[IxDA Discuss] Tips on "breaking into" IA/ID/UxD industry for recent graduates?

[Jennifer Berk]

On 10/30/07, Jason Barbarich <myacademy at gmail.com> wrote:
> members have mentioned that they are taxed with the job of reading resumes
> and interviewing applicants - is there anything in particular you look for
> when you see a potential junior IA/ID/UxD? Should we all have some sort of
> crucial skill on lock? Is there something that NEEDS to be in our sparsely
> populated portfolio? Or is it really just about being you, having a handle
> on the standard toolset, and knowing the design process? I can talk for a
> pretty long time about the one, EXTREMELY simple website I freelanced over
> the summer. Obtaining requirements from interviewing the owner, getting a
> feel for who the primary users of the site were, wireframing to establish
> design concept, etc., but again, the site is epicly simple, and I'm still
> left with no agency experience.

You might find useful a session on IA resumes (and portfolios) that
was run by the DC area UX community.  Summary at
http://olgahow.com/?p=98 , audio and more useful links at
http://livlab.com/thinkia/2007/04/audio-from-ia-roundup/ .  Looking
quickly at your portfolio, the language used is very informal and
there isn't much discussion of the thought process that led to the
diagram.  Showing the value you brought to each portfolio project
would let your interviewer more easily imagine what value you'd bring
to theirs.

Jennifer Berk