170 - Finding Your UX Niche: Jonathan's Journey From UX Layoff to UX Executive in Higher Education

After being laid off, Jonathan spent months applying to everything and getting almost nowhere. Even with 20 years of UX experience, 75% of his applications ended in silence or rejection. In this episode of Career Strategy Lab, Sarah Doody catches up with Jonathan now that he's landed an Executive Director of Web Experience role at the University of Houston Downtown He shares what changed in his job search when he stopped applying to everything and started being intentional about where, how, and to whom he was presenting himself.

Topics discussed in this episode:

✅ Why applying to everything actually slows your job search down

✅ How getting more specific and intentional led to significantly more callbacks

✅ The power of peer accountability and working sessions in a community

✅ How to think about your portfolio presentation vs. your website

✅ Why two versions of your resume matter in today's ATS-driven hiring landscape

✅ The "ugly first draft" mindset and why it helps you move faster

Timestamps:

01:03 Jonathan's new role: Executive Director of Web Experience

02:32 Why DIY-ing his job search wasn't working

03:16 The tipping point that led him to join Career Strategy Lab

05:30 How niching down changed everything

07:00 From 50 applications a week to 5

12:02 The "ugly first draft" mindset

13:40 Treating your job search like an experiment

14:29 How to stay objective about your own work

15:08 Why confidence is a byproduct of action, not a prerequisite for starting

15:49 Imposter syndrome

17:16 Keep a log of wins to fight negative self-talk when you're stuck

18:36 Walking into interviews with a 30-60-90 day plan

21:32 Portfolio website vs. PDF deck

23:16 Two versions of your resume: ATS vs. human-readable

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