Breaking into the UI/UX design field is a dream for many aspiring designers, but getting your foot in the door can feel like an uphill battle. If you’ve been applying for jobs without success, you’re not alone. The good news? Most barriers are fixable once you understand what might be going wrong. Here are the top reasons why you may have failed to land a UI/UX design job (and surprisingly, there are only three) — and how to turn things around.

1. Your Portfolio Isn’t Outstanding – Good Enough is Not Enough

Your portfolio is the product you sell. If you aren’t putting your best foot forward, you don’t even stand a chance. The other brutal truth is that simply having a good enough portfolio isn’t good enough, because there are other candidates with absolutely outstanding portfolios and they will always get picked over “good enough” ones.

But then it leads it the question, what criteria do you need to meet in order for your portfolio to be considered outstanding and not just good enough? There are a few common benchmarks.

The Visual Look of Your Portfolio Isn’t Polished

Sure, UI/UX design isn’t just making things look pretty. It isn’t fair to judge a book by its cover. But that’s not how the world works in reality. People will judge because believe it or not, “making things look pretty” is part of user experience. Without a polished look and feel, the product you design won’t be appealing to consumers. If you cannot make your own portfolio website visually appealing, what does that say about your ability to design commercial-grade digital products?

If you make any design foundation mistakes, like having text not aligned in the right place, awkward layout, accessibility issues, or poor color choices, it is the fastest way to get yourself disqualified in the first round.

Therefore, it’s important to master design foundation crafts if you want to have a chance at becoming a sought-after designer. UI/UX product design is a fusion profession — it combines the “art” side of design, i.e. making things look pretty, and the business side of design, i.e. making things easy to use.

Unfortunately, many UI/UX bootcamps nowadays rush through the process of learning design foundation, which has no shortcuts. The result is many bootcamp graduates come up short in the initial round of portfolio screening compared to their peers with a college degree in design.

Luckily, it’s not either college or bootcamps — there is a happy medium. Attend a design career program that is well-rounded with a strong curriculum giving enough attention to design foundations like Path Unbound School of Design.

Your Case Study Is Boring, Too Long with Weak Storytelling

The next thing to check is if your case study reads like a UX Design 101 textbook. If you start your section titles with simple, non-descriptive phrases like “Research”, “Discovery, “Persona”, then you have fallen into the common faux pas of UI/UX design case study writing. The fact of the matter is that nobody wants to read the same format over and over again. Nobody cares what you did in the project unless there’s something that catches their eye. But how do you do that?

Think (and write) like a journalist. Imagine you are a journalist writing for top international publications — would your editor approve a piece with no hook that keeps people intrigued and therefore keeps them reading? No, because advertisers won’t be happy about that. The same applies to UI/UX design case studies.

Instead of “research”, summarize the most interesting findings from your research. Instead of “persona”, describe what stands out about this person of target customers in your section headings. That’s when hiring managers will stop scrolling and start reading. That’s when you will actually get a chance to land an interview and ultimately, the job.

You Do Not Have Case Studies in Similar Industries as the Hiring Company

The next reason your portfolio isn’t “good enough” is something not a lot of people talk about and companies won’t admit. Although this shouldn’t be the case because design skills are highly transferable across industries, most companies prefer to see case studies within similar industries of their own. It is impossible to have a case study for every industry in the world, so what should you do?

Have a clear job search strategy — don’t shoot for everything. Shoot for a few industries you like the most. Many people who transitioned to UI/UX design have worked in another industry previously. If you don’t hate that industry, consider using your past experience there to your advantage.

Once you decide on the industries you want to focus on, make sure to have one case study for each industry.

Not sure how to build effective case studies and don’t have enough projects? Path Unbound Portfolio School is the right program to fix that. With expert 1-on-1 guidance from an instructor of your choice, you will build at least 3 strong case studies that will land you the dream UI/UX design jobs within 9–12 weeks, provided you already have a design foundation either from our School of Design program or another course.

Your Projects Aren’t “Complex Enough” for the Company or Position

The final reason your portfolio didn’t pass the test is that some companies consider your case studies “not complex enough” for various reasons. What does this even mean?

Hiring managers have a persona in mind whenever they are hiring for a position. If a position requires the designer to demonstrate they have done certain types of projects, like designing for an app that millions of users already use, your case study showing your app is for a startup just beginning to acquire users won’t be as appealing.

This isn’t fair — but that’s how it works because companies always want to cut training costs to improve operational efficiency. So the key is to shoot for companies that are looking for candidates with your level of experience.

2. You Failed to Connect with Interviewers

Besides the quality and positioning of your portfolio, your interview skills determine whether or not you can land a UI/UX design job. It’s crucial to receive interview training and do plenty of mock interviews before you dive into the job market.

Common interview mistakes include:

1. Not having a positive or warm demeanor when talking to interviewers
2. Not being able to explain your experience or projects clearly in concise manners
3. Not asking questions about the company when given the chance to do so

Interviewing is a soft skill that can be learned. It is not as daunting as it seems once you understand how to answer commonly asked questions. That’s why we prepared a little free booklet for you with guidance on how to answer common UI/UX design interview questions.

3. You Shoot for the Wrong Companies or Positions

Have you ever heard of the saying “shoot out of your league”? While it commonly describes dating, it also applies to job searches. Not every company wants us, and we also don’t want every company. The key is to do plenty of research — who are these companies looking for? Am I who they are looking for?

But how do you find this information? There are some surprisingly easy but often overlooked ways to do that.

Look at Who Works There Now

The simplest way to get a feeling of what type of candidates a company looks for is to look at who they have hired in the past. This won’t guarantee a 100% match, but it will give you a general idea. If a company hires primarily from former Google or Microsoft designers, and you don’t have any experience working for FAANG companies, chances are you may not be a top choice.

Understand What You Can Offer That Others Can’t

Another thing to do is develop a very good understanding of yourself as a designer. What is that you offer and others can’t? If others offer what you offer, what is it that you do better than them?

Build yourself a persona of your own. Remind yourself of your own strengths and weaknesses when you come up with a job search strategy. That will save you a ton of time in narrowing down the right companies and positions to go after.

Job search may be a number’s game from the macro level, but don’t be fooled by this saying — it isn’t a number’s game when you know exactly what type of companies to shoot for.

So, What Can You Do to Land a UI/UX Design Job?

Failing to land a UI/UX job isn’t the end of the road — it’s an opportunity to grow. Analyze your weaknesses, take actionable steps to improve, and refine your strategy. Remember, perseverance is key. Every application, interview, or portfolio tweak brings you closer to success.

And remember, there are only a few things you need to fix:

1. Make sure your portfolio is outstanding – not just good enough
2. Have projects that represent industries you are shooting for
3. Improve your case study storytelling
4. Understand what type of candidates a company is looking for and shoot for the right companies
5. Become an excellent communicator and a good interviewer