123: How a 25-Year UX veteran rewrote his career story & reclaimed his confidence

Applied to 50+ UX or Product jobs & still no interviews or offers? Get UX job search help.Welcome to the Career Strategy Podcast with Sarah Doody, a UX Designer & UX Researcher with 20 years of experience who founded the UX job search accelerator, Career Strategy Lab. She's been doing UX career coaching since 2017.Follow Sarah on: LinkedIn | YouTube | InstagramIn this special open house episode, Sarah Doody chats with Joshua, a UX design leader with over 20 years of experience, about the reality of navigating a job search after a long career in enterprise environments. Josh opens up about the challenges of staying relevant in a shifting industry, rebuilding his confidence after burnout, and reframing what it means to craft a compelling portfolio—even without flashy Figma work.What You’ll Learn in This Episode:✔️ How Josh is positioning himself for a new chapter after 20+ years in UX✔️ Why your portfolio doesn’t need to be visual to be powerful✔️ The mindset shift that helped Josh regain clarity and momentum✔️ How asking former colleagues for feedback transformed his self-perception✔️ What it looks like to find leadership roles that align with your values✔️ Tips on managing your time, energy, and expectations in the job searchTimestamps:00:20 Welcome to the Career Strategy Podcast00:58 Episode Overview and Listener Engagement01:43 Meet Josh Vaughn: UX Design Leader02:33 Josh's Career Journey and Challenges04:53 The Importance of Storytelling in Portfolios06:45 Building Confidence and Career Strategy11:55 Reflecting on Career Strategy Lab13:23 Final Thoughts and Advice14:51 Conclusion and Farewell16:05 Podcast Outro⭐ Support the show! Leave a rating on Spotify or a review on Apple Podcasts to help more UX professionals find this podcast.🔔 Follow & Subscribe for weekly strategies and stories to help you grow in your UX career—without the burnout.🎬 Watch our free UX Job Search Workshop and learn how to stand out in 2025👉 Join Career Strategy Lab, a UX job search accelerator for UX and Product people.👋 Say hi and follow our host, Sarah Doody, on LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube.

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