When I first started hiring designers, I thought the goal was to find the “best.”The one with the strongest portfolio, sharpest résumé, and smoothest answers.But after sitting through hundreds of interviews, I learned something else:Managers don’t hi...

When Charlene reached out, she was tired.Seven years in marketing. A portfolio polished. Dozens of applications sent out.And yet — silence. Not a single interview.She started asking herself the question every career changer eventually faces:“Am I eve...

Last fall, Jeff got laid off.It shook his confidence.He’d also had a few short stints before that — which made his resume look unstable.Like most designers, he doubled down on his portfolio. Polished case studies. Clean visuals. Better storytelling.B...

When I met Shireen, she was already a strong designer.But she was stuck.Her role at the time was “fine,” but she knew it wasn’t where she wanted to stay long term. She wanted growth, clarity, and a path forward — but she didn’t know how to connect th...

When Veronica first came to me, she wasn’t new to coaching.She had already worked with one of the top career coaches in the U.S. and the world — someone known worldwide. Months of revamping her résumé, cover letter, LinkedIn.It got her recruiter inte...

A portfolio can take months to build. Case studies, layouts, visuals.But here’s the truth: hiring managers skim for 8–20 seconds. If the story isn’t clear above the fold, you’re skipped.That’s exactly what happened with one of my clients — a Principa...

This week I ran my first AI Portfolio Workshop: Build a Standout Case Study in 60 Minutes.Dozens of designers showed up. Some were juniors, some were senior leaders. All of them had the same worry:“Hiring managers skim in 20 seconds. How do I stand o...

I’ve been pulse-checking hiring managers on how much of a candidate’s case study they actually read.The answer surprised a lot of designers.At the screening stage, they skim. Headlines, images, bold text. Maybe the first few lines. If nothing catches...

Sunday is family day for us. My wife and I take my son out to explore. He’s three now, and everything feels like an adventure to him.Yesterday he spotted a pair of kids’ sunglasses. He slipped them on, looked up at me, and gave the biggest grin.Throu...

My first portfolio was a mess.Back in 2006 (almost 20 years ago!), I was still an industrial design student. I didn’t know what I was doing. I just dumped a bunch of images into PowerPoint slides. Screenshots from my internship. A few poster boards....