Caroline Tallinger

It doesn't matter whether you're a solo designer on your team, or the whole company-- the #1 issue you'll encounter is communicating (more accurately, defending) what your role does and how you do it. Finding a company that understands the role of UX within the team/project is rare, let alone finding one that has clearly defined goals for their new hire. Truthfully, the struggle begins before you even get hired. When scrolling through job descriptions for UX Designers, as one does, you'll encounter something like this:

1. Graphic designs skills a must!

2. Must know web development (HTML, Javascript, JQuery, C++, CSS)

3. Design email templates and marketing materials

4. Sketch ONLY

5. Design original graphics, images and illustrations

6. Must know Photoshop and Illustrator

7. Write copy for landing pages and email marketing

8. Head research projects and translate to actionable designs

... did you see the point? Because I didn't until I was three months...