What does it take to build a UX portfolio that makes a hiring manager stop scrolling? Alexander Zeh, Head of Product Design at ManyChat, is here to share how he approaches hiring and what many candidates get wrong.
He breaks down how he structures his hiring process to reduce bias, why a failed project can be a stronger case study than a polished one, how to handle NDA-protected work, and why the "hero designer" narrative is working against you. Whether you're actively applying to UX roles or just trying to understand what hiring managers are really thinking, this conversation will change how you approach your next portfolio presentation.
Topics discussed in this episode:
✅ Why Alexander treats team diversity as a design decision
✅ The grading criteria that lets hiring managers make a confident call
✅ Why clear writing and articulation matter more than Figma fluency
✅ How constraints and failed projects can make a stronger case study than a polished outcome
✅ How claiming to do it all might be a red flag to hiring managers
✅ Whether UX job seekers in different countries need different portfolios
✅ How to handle NDA-protected work
✅ Why showing your thinking at every fork in the road matters more than the final product
Timestamps:
00:57 Intro: Alexander and ManyChat
03:10 Alexander's career journey
07:26 From consulting to in-house leadership
12:36 Building diverse teams intentionally
15:26 Why grading criteria beats "I'll know it when I see it"
16:22 Blind submissions to avoid groupthink
18:16 What hiring managers actually look for
22:19 What standout candidates do differently
28:09 Does location affect your UX job search?
35:25 Showing impact without a happy ending
44:34 Resilience, vision, and holding the tension
47:55 Handling NDA work in your portfolio
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