UX Design - Mentor & Author.
25 Jun, 2022
Introduction – UI UX Design Certificate
One of the questions aspiring UX UI designers ask me a lot is this: do I need a UI UX design certificate to get a job?
Let’s explore this question in detail.
Some of you might say: “I have finished the Google UX design course and have a certification”, or “I joined a UX design course from an institute and have a certificate with me. Will I now get a job?”
Around 2014, a time when very few people even knew about UX UI designing, a US-based company used to conduct UX UI training in Chennai. The training spanned three days from morning to evening. Upon completion of the training, all the attendees would receive a certification. Employers used to hire anyone with this certificate.
Since UX UI designing was in its early stages, just knowing the UX UI design process was sufficient to get a job.
UX and UI design are essentially skill-oriented. Only through extensive hands-on practice and application of knowledge will anyone improve their skills.
People who went through the above training didn’t have real-time UX design exposure or practical training and got placed solely based on their certification. As employers realised this, they stopped hiring candidates solely based on a certificate.
How people got UX UI jobs before & during the pandemic
A huge shift happened during the pandemic days. Before the pandemic, one easily got a job even if they completed just one UX UI project extensively.
During the pandemic, many institutes started offering fake UX UI certificates or just the certificates to anyone who paid for them. This created a false hope that a certificate was enough to get a job. Employers again faced the problem of hiring UX UI designers who lacked the skills.
Getting a job in the current scenario
Nowadays, even if a candidate has undergone proper training for 3-4 months and has a portfolio of one UX UI case study detailing their process and designs, and three to four mini-projects, employers still have an extensive interview process, usually one that involves completing a design task.
Current UI UX Design Interview process
There are a couple of reasons behind using a task-oriented design process. Number one: To find out if the candidate who has undergone UX UI training really has the exposure. Do they have the capability to solve a design problem within a short timeframe? This helps them ascertain that the certificate that the candidate has is real – and not bought.
Reason number two: since most companies still operate from work-from-home mode, they want to make sure that the candidate has the discipline and self-motivation to stick to deadlines. They don’t want to hire people who can’t help keep up their promises to end clients.
For these two reasons, employers expect a comprehensive and up-to-date design portfolio and a demonstration of UX UI design skills. Based only on these factors do employers make job offers these days to potential employees.
Value of UI UX design certificates
You may ask, “What happens to my Google UI UX design certificate?”
You should remember that it’s just a value add. You won’t get a job if you have only a certificate.
You have learned UI UX design from any place – either free courses like the ones from Google or a paid course from an institute – and have built a comprehensive portfolio. When you apply for a job, your certificate will have value. You’ll get the opportunity to be considered for the interview process, which involves completing the UI UX design task assigned by your potential employer.
Wrap up – UI UX Design Certificate and Getting a Job
We discussed a lot of things about certification, the job interview process, and more. If you have any questions about these aspects, please leave a comment. I’ll read them and discuss them in a future post.
