Ep. 9. How to get hired as a UX writer in 2020, with Gordon MacRea
Release Date: 01/05/2020
Leading content design at Canva (Sally Bagshaw)
Writers of Silicon Valley
Listen on: | Do you enjoy the podcast? Canva is a true (Aussie) tech success story, and the content design practice there is no small reason why. One of the people leading that practice is Sally, Head of Content Design at Canva. Sally and I dive into how Canva has built one of the strongest content design practices in the world, why leadership is about more than managing people, and what content designers need to do to grow their careers. We also discuss why content design in Australia often feels a few steps behind the global stage and what Canva is doing to set an example. This was...
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Product vs content (Scott Kubie)
Writers of Silicon Valley
Listen on: Do you enjoy the podcast? ! A few weeks ago I that caused a little bit of a stir. I said that content designers need to do more in considering how content supports the greater product ecosystem...and why that lack of curiosity might be holding them back. In essence, I was asking: which is more important - product or content? I got a lot of great responses, but Scott Kubie's was one that stood out to me. His view was that my assessment of the situation was a little upside down, and that we should talk about it. So I did. Scott and I agree that content designers need to...
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Stop taking content work personally (Deiadora Blanche)
Writers of Silicon Valley
Listen on: Do you enjoy the podcast? ! Having trouble letting go? Deiadora Blanche (Airbnb, Coursera) can help. In this episode, we dive deep into the idea of ego detachment — letting go of personal attachment to the work we do. Deiadora shares her journey from business consulting to content strategy, and how she’s learned to balance personal growth with professional success. We also chat about thinking like a CEO, even when you’re not in leadership, and how content professionals can create their own success by setting metrics and driving results. Plus, Deiadora...
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The power of small moments in UX (Vidhika Bansal)
Writers of Silicon Valley
Listen on: Do you enjoy the podcast? ! Vidhika Bansal might win the award for the . Just reading her tweets makes your entire day better. But Vidhika's talents go far beyond nice social media posts. Her intense interest and focus on human behaviour and user research make her one of the most thoughtful and fascinating people in UX. She's spoken at conferences like Button and Confab, led teams at organizations like Intuit, and has one of the most human-centered approaches to UX that I know of. Vidhika shares her journey from studying pre-med to finding her passion for...
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Knowledge graphs (Larry Swanson)
Writers of Silicon Valley
Listen on: Do you enjoy the podcast? ! Larry Swanson might be one of the most knowledgeable and friendly people in content design and content strategy. Every time you speak to him, he’s full of joy and passion about the craft. Not just that - he’s probably one of the most intelligent people in the industry when it comes to the technical aspects of content. He calls himself a “content architect”, but that’s really too short a description of his capabilities. Whether he’s talking about information architecture, content modeling, or content and AI, Larry has just an...
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Content for AI products (Kyra Lee, UserTesting)
Writers of Silicon Valley
Get US $100 off your ticket for the upcoming ! Use UXCC100 at checkout! Listen on: Do you enjoy the podcast? ! I know, I know. A lot of AI. But I swear, the conversation in this one is really worth listening to. For so many organizations, the use of AI is dictated by the CEO, or head of product, etc. Rarely do content designers take the effort or initiative to actually develop an idea of how AI should be integrated. That's why this interview with Kyra Lee from UserTesting was so fascinating to me. Kyra and her colleagues have taken the initiative to create a "playbook"...
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How to crack content design contracting (Slater Katz)
Writers of Silicon Valley
Listen on: Do you enjoy the podcast? ! Getting into content design is hard enough, but contracting roles are a different struggle altogether. While they can be lucrative (potentially depending where you live) they're also difficult to crack. But they're also a necessary struggle to understand - often the way to start a content design career is to begin with some contracting roles. Today's guest is a content design contracting queen. Alliteration! Slater Katz has worked as content designer for Netflix, Chime, Verizon, Fitbit, and more. Not only can I vouch for her...
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From english major to content design lead: advice for grads
Writers of Silicon Valley
Listen on: Do you enjoy the podcast? ! Ah, English degrees. So often the target of snide comments and "there but for..." looks. I don't think there's another academic pursuit that's used as a metaphor for uselessness quite as much. Maybe basket weaving. And yet, as content designers know, English majors can become one of technology's secret weapons. Speaking of secret weapons... Today's guest might be one of the most impressive people in content design. Sammie Spector is the content design lead at Condé Nast, where she looks after brands including Vogue, The New...
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Inside Gemini: How a Google content designer helps build AI
Writers of Silicon Valley
Listen on: Do you enjoy the podcast? ! There's an interesting path opening up in content design: working on the actual language models underpinning this explosion of new features we're seeing. This is a new and fairly anxiety-inducing area. But as content designers, it's important that we engage and help build any type of new technology that involves content - or it's going to outpace us. This is why I spoke with Ben Barone-Nugent from Google for today's podcast. He's on the Gemini team, and we spoke about his work in moving from traditional "content design" into the content...
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Using AI to scale UX writing at Monday.com, with Ron Yakar
Writers of Silicon Valley
Listen on: Do you enjoy the podcast? ! Ron Yakar made a bit of noise last month when he discussing how he created an AI tool to help scale UX writing at Monday.com. There was lots of debate. "This is cool." "This is scary." "Why don't you hire more content designers?" And everything in between. So, I wanted to get Ron on the podcast to discuss it. Not only because it's an interesting piece of craft, but also because it's a vision of where things are heading. So far we've been so focused on using LLMs through prompts, but Ron's tool is an example of what happens when...
info_outlineAre you looking for a job as a UX writer in 2020? Then no hyperbole: you need to listen to this podcast.
Gordon MacRae is an instructional designer, product manager, UX writer, and more.
He started the UX Writing Jobs newsletter in 2018 to collate all the opportunities for UX writers around the world, and he's learned more along the way about the market than just about anyone else.
After all, you don't talk with hiring managers and read job ads every month without understanding a thing or two about the UX writing job market.
In this podcast, we talk about everything to do with hiring UX writers in 2020, and getting hired. We talk about:
- What skills you need
- The trends in UX Writing job descriptions
- What managers are looking for
- What to avoid
- How the standards are rising for good UX writers
- How to stand out to hiring managers
- And so, so much more
Seriously, this discussion is gold for anyone who's looking for a job. We talk about the trends you need to know in order to get hired in 2020.
Even if you're happy in your current role, you should listen to understand what the market is doing. After all, who knows what 2020 will bring.
What better way to start the year?
I hope you enjoy the podcast, and as always, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts if you enjoy the content! It helps others find the pod.
Listeners get 20% off podcasts and workshops at UX Content Collective! Just use PODCAST20 at checkout.