handle difficult human situations (to see if they'd be a good fit for you, too).
I think if we worded it politely, like "I'm curious how you handle conflict or difficult situations with your direct reports. Can you tell me about the last time this happened with a team member of yours"?
I would hope the manager DOESN'T get offended because every manager should have a story to tell and I hope to hear about how they approach these situations, do they listen? Do they blame? Do they give feedback or talk to multiple people? etc...If they get offended from this simple question, I would probably stay away from them!
Remember: YOU need to interview them just as much as they interview you!! GL!! and wonderful question
How do you know if your initial call with the recruiter didn't go well?
"Thank you for your interest in applying to our company. Unfortunately....."
lol no, but if you found yourself struggling to answer their questions, that's one sign. Another is if what you're explaining does not match the job description. Or simply, when I first started out of academia, I was told I didn't have enough industry experience, even if my research ability was there.
Also, shift the mindset from "I botched the interview. I totally failed it..." to "okay, let me write down the questions they asked me and figure out how to answer it better next time".
@@zerotoux Thanks, Kevin! It's hard to stop thinking about it and waiting when I'll hear the next steps!
@@yourstrulyaugust fingers crossed! I've also had companies ghost on me before...never heard back from them , hopefully that won't be your case!