Applied to 50+ UX or Product jobs & still no interviews or offers? Get UX job search help.
Welcome to the Career Strategy Podcast with Sarah Doody, a UX Designer & UX Researcher with 20 years of experience who founded the UX job search accelerator, Career Strategy Lab. She's been doing UX career coaching since 2017.
Follow Sarah on: LinkedIn | YouTube | Instagram
In this special open house episode, Sarah Doody chats with Joshua, a UX design leader with over 20 years of experience, about the reality of navigating a job search after a long career in enterprise environments. Josh opens up about the challenges of staying relevant in a shifting industry, rebuilding his confidence after burnout, and reframing what it means to craft a compelling portfolio—even without flashy Figma work.
✔️ How Josh is positioning himself for a new chapter after 20+ years in UX
✔️ Why your portfolio doesn’t need to be visual to be powerful
✔️ The mindset shift that helped Josh regain clarity and momentum
✔️ How asking former colleagues for feedback transformed his self-perception
✔️ What it looks like to find leadership roles that align with your values
✔️ Tips on managing your time, energy, and expectations in the job search
00:20 Welcome to the Career Strategy Podcast
00:58 Episode Overview and Listener Engagement
01:43 Meet Josh Vaughn: UX Design Leader
02:33 Josh's Career Journey and Challenges
04:53 The Importance of Storytelling in Portfolios
06:45 Building Confidence and Career Strategy
11:55 Reflecting on Career Strategy Lab
13:23 Final Thoughts and Advice
14:51 Conclusion and Farewell
16:05 Podcast Outro
⭐ Support the show! Leave a rating on Spotify or a review on Apple Podcasts to help more UX professionals find this podcast.
🔔 Follow & Subscribe for weekly strategies and stories to help you grow in your UX career—without the burnout.
💸 See how you can get hired in UX with the help of my UX job search coaching program