The Best Way To Get Product Design Experience When You Have None

Junior product designers know what it is like. To get a job you need experience; and to get experience, you need a job. How do you break free of this annoying circle? The internet is full of generic suggestions that do not really get you anywhere. Luckily, there's a better way.In this episode of The Design Table Podcast, Tyler and Nick tackle the experience-job circle mentioned above. They skip the tired advice of redesigning a famous website and focus on what gets you real clients, real work, and real proof.Tyler makes the case for doing free work the right way, from pitching local businesses a redesign in exchange for a testimonial to building a home services website before you even reach out. Nick explains why good outreach makes things easier for the other person, and shares the Loom and FigJam combo that gets him a reply almost every time.They also get honest about timelines. Bootcamps promise a new career in weeks. Nick puts it closer to two years and Tyler caps it at one year if you're willing to make sacrifices.In this episode you will learn:🔸 Why free work in exchange for a testimonial beats another pet project 🔸 How to pitch a local business without sounding desperate 🔸 Why freelance-style experience translates to in-house roles 🔸 What Dan Mall gets right about cold outreach, and why Don't Make Me Think applies to your pitch 🔸 How answering an A or B question with option C landed Nick a client 🔸 Why building the website before you pitch speeds up the sale and lets you charge more 🔸 How offering to do the job until they find someone can make you the person they keep 🔸 Why small, unscalable gestures like handmade cookies or a printed portfolio get you remembered 🔸 The two-minute Loom that gets Nick a reply and an invite to talk almost every time 🔸 Why vibe coded pet projects can hurt your portfolio, and when a playground page still works 🔸 How long it really takes to land your first paying design jobSubscribe to The Design Table Podcast https://www.designtablepodcast.com/subscribeResources to help you level up your design career: Get your portfolio and career strategy reviewed with a Design Table Audit https://www.designtablepodcast.com/products/design-table-auditDownload the Product Design Blueprint https://www.designtablepodcast.com/products/product-design-blueprintJoin our UX and product design community https://www.designtablepodcast.com/products/ux-and-product-design-communityIn need of support? Take a look at our resources https://www.designtablepodcast.com/learnMore about Tyler and Nick Tyler: https://www.designtablepodcast.com/hosts/tyler-white Nick: https://www.designtablepodcast.com/hosts/nick-groeneveld